Physical inactivity is a key determinant of health across the lifespan. A lack of activity increases the risk of heart disease, colon and breast cancer, diabetes mellitus, hypertension, osteoporosis, anxiety and depression and others diseases. Emerging literature has suggested that in terms of mortality, the global population health burden of physical inactivity approaches that of cigarette smoking. The prevalence and substantial disease risk associated with physical inactivity has been described as a pandemic. The prevalence, health impact, and evidence of changeability all have resulted in calls for action to increase physical activity across the lifespan. In response to the need to find ways to make physical activity a health priority for youth, the Institute of Medicine's Committee on Physical Activity and Physical Education in the School Environment was formed. Its purpose was to review the current status of physical activity and physical education in the school environment, including before, during, and after school, and examine the influences of physical activity and physical education on the short and long term physical, cognitive and brain, and psychosocial health and development of children and adolescents. Educating the Student Body makes recommendations about approaches for strengthening and improving programs and policies for physical activity and physical education in the school environment. This report lays out a set of guiding principles to guide its work on these tasks. These included: recognizing the benefits of instilling life-long physical activity habits in children; the value of using systems thinking in improving physical activity and physical education in the school environment; the recognition of current disparities in opportunities and the need to achieve equity in physical activity and physical education; the importance of considering all types of school environments; the need to take into consideration the diversity of students as recommendations are developed. This report will be of interest to local and national policymakers, school officials, teachers, and the education community, researchers, professional organizations, and parents interested in physical activity, physical education, and health for school-aged children and adolescents.

Promoting Physical Activity and Health in the Classroom responds to the growing trend in K-6 education, where classroom teachers with no specific Physical Education training must increasingly implement activities in nontraditional settings--often with limited space, equipment, time, and planning. The book is colorful, engaging, compact, and user-friendly. Its practical organization, combined with detachable, sortable index-size cards comprising more than 260 separate activities, enables teachers to implement them immediately and provides a unique resource not previously available to instructors. Improving the Health of America's Children, Understanding Children's Needs and Readiness for Physical Activity, Teaching Physical Activities Safely and Effectively, Improving the Effectiveness of Instruction and Feedback, Management and Discipline in an Activity Setting, Teaching Children with Special Needs, Integrating Physical Activity and Academics, Increasing Student's Activity Levels, Helping Students Develop Physical Fitness, Improving Students' Nutrition, Teaching Sun Safety, Promoting Children's Health Beyond the School Day. Intended for those interested in learning about how to promote physical activity and health in the classroom.

Physical activity has far-reaching benefits for physical, mental, emotional, and social health and well-being for all segments of the population. Despite these documented health benefits and previous efforts to promote physical activity in the U.S. population, most Americans do not meet current public health guidelines for physical activity. Surveillance in public health is the ongoing systematic collection, analysis, and interpretation of outcome-specific data, which can then be used for planning, implementation and evaluation of public health practice. Surveillance of physical activity is a core public health function that is necessary for monitoring population engagement in physical activity, including participation in physical activity initiatives. Surveillance activities are guided by standard protocols and are used to establish baseline data and to track implementation and evaluation of interventions, programs, and policies that aim to increase physical activity. However, physical activity is challenging to assess because it is a complex and multidimensional behavior that varies by type, intensity, setting, motives, and environmental and social influences. The lack of surveillance systems to assess both physical activity behaviors (including walking) and physical activity environments (such as the walkability of communities) is a critical gap. Implementing Strategies to Enhance Public Health Surveillance of Physical Activity in the United States develops strategies that support the implementation of recommended actions to improve national physical activity surveillance. This report also examines and builds upon existing recommended actions.

Dynamic Physical Education for Elementary School Children, with more than one million copies sold, returns stronger than ever in its 19th edition. Preservice and in-service elementary teachers will learn to deliver quality, effective, and student-friendly physical education by introducing foundational skills, sport skills, and lifetime activities as well as helping children learn to have fun and be responsible in physical activity settings.

Children under the age of 8 love to move—be it run, hop, jump, wriggle, squiggle, skip, or tumble. Now, with Early Steps Physical Education Curriculum: Theory and Practice for Children Under 8, you can turn that natural energy and enthusiasm into solid social learning and a lifelong love for healthy and active lifestyles. Four top educators from Scandinavia, Greece, Cyprus, and the United Kingdom help you understand ways to promote children’s learning and enhance their intrinsic motivation to be physically active. The authors explore pertinent topics for teachers: • Child-centred teaching methods • Behavior of effective teachers • How to develop intrinsic motivation through physical education • Curriculum standards with goals and objectives describing what children have learned after lessons are implemented The authors also present the complete physical education curriculum, including 48 lesson plans, for children up to the age of 8. You receive social interaction lesson plans, healthy behavior lesson plans, and evaluation methods. Each lesson plan has specific goals and objective to be achieved, offers specific points of emphasis to consider as you implement the lesson, and comes with ideas for modifying it according to the children’s needs. These ready-to-use lesson plans provide an instant framework for creating a new program or updating and fortifying your existing program. Early Steps Physical Education Curriculum offers a top-notch curriculum, well-researched information and instruction, and engaging and fun games that help children develop social skills and acquire a basic knowledge of what it means to be healthy and active as they continue to grow. It’s a great resource for teachers, students, child-care professionals, and all those who work with preschool children or who train those who will work with preschoolers.

With Pedometer Power: Using Pedometers in School and Community, you can -use 65 pedometer-based activities for children and adults at home and in physical education, recreation, and after-school settings; -promote physical activity—and your program—to parents and the larger community with take-home and special-event activities; and -help participants learn about the importance of duration and intensity of physical activity and about the value of maintaining an active lifestyle. The best-selling Pedometer Power is back—updated and expanded with 65 thoroughly field-tested and exciting pedometer activities to motivate participants to become more physically active. This edition includes new and improved activities, more activities for high school and college students, an emphasis on using pedometers both in school and community settings, and updated data that clearly support the effectiveness of pedometers in monitoring physical activity. You can use Pedometer Power in a variety of settings, including physical education classes from kindergarten though college, after-school programs, recreation programs, and health-promotion programs. In doing so, you can accomplish these objectives: -Provide tips, strategies, and activities that have been refined by years of development and testing by one of the leading physical education research teams. -Ensure that students and participants will be successful and find the activities fun and motivating. -Help students and participants accurately gauge both the length and intensity of their activity. -Teach, promote, and assess physical activity, based on the cutting-edge research of the authors. -Motivate students and participants about the value of maintaining an active lifestyle. Pedometer Power provides information on how to use and store the devices, minimize breakage and loss, record and store data, promote physical activity, raise funds, and involve parents, teachers, and administrators. You'll also find fresh, ready-to-use ideas accompanied by diagrams, photos, and time-saving record sheets for students and participants. In short, Pedometer Power contains everything you need to start and manage an ongoing pedometer program.

What type, amount, and intensity of physical activity is good for your health? How much exercise is too much? Can avoiding physical activity make you ill or lead to premature death? This crisply written and thought-provoking book examines such issues to give readers the first integrated and consolidated introduction to what is known about the impact of physical activity on health. By selectively highlighting some of the best and most important research in physical activity, the authors synthesize studies and theory from several disciplines. They use a behavioral-epidemiology framework to organize the book and explore such topics as: physical activity and the health of children, adolescents, and the elderly; physical activity and its impact on mental health; the role of physical activity in prevention of particular diseases; health risks of physical activity; and how much physical activity is enough and how to measure it; how to promote physical activity and community-based physical activity interventions. Throughout the book, the authors offer studies of diverse populations, including different ethnic backgrounds and nationalities, and different gender groups, and different socioeconomic levels. Although the health benefits of physical activity are fairly well-known, this book furthers our understanding of how to help people become active enough to enjoy these benefits.

The positive benefits of physical activity for physical and mental health are now widely acknowledged, yet levels of physical inactivity continue to be a major concern throughout the world. Understanding the psychology of physical activity has therefore become an important issue for scientists, health professionals and policy-makers alike as they address the challenge of behaviour change. Psychology of Physical Activity provides comprehensive and in-depth coverage of the fundamentals of exercise psychology, from mental health, to theories of motivation and adherence, and to the design of successful interventions for increasing participation. Now publishing in a fully revised, updated and expanded fourth edition, Psychology of Physical Activity is still the only textbook to offer a full survey of the evidence base for theory and practice in exercise psychology, and the only textbook that explains how to interpret the quality of the research evidence. As the field continues to grow rapidly, the new edition expands the behavioural science content of numerous important topics, including physical activity and cognitive functioning, automatic and affective frameworks for understanding physical activity involvement, new interventions designed to increase physical activity (including use of new technologies), and sedentary behaviour. A full companion website offers useful features to help students and lecturers get the most out of the book during their course, including multiple-choice revision questions, PowerPoint slides and a test bank of additional learning activities. Psychology of Physical Activity is the most authoritative, engaging and up-to-date book on exercise psychology currently available. It is essential reading for all students working in behavioural medicine, as well as the exercise and health sciences.