2019 – The Sport Journal

The Role of Organized Youth Sports in Reducing Trends in Childhood Obesity

Authors: Alysia Cohen, Heidi Wegis, Darren Dutto, Viktor Bovbjerg

Corresponding Author:
Alysia Cohen, PhD, ATC, CSCS
1435 Village Drive
Ogden, UT 84408
alysiacohen@weber.edu
801-626-7115

Alysia Cohen is an Assistant Professor in the Department of Athletic Training at Weber State University.

The Role of Organized Youth Sports in Reducing Trends in Childhood Obesity

Abstract

Purpose: To examine physical activity (PA) levels of children playing youth sports and the relationship of recommended levels of PA to contextual factors of the organized youth sports environment that may boost fitness and health during childhood and adolescence. Methods: Accelerometer-measured PA was obtained from 167 children (85 male, 82 female) aged 7-13 years. Sport contextual factors were recorded via direct observation of 29 coaches. PA levels were examined by age, gender, and between group variability. Direct observation intervals were analyzed by category using the Chi-square statistic for degree of association to moderate-to vigorous-intensity physical activity (MVPA). Results: On average children spent 21.9 ±7.9 minutes in MVPA during sport practices (< 50% of practice time). Proportion of practice time MVPA was lower among females (28.7 ± 7.2%) than males (35.0 ± 9.1%). Proportion of practice time MVPA was higher among children (male and female) aged 7-9 years (32.6 ± 1.4%) compared to children aged 10-13 years (30.66 ±1.25%). Longer practice times were not shown to increase the proportion of time spent in MVPA. The most frequently observed sport activities were sports drills (51.6%), activities involving all players (37.8%), management/general instruction (52.3%), and proximal positioning of the coach (99.5%). Management and general instruction coaching behavior was not significantly associated with MVPA but did consume a prominent proportion of practice time. Health-related fitness activities made up 1.7% of practice time. Conclusions: In comparison with recommendations, youth sports appear active, however, a large portion of practice time is sedentary suggesting room for improvement. Including fun non-specific or specific sport activities that promote participation from all players and increase heart rate. Fun play experiences during sport practices may encourage greater in active play within and outside of sport with behaviors persisting into adolescence and adulthood. Applications in Sport: Training coaches to teach fun sport activities that engage all players would improve within practice active time and enjoyable experiences that may promote future participation in sport or activity outside of sport.

(more…)

U.S. Sports Academy2020-06-02T11:25:00-05:00December 27th, 2019|Research, Sports Health & Fitness|Comments Off

Weight Discrimination among Students from a Diverse Urban University

Authors: Guillermo Escalante¹, Rafael Alamilla¹, Eric Vogelsang², Christopher Gentry¹, Jason Ng¹

¹Department of Kinesiology, California State University, San Bernardino, USA; ²Department of Sociology, California State University, San Bernardino, USA

Corresponding Author:
Guillermo Escalante, DSc, MBA, ATC, CSCS, CISSN
California State University- San Bernardino, Department of Kinesiology
5500 University Parkway
San Bernardino, CA 92407
gescalan@csusb.edu
(909) 537-7236

Weight Discrimination among Students from a Diverse Urban University

ABSTRACT

Purpose: To examine the association between university students’ weight discrimination and their academic discipline, gender, ethnicity, body mass index (BMI), body fat percentage, explicit overweight bias, personal body perceptions, and their personal experiences with weight loss. Methods: Sixty-two students (Age: 23.9 ± 4.7 y) from various disciplines completed 1) a 41-question survey that addressed the participant’s explicit overweight bias, prior struggles with body weight, and body perceptions; 2) the Weight-Implicit Association Test (WIAT) to address overweight implicit bias; and 3) measurement of height, weight, and body fat. Chi-Square tests were performed between the participant’s WIAT results and academic discipline, BMI, body fat, explicit bias, personal experience with their body fat, and body perception. Moreover, differences in BMI and body fat percentage were examined with two separate 2 (gender) × 2 (academic discipline) repeated measures ANOVAs. Results: ANOVA results revealed a relationship between an explicit bias and WIAT implicit bias. No relationships were found between the results of the WIAT and academic discipline, BMI classification, body fat classification, personal experience with body fat, or perceptions of their body. Conclusions: An implicit anti-fat bias exists regardless of academic discipline, percent body fat, BMI, explicit anti-fat bias, prior struggles with body fat, or perceptions of their body. These findings support previous literature that suggests individuals have an unconscious negative prejudgment of overweight people. Applications in Sport: Current physical educators, healthcare professionals, fitness professionals, sport coaches, and university faculty preparing students for these professions must begin to take the steps necessary to eliminate weight bias from their environments. The authors recommend that all members of the aforementioned communities develop an understanding of the factors that may lead to weight gain and develop strategies of encouraging overweight individuals to reduce their weight without further perpetuating weight stigma.

(more…)

U.S. Sports Academy2019-12-12T14:21:11-06:00December 20th, 2019|Research, Sports Health & Fitness|Comments Off

Voice Health in Pre-Service Physical Education Majors: A Pilot Study

Authors: Marty Marra, Ed. D., Kellyn Hall, Ph. D., and Fred J. Cromartie, Ed. D.

Corresponding Author:
Dr. Marty Marra
Longwood University
201 High Street
Farmville, VA 23909
marraml@longwood.edu
434-395-2935

Dr. Marty Marra is an Assistant Professor of Health and Physical Education at Longwood University in Farmville, VA. Dr. Marra has been involved in education for 33 years and continues to research and study in the areas of pedagogy, professionalism, current trends and gender equity issues in health, physical education and athletics.

Kellyn Hall, Ph.D. CCC/SLP is a clinician, researcher, teacher, and author with over 30 years’ experience working in a variety of medical settings. She is currently an Associate Professor in the Communication Sciences and Disorders program at North Carolina Central University where she teaches medical speech-language pathology courses. Her clinical interests are in adult and pediatric voice disorders.

Dr. Fred J. Cromartie, is the Director of Doctoral Studies at the United States Sports Academy.

Voice Health in Pre-Service Physical Education Majors: A Pilot Study

ABSTRACT

Teachers are at a higher risk for phono-traumatic voice disorders due to increased vocal demands of their profession. Previous studies suggest that training modules may be effective in educating practicing teachers about vocal hygiene and vocally abusive behaviors.

The purpose of this study was to pilot an online training module targeting student teachers before they entered their teaching professions. The goals were to provide instruction about vocal hygiene, strategies for optimal voice production, and determine the effectiveness of the training in their vocal practices in their future careers. It was hypothesized that an online educational module will increase undergraduate students’ knowledge of vocal hygiene, thereby reducing their risk of developing voice disorders in the future.

(more…)

U.S. Sports Academy2019-11-27T08:36:50-06:00December 13th, 2019|Sport Education|Comments Off

Health and Lifestyle Behaviors of U.S. Masters World Cup Field Hockey Players

Authors: Karen Croteau¹, Nina Eduljee¹, Laurie Murphy¹, Lisa Ahearn², Stella L. Volpe³

¹Saint Joseph’s College of Maine, ²Plymouth State University, ³Drexel University

Corresponding Author:
Karen Croteau
Department of Sport and Exercise Science
Saint Joseph’s College of Maine
Standish, ME 04084
kcroteau@sjcme.edu

Karen Croteau is Professor and Chair of the Department of Sport and Exercise Science at Saint Joseph’s College of Maine.

Nina Eduljee is Professor of Psychology at Saint Joseph’s College of Maine.

Laurie Murphy is Assistant Professor of Business at Saint Joseph’s College of Maine.

Lisa Ahearn is Assistant Professor of Business at Plymouth State University, Plymouth, NH.

Stella Volpe is Professor and Chair of the Department of Nutrition Sciences at Drexel University, Philadelphia, PA.

Health and Lifestyle Behaviors of U.S. Masters World Cup Field Hockey Players

ABSTRACT

The purpose of this study was to examine health and lifestyle behaviors of United States Masters field hockey athletes who competed in the Masters Field Hockey World Cup in 2018. A total of 122 athletes (72 women, 50 men) completed the 42-item Health and Well-being of Masters Field Hockey Athletes Survey. Mean age was 50.1±8.3 years (range = 35 to 71). Mean body mass index (BMI) was 24.9±3.1 kg/m². Participants rated their health as very good/excellent (86.9%) and their stress as rare/not at all (56.6%), had no major health conditions (61.5%) or medication use (70.5%), and had at least one injury (53.3%). Participants consumed ≥2 fruits (68.9%) and ≥2 vegetables (83.6%) per day, daily breakfast (68.0%), ≤1 sugar-sweetened beverage (86.9%) and ≥7 cups of water (54.1%) per day, and ≤2 alcoholic beverages per week (59.8%). Participants reported ≥7 hours of sleep per night (65.5%), and no/little restless sleep (52.4%). Just under half of participants reported sitting ≥5 hours per day (46.7%). Exercise frequency at ≥3 days per week and ≥30 minutes per day was 95.9% and 98.4%, respectively, with jogging (68.0%) the most common mode. Well-being scores were high. Overall, Masters field hockey athletes are healthy and practice lifestyle behaviors conducive to positive health.

(more…)

U.S. Sports Academy2020-06-02T13:44:48-05:00December 6th, 2019|Commentary, Sports Health & Fitness|Comments Off

Ability for tennis specific variables and agility for determining the Universal Tennis Ranking (UTR)

Authors: Jennifer A. Kurtz* (1), Jake Grazer (2), Bradley Alban (3), Mike Martino (4)

Corresponding Author:
Jennifer A. Kurtz, MS
120 Coventry Court
Fayetteville, GA 30215
Jennifer.kurtz06@gmail.com
404-509-3384

Jennifer Kurtz is a doctoral student at The University of Georgia studying exercise physiology. She is also an assistant strength and conditioning coach at Elite Performance Institute.

Jake Grazer is an Assistant Professor of Exercise Science at Georgia College & State University.

Bradley Alban is an Assistant Professor of Exercise Science at Georgia College & State University.

Mike Martino is an Professor of Exercise Science at Georgia College & State University.

Ability for tennis specific variables and agility for determining the Universal Tennis Ranking (UTR): A Review and Recommendations

ABSTRACT

Our purpose was to investigate tennis specific measures to predict a player’s Universal Tennis Ranking (UTR) value and to see what percentage of the variables most influence the ranking. Methods: 15 male and 14 female athletes volunteered to participate in this study. Each volunteer performed no more than 16 total serves or eight from the add and deuce side down the “T”, no more than 16 total forehands and backhands down-the-line, three spider tests, and two trials of footwork taps in 30 seconds. Only the top two hits were analyzed. Results: A multiple linear regression was calculated predicting a player’s UTR based on serve, forehand, backhand, agility, and footwork taps. The regression equation was significant (F (5,23) = 29.66, p<.05) with an R squared value of 0.866. Coefficient of variation (CV) and intra-class correlation coefficients (ICC) were calculated to assess reliability between player serve (r=0.902), forehand (r=0.843) and backhand velocity (r=0.858), agility (r=-0.817), and footwork (r=0.472). More noticeable was the significant predictive value of serve (r=0.902) and backhand velocity (r=0.858) to the player’s UTR. Conclusion: These results underline the important relationship between the player’s UTR and tennis-specific characteristics (serve and backhand velocity) as assessed by the player’s stroke velocity. The ability of training regimens to improve tennis-specific metrics would improve performance qualities and the player’s UTR.

(more…)

U.S. Sports Academy2020-10-06T08:27:28-05:00November 29th, 2019|Research, Sports Health & Fitness|Comments Off