Education Commons^™

Encouraging Or Guilt-Inducing? An Analysis Of Fitspiration Content And Its Effect On Body Image And Lifestyle Changes, Brenna Mazour

Honors Theses

More people are acquiring their nutrition and exercise information from social media accounts called fitspiration. Analyses of fitspiration content have found the focus to be on restrictive diets and excessive exercise that’s appearance driven. Although its intent is to inspire its consumers to change their lifestyle, many speculate that it brings upon negative body image and induces guilt. The Theory of Planned Behavior (TPB) has been used to determine why people take part in certain health behaviors, such as diets or exercise regimens posted on fitspiration. TPB shows how the characteristics of social media discourage people to use fitspiration as …

Combined Effects Of Aerobic Exercise And 40-Hz Light Flicker Exposure On Early Cognitive Impairments In Alzheimer’S Disease Of 3×Tg Mice, Sang-Seo Park, Hye-Sang Park, Change-Ju Kim, Seung-Soo Baek, Song-Young Park, Cody Anderson, Myung-Ki Kim, Ik-Ryeul Park, Tae-Woon Kim

Health and Kinesiology Faculty Publications

Alzheimer’s disease (AD) is a progressive degenerative brain disease and the primary cause of dementia. At an early stage, AD is generally characterized by short-term memory impairment, owing to dysfunctions of the cortex and hippocampus. We previously reported that a combination of exercise and 40-Hz light flickering can protect against AD-related neuroinflammation, gamma oscillations, reduction in Aβ, and cognitive decline. Therefore, we sought to extend our previous findings to the 5-mo-old 3×Tg-AD mouse model to examine whether the same favorable effects occur in earlier stages of cognitive dysfunction. We investigated the effects of 12 wk of exercise combined with 40-Hz …

Factor Structure Of The Barriers To Physical Activity Scale For Youth With Visual Impairments, Jeffrey J. Martin, Erin E. Snapp, E. Whitney G. Moore, Lauren J. Lieberman, Ellen Armstrong, Staci Mannella

Kinesiology, Health and Sport Studies

Youth with visual impairments (VI) often experience unique barriers to physical activity (PA) compared to their sighted peers (Armstrong et al., 2018). A psychometrically sound scale for assessing barriers to PA for youth with VI is needed to facilitate research. The purpose of this paper was to confirm the ability of the previously identified three-factor structure of the Physical Activity Barriers Questionnaire for youth with Visual Impairments (PABQ-VI) to produce scores considered to be valid and reliable (Armstrong et al., 2020; Armstrong et al., 2018) that perform equally well across age, VI severity, and gender. Our results supported the three-factor …

Tracing The Landscape: Re-Enchantment, Play, And Spirituality In Parkour, Brett D. Potter

Publications and Scholarship

Parkour, along with “free-running”, is a relatively new but increasingly ubiquitous sport with possibilities for new configurations of ecology and spirituality in global urban contexts. Parkour differs significantly from traditional sports in its use of existing urban topography including walls, fences, and rooftops as an obstacle course/playground to be creatively navigated. Both parkour and “free-running”, in their haptic, intuitive exploration of the environment retrieve an enchanted notion of place with analogues in the religious language of pilgrimage. The parkour practitioner or traceur/traceuse exemplifies what Michael Atkinson terms “human reclamation”—a reclaiming of the body in space, and of the urban environment …

The Impact Of Exercising At A Self-Selected Intensity On Concurrent Academic Task Performance, Carrie Ann French

Masters Theses & Specialist Projects

The goal of this study was to examine the impact of exercising while completing an academic task on performance on the academic tasks. Participants were 71 undergraduate students at a midsized southern university who were asked to complete reading and math tasks while exercising on a stationary bike. Performance on reading and math tasks completed on the stationary bike was compared within-subjects to performance on parallel tasks while seated. Working memory scores were assessed as potential covariates. Order of experimental tasks was evaluated as a between-subjects factor. Within-subjects ANCOVA’s indicated that performance on math tasks was significantly worse while exercising. …

Student Lifestyle Choices And Perceptions Of Stress Based On Majors, Nathan Robinson, Seth Andrews, Benjamin E. Yoder

Exercise Science Senior Research Projects

College students are often experience many stressors. This study was designed to look at perceived-stress and health habits with relation to academic department of undergraduate students at Cedarville University. The results of this study have implications for the Physical Activity and the Christian Life (PACL) class, offered on the Cedarville campus, in assessing its current curriculum and making potential future adjustments to the course. The objective of this study was to answer the question: “Do perceived stress levels within different academic departments affect health habits in Cedarville University undergraduate students?”

The study was conducted with a campus-wide, 27 question survey …

Barriers, Motivations, And Preferences For Physical Activity Among Female African American Older Adults, Neha P. Gothe, Bradley J. Kendall

Kinesiology, Health and Sport Studies

According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, less than 11% of adults more than the age of 65 meet the 2008 Physical Activity Guidelines for Americans. Among minority populations, only 5% of non-Hispanic Black older adults met the guidelines. Given our limited understanding of psychosocial and environmental factors that affect physical activity participation in these groups, the purpose of our focus groups was to investigate barriers, motivators, and preferences of physical activity for community-dwelling African American older adults. Three focus groups were conducted with female African American older adults (N = 20). Questions posed to each focus group …

Active Science® Pilot Study: Promoting Physical Activity And Science Learning Among Children, Kevin E. Finn, Zi Yan, Edward Martin, Kyle Mcinnis

Health Sciences Faculty Publications

Background: Afterschool programs (ASPs) have been identified as ideal settings where children can accumulate a significant portion of their total daily physical activity (PA). The purpose of the current study was to assess the effectiveness of the Active Science program in promoting PA and science learning in different site locations across the U.S. Methods: Participants were 72 children (35 females, mean age = 9.2 years, standard deviation [SD] = 0.9) from five YMCA afterschool childcare sites located in five states. The 6-week Active Science program was implemented twice/week for 60 min at a site. The participants completed 30 min of …

Preliminary Efficacy And Feasibility Of Embedding High Intensity Interval Training Into The School Day: A Pilot Randomized Controlled Trial, S. A. Costigan, N. Eather, R. C. Plotnikoff, Dennis Taaffe, E. Pollock, S. G. Kennedy, D. R. Lubans

Research outputs 2014 to 2021

Current physical activity and fitness levels among adolescents are low, increasing the risk of chronic disease. Although the efficacy of high intensity interval training (HIIT) for improving metabolic health is now well established, it is not known if this type of activity can be effective to improve adolescent health. The primary aim of this study is to assess the effectiveness and feasibility of embedding HIIT into the school day. A 3-arm pilot randomized controlled trial was conducted in one secondary school in Newcastle, Australia. Participants (n = 65; mean age = 15.8(0.6) years) were randomized into one of three conditions: …

Psychometric Properties Of The Abbreviated Perceived Motivational Climate In Exercise Questionnaire, E. Whitney G. Moore, Theresa C. Brown, Mary D. Fry

Kinesiology, Health and Sport Studies

The purpose of this study was to develop an abbreviated version of the Perceived Motivational Climate in Exercise Questionnaire (PMCEQ-A) to provide a more practical instrument for use in applied exercise settings. In the calibration step, 2 shortened versions’ measurement and latent model values were compared to each other and the original PMCEQ using a 3-group CFA invariance testing approach with previously collected exercise setting data (N = 5,427). Based on the model fit and reliability values, the 12-item version performed better than the 17-item version. The resultant 12-item PMCEQ-A’s CFA model estimates were then compared to the PMCEQ’s model …

Considering Sport Participation As A Source For Physical Activity Among Adolescents, Jennifer Pharr, Nancy L. Lough

Environmental & Occupational Health Faculty Publications

BACKGROUND:

Studies have shown participation in sport is lower among girls than boys, decreases as students matriculate through high school, is lowest among Black and Hispanic girls and has a positive relationship with SES. With sport recognized as a contributor to physical activity and health in adolescents, consideration of diminishing rates of participation appears warranted. The purpose of this study was to identify patterns related to differences in self-reported sport participation between genders, ethnic groups, grades and SES.

METHODS:

This study was a cross-sectional, secondary analysis of data collected for a sport interest survey. All students in grades 8-11 attending …

Self-Organizing: From Child’S Play To An Effective Wellness Program, Francisco Guajardo, Brian J. Warren, Lin Wang

Organization and School Leadership Faculty Publications and Presentations

This article examines the exercise practices of a group of faculty members at a regional university who for a decade have participated in their own racquetball league. These professors self-organized their exercise regimen and during the period of their participation have found significant benefits beyond the physical benefits, as a result. Through the production of reflective narratives focused on the impact of their racquetball participation, their self-reported data show two broad themes and numerous sub-themes that emerge from their exercise experience. They reveal significant health benefits, and they express more deeply the benefits of the positive social interaction that impacts …

Plasticity Of Brain Networks In A Randomized Intervention Trial Of Exercise Training In Older Adults, Michelle W. Voss, Ruchika S. Prakash, Kirk I. Erickson, Chandramallika Basak, Laura Chaddock, Jennifer S. Kim, Heloisa Alves, Susie Heo, Amanda N. Szabo, Siobhan M. White, Thomas R. Wójcicki, Emily L. Mailey, Neha Gothe, Erin A. Olson, Edward Mcauley, Arthur F. Kramer

Kinesiology, Health and Sport Studies

Research has shown the human brain is organized into separable functional networks during rest and varied states of cognition, and that aging is associated with specific network dysfunctions. The present study used functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) to examine low-frequency (0.008 < f < 0.08 Hz) coherence of cognitively relevant and sensory brain networks in older adults who participated in a 1-year intervention trial, comparing the effects of aerobic and nonaerobic fitness training on brain function and cognition. Results showed that aerobic training improved the aging brain’s resting functional efficiency in higher-level cognitive networks. One year of walking increased functional connectivity between aspects of the frontal, posterior, and temporal cortices within the Default Mode Network and a Frontal Executive Network, two brain networks central to brain dysfunction in aging. Length of training was also an important factor. Effects in favor of the walking group were observed only after 12 months of training, compared to non-significant trends after 6 months. A non-aerobic stretching and toning group also showed increased functional connectivity in the DMN after 6 months and in a Frontal Parietal Network after 12 months, possibly reflecting experience-dependent plasticity. Finally, we found that changes in functional connectivity were behaviorally relevant. Increased functional connectivity was associated with greater improvement in executive function. Therefore the study provides the first evidence for exercise-induced functional plasticity in large-scale brain systems in the aging brain, using functional connectivity techniques, and offers new insight into the role of aerobic fitness in attenuating age-related brain dysfunction.

The Effectiveness Of Mentoring-Based Professional Development On Physical Education Teachers' Pedometer And Computer Efficacy And Anxiety, Jeffrey J. Martin, Nate Mccaughtry, Pamela Hodges Kulinna, Donetta Cothran, Roberta Faust

Kinesiology, Health and Sport Studies

The purpose of our study was to examine the impact of mentoring-based professional development on physical education teachers' efficacy. Experienced mentor teachers were paired (n = 15) with inexperienced protégé teachers (n = 15) at the beginning of a yearlong intervention study. It was hypothesized that teachers would increase their efficacy to use pedometers and computers to enhance instruction, and reduce their computer anxiety. Repeated-measures ANOVAs for mentors and protégés revealed a variety of significant main effects. We found increases in computer and pedometer efficacy. A second set of repeated-measures ANOVAs based on mentors', protégés', and control groups' …

G05-1589 Fun Family Time Together, Kathy Bosch

University of Nebraska-Lincoln Extension: Historical Materials

Listed here are some 100 activities that families can do together to help strengthen their relationships and create unity and loyalty among all family members.

"One criterion for family fun is to make time to be together."