Promoting Active Healthy Lifestyles

From Principles to Practice in Youth Sport and Physical Education

Lois S. Hale, Ph.D.

The University of Texas of the Permian Basin

The nature of the challenge

• Inactivity is one of the ten leading global causes of death and disability (WHO, 2003)

• More than 60% of adults do not engage in sufficient levels of physical activity to benefit their present and future health (WHO, 2003)

The Caribbean Challenge

• There are substantial amounts of physical inactivity, especially among women.

• A large proportion of the Caribbean population is not interested in making positive lifestyle changes.

• According to the World Health Organization (WHO) 55 per cent of the people in the Caribbean will be hit with diabetes in the next 15 years.

Trinidad and Tobago’s Challenge• A majority of adults know that regular physical

activity is good for their health; less than 20% meet the criteria of 30 minutes of regular exercise 3 times/week. (National Health Survey, 1995)

• Less than a third of Trinidadians exercise. (The West Indian Medical Journal, 2002)

• A longer life span and an increasingly sedentary lifestyle have led to an increase in chronic diseases such as diabetes and hypertension.

(Ministry of Health, T&T)

But the children?

• A substantial proportion of children and adolescents are not sufficiently active (over 50% of adolescents) (Stone et al., 1998)

• 60% of today’s children in the United States manifest as least one modifiable risk factor for the development of coronary artery disease (Strong, et al., 1992)

Then there is obesity

• Obesity and overweight rates are on the rise among young people in Trinidad and Tobago.

• In the adult population of Trinidad and Tobago, 16.8% are estimated to be obese and 31.4% overweight.(Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations, 2003)

• Over 60% of young women in Barbados are overweight. (Caribbean Youth Environment Network)

Prevalence of obesity (BMI 30+) among adults 31-50 years by gender

0

5

10

15

20

25

30

35

JAM GUY TRIN DOM

%

Males

females

But, I teach physical education and coach sport.

What can I do?

Support from Heath Ministries

• Develop a “healthy school” policy or program.

• Require physical education and include it in the formal exam system.

• Broaden the range of sports and physical activities to include non-competitive activities such as aerobics and dance to encourage participation among girls.(Recommendations from a meeting of Caribbean Health Ministers, 2000)

What you do makes a difference

• Evidence suggests that physical activity behavior patterns acquired during childhood and adolescence are likely to be maintained throughout the life span (Stucky-Robb & DiLorenzo, 1993).

• Adolescents who had more experience with physical activity and sports prior to age 15 had a higher psychological readiness for physical activity at 30 years of age (Engstrom, 1991).

The purpose of this presentation is

• To identify several psychosocial factors believed to influence current and future levels of physical activity among children and adolescents.

• To discuss the implications that these factors hold for the design and delivery of physical education and sports programs that promote the adoption of active lifestyles by children and young people.

The assumptions upon which the presentation is based:

Assumption #1

1. Schools should be responsible for providing appropriate and adequate physical activity for all young people through physical education programs as well as through school sports programs and after school leisure-time physical activity initiatives.

Assumption #2

2. Physical education and sports program personnel should endorse the adoption and continuation of an active healthy lifestyle by students and athletes as a major program goal – recognizing that turning young people on to physical activity for a lifetime is a high priority.

Assumption #3

3. The degree of success that physical education and sports programs will have in meeting the program goal in number 2 is dependent upon

• what is taught,

• how it is taught, and

• the structure of the physical activity environment in which children and young people participate.

Psychosocial Factors

Self-Efficacy and Perceived Competence

Motivational ClimateSocial Support

Perceived BenefitsGender

What is taught? (Curriculum) How is it taught? (Instruction) How is the physical activity environment structured? (Context)

Current & Future Levels of Physical

Activity

Figure 1. The influence of psychosocial factors and the nature of physical education and sports programs on

physical activity levels.

Psychosocial Factors

What psychosocial factors influence physical activity levels of children

and adolescents?

Self-Efficacy• Self-efficacy: the confidence we have in

being able to do a certain thing under particular circumstances

• An important correlate of physical activity participation for children and adolescents –choice, effort, and persistence.

• In a study of the determinants of physical activity among children in 5th and 6th grades and again in 9th and 10th grades, the only positive predictor for girls was self-efficacy (DiLorenzo, et al., 1998).

Perceived Competence• The degree to which children participate in

MVPA is related to their perceptions concerning their fitness competence (Kimiecik, Horn, and Shurin, 1996)

• Children with low perceptions of their abilities to learn and perform sport skills do not participate or they drop out, whereas children who persist have higher levels of perceived competence (Weiss & Chaumeton, 1992)

Perceived Competence

• Self-perception of competence is influenced by personal dispositions (task and/or ego goal orientations) and experiences with others.

• YOU convey to your students and athletes your expectations, values, and beliefs; YOU shape their definition of achievement – improvement vs. beating others.

Motivational Climates

• Mastery or task involved climates

– effort, learning, and self-reference goal achievement are promoted

• Performance or ego involved climates

– winning and social comparisons of ability are advocated

Mastery Climates

• Children – task oriented.• Late childhood – influenced by others.• Depending on expectations and rewards,

they may continue to be task oriented or may adopt both task and ego orientations.

• The physical education and sport environment we structure for them makes a difference.

Mastery Climates

• higher task orientation• greater feelings of satisfaction • less boredom• higher perceived ability • higher intrinsic motivation• the belief that effort and ability are causes of

success (Attribution theory)• a more positive attitude toward physical

education (Weigand & Burton, 2002)

Social Support

• Parents, siblings, friends, and others influence participation in PA.

• Boys perceive significantly more modeling and support from friends for PA than girls (Stallis, et al., 1996).

• Perceived social support has more impact on PA levels of girls than boys - lack of support is the real issue for girls. (DiLorenzo, et al.).

Social Support vs. Social Control

• behavioral reactance: individuals perceive significant others to be exerting social control, rather than providing social support, so they act in the opposite way.

• The degree to which 5th and 8th graders believed they were able to easily regulate their physical activities (perceived behavioral control) was shown to predict intent to participate (Craig, Goldberg, & Dietz, 1996.)

Why children play

• In study upon study, fun has been shown to be the primary reason children engage in sport and physical activity – the primary perceived benefit.

• Children prefer unstructured, self-directed physical activity outside of school (Walton, et al., 1999).

Is that what we provide for them?

Perceived Benefits: Fun, Enjoyment and Excitement

What happens to our play on our way to

becoming adults? Downgraded by the intellectuals,

dismissed by the economists, put aside by the

psychologists, it was left to the teachers to deliver

the coup de grace. “Physical education” was born

and turned what was joy into boredom, fun into

drudgery, pleasure into work. (Sheehan, 1978, pp. 72-73)

Why Children Are Active

• Enjoyment of physical education

• Afternoon time for sport and physical activity.

• Family support for physical activity (support more important than parental physical activity behavior).

Gender

• Generally, girls are less active than boys from childhood on with these differences increasing throughout adolescence.

• There are differences in – preference for competitive activities,

– perceived competence in physical activity, and

– perceived benefits from participation.

How do we deal with these gender differences?

Recommendations for Practice

Now we know what we know, what do we do?

What should we teach?

• Offer activities that encourage high rates of physical activity.

• Allow for some choice of activities.

• Include noncompetitive activities, partner and small group activities, lifetime and recreational activities, aerobic dance.

• Make sure sport units are long enough to promote skill mastery – implications for physical education and youth sport.

How is it taught?

• Use inclusion style teaching so that activities are challenging and developmentally appropriate – multiple levels of performance for the same task.

• Use a differential style of teaching that allows students to make some decisions (e.g., choice of activity, degree of difficulty, pace) – higher intrinsic motivation and task engagement.

• Actively supervise children – encouraging, prompting, providing feedback as you move around the class – higher MVPA.

How is the physical activity environment structured?

• Do you reward improvement, effort and reaching a performance goal?

• Do you reward winning and doing better than others within the same class or team?

• Do you give the most praise when the victory comes easily to a student or an athlete?

Why a Mastery Climate?

• A mastery motivational climate encourages students to set self-referent goals.

• A mastery motivational climate results in a positive attitude and increased effort.

• How do you know what type of environmental climate – mastery or performance climate – you are providing?

TARGET

The key to enhanced motivation for an active lifestyle and perceived

physical activity competence.

Mastery Climate Performance Climate

Tasks Challenging and diverseAbsence of variety and challenge

AuthorityStudents given choices and leadership roles

No participation by students in decision-making processes

RecognitionPrivate and based on individual progress

Public and based on social comparison

GroupingCooperative learning and peer interaction promoted

Groups formed on the basis of ability

EvaluationBased on mastery of tasks and on individual improvement

Based on winning or outperforming others

TimeTime requirements adjusted to personal capabilities

Time allocated for learning uniform for all students

Develop Competence in a Mastery Climate

• Develop perceived and actual competence.• Do it within a mastery climate.• Be sensitive to individual differences, but

keep you eye on the target – healthy, active lifestyles.

• You can’t do it alone. • Educate parents and significant others;

replace “Did you win?” with “Did you have fun?” or “Did you improve?”

Do you make a difference?

Absolutely!

You are professionals, passionately promoting active, healthy lifestyles.

Best wishes and good luck!