LSU Research

BECOMING AND STAYING ACTIVE
Kinesiology professor seeking to impact physical fitness attitudes early in life

According to a year 2000 survey conducted by the Center for Disease Control and Prevention, 15 percent of all children and adolescents ages 6 to 19 years old are overweight. With no current indication that the percentage is decreasing, the importance of shaping positive attitudes towards physical activity and the health benefits it provides is becoming more relevant.

Department of Kinesiology Professor Melinda Solmon would like to create school programs that foster positive lifelong attitudes toward physical activity and fitness. As in most cases, the best time to start is childhood. The National Association of Sports and Physical Education (NASPE) recommends one to two hours of physical activity for children per day. With distractions like video games, DVD players, and televisions, the NASPE recommendation may be a little difficult to accomplish.

“Statistics show a steep decline in the physical activity of children,” says Solmon. “What we want to do is reverse those statistics by creating a culture that values physical activity and realizes its full benefits, not just being in shape.”

Solmon hopes to accomplish this with her school-based project, which focuses on middle school ages, typically 11 to 13 years old. With funding from the Research Consortium of the American Alliance for Health, Physical Education, Recreation & Dance (AAHPERD), she is developing strategies to promote physical activity that go beyond the traditional P.E. class.
A whole-school approach, as Solmon advocates, would get parents more involved in their child’s physical fitness. For instance, one possible way of accomplishing this approach is to encourage students to keep daily activity logs that would be verified by their parents. The benefit is two-fold: it helps students become more active and allows them to track their activity, and it makes parents more likely to be physically active with their children.

To design a complete program, Solmon and her team of doctoral and undergraduate students will interview middle school students in Baton Rouge area schools to gauge their attitudes towards physical activity, determine their motivation levels, and learn about the reasons that they choose to engage in physical activity. The team will also use pedometers and other devices like it to measure steps and distance, as well as observe the activities of students.

Solmon stresses the other benefits of physical activity besides just being in shape. Mounds of data suggest that physical activity beginning in childhood and continuing through adulthood can significantly reduce a person’s likelihood of stroke, heart attack, cancer and type 2 diabetes. She also emphasizes the importance of being happy while you exercise.

ON THE WEB:
LSU Department of Kinesiology
American Alliance for Health, Physical Education, Recreation & Dance
Center for Disease Control and Prevention
National Association of Sports and Physical Education