Glen Nielsen

Gender Differences in the Daily Physical Activities of Danish School Children.

The purpose of this study was to explore the daily physical activities of Danish children with a focus on describing and explaining gender differences. Accelerometer measurements of physical activity in different contexts, as well as questionnaire data, were collected from more than 500 children at pre-school and later at third grade. The study showed that boys were generally more physically active than girls (18% at age 6—7, and 16% at age 9—10, both p < 0.001) and found differences in the types of activities undertaken by the two genders. These findings are in accordance with numerous other studies in Denmark as well as internationally. However, this study adds to this knowledge by showing that the gender difference in total amounts of activity was mainly due to large gender differences in the amounts of self-organized physical activity such as after-school day care (difference at age 6—7 = 45%, difference at age 9—10 = 58%, both p < 0.001) and school breaks (difference at age 6—7 = 32%, difference at age 9—10 = 36%, both p < 0.001). This could be partly explained by boys being more interested in playing football in contexts for children’s self-organized activities. Différences liées au genre dans les activités physiques quotidiennes d’enfants d’école Danoise Le but de cette étude était d’explorer les activités physiques quotidiennes d’enfants danois en se focalisant sur la description et l’analyse des différences liées au genre. Des données d’activité physique mesurées par accéléromètre et par questionnaire ont été collectées dans différents contextes auprès de plus de 500 enfants d’écoles maternelle et primaire. L’étude a montré que les garçons étaient généralement plus actifs physiquement que les filles (18%, à l’âge de 6-7 ans, et 16% à l’âge de 9-10ans, p < 0.001), et a mis en évidence des différences concernant le type d’activités pratiquées par les deux genres. Ces résultats sont conformes aux nombreuses études réalisées au Danemark et au niveau international. Néanmoins, cette étude apporte de nouvelles connaissances en montrant que la quantité totale d’activité physique expliquée par la différence de genre était due principalement à des différences de genre relatives à la quantité d’activité physique auto-organisée telle que les activités pratiquées après l’école (différence à l’âge de 6-7 ans = 45%, différence à l’âge de 9-10 ans = 58%, p < 0.001), et lors des récréations (différence à l’âge de 6-7 ans = 32%, différence à l’âge de 9-10 ans = 36%, p < 0.001). Ceci peut partiellement être expliqué par le fait que, dans le cadre d’activités autoorganisées, les garçons sont plus intéressés que les filles par la pratique du football. Diferencias de género en las actividades diarias físicas en niños de la escuela danesa El propósito de este estudio fue explorar las actividades físicas diarias de los niños daneses con el objetivo en describir y explicar las diferencias de género. Mediciones de acelerometría de la actividad física en diferentes contextos, así como los datos del cuestionario, fueron recogidos en más de 500 niños en edad preescolar y más tarde en el tercer grado. El estudio mostró que los niños fueron en general más activos físicamente que las niñas (18%, a la edad de 6-7, y el 16% a la edad de 9-10, ambos p < 0,001) y se encontraron diferencias en los tipos de actividades llevadas a cabo por los dos sexos. Estos resultados están de acuerdo con numerosos estudios en Dinamarca, así como a nivel internacional. Sin embargo, este estudio se suma a este conocimiento al mostrar que la diferencia de género en las cantidades totales de actividad se debió principalmente a las diferencias de género en las grandes cantidades de actividad física auto-organizada, tanto después del colegio (diferencia a la edad de 6-7 = 45%, diferencia a la edad de 9-10 = 58%, ambos p < 0,001) y en las vacaciones escolares (diferencia a la edad de 6-7 = 32%, diferencia a la edad de 9-10 = 36%, ambos p < 0,001). Esto podría explicarse en parte por estar los niños más interesados en jugar al fútbol en contextos de actividades auto-organizadas para niños. Geschlechtsunterschiede bei der täglichen Bewegungszeit von dänischen Schulkindern Diese Studie diente der Erforschung der täglichen Bewegungszeit von dänischen Schulkindern mit dem Fokus auf der Beschreibung und Erklärung der Unterschiede zwischen den Geschlechtern. Beschleunigungsmessungen der körperlichen Aktivität in verschiedenen Zusammenhängen sowie die Daten aus Befragungen wurden von mehr als 500 Kindern im Vorschulalter sowie von Kindern des 3. Schuljahrs erhoben. Die Studie zeigte, dass Jungen im Allgemeinen aktiver waren als Mädchen (18 % bei den 6- bis 7-Jährigen und 16 % bei den 9- bis 10-Jährigen, für beide Werte p < 0,001) und dass die beiden Geschlechter unterschiedliche Aktivitäten ausführen. Diese Ergebnisse stimmen mit zahlreichen dänischen und internationalen Studien überein. Jedoch konnte aus dieser Studie die zusätzliche Erkenntnis gewonnen werden, dass der hauptsächliche Unterschied zwischen den Geschlechtern aus der groβen Differenz bei selbstorganisierten Bewegungsaktivitäten zum Beispiel in der auβerschulischen Betreuung (Unterschied bei den 6- bis7-Jährigen=45%, bei den 9- bis 10-Jährigen=58%, jeweils p < 0,001) und während der Pausen (Unterschied bei den 6- bis7-Jährigen=32%, bei den 9- bis 10-Jährigen=36%, jeweils p < 0,001) resultierte. Dies kann teilweise damit erklärt werden, dass Jungen sich mehr für Fuβball interessieren im Zusammenhang mit selbstorganiserten Aktivitäten.

The Copenhagen Consensus Conference 2016 : children, youth, and physical activity in schools and during leisure time

From 4 to 7 April 2016, 24 researchers from 8 countries and from a variety of academic disciplines gathered in Snekkersten, Denmark, to reach evidence-based consensus about physical activity in children and youth, that is, individuals between 6 and 18 years. Physical activity is an overarching term that consists of many structured and unstructured forms within school and out-of-school-time contexts, including organised sport, physical education, outdoor recreation, motor skill development programmes, recess, and active transportation such as biking and walking. This consensus statement presents the accord on the effects of physical activity on childrens and youths fitness, health, cognitive functioning, engagement, motivation, psychological well-being and social inclusion, as well as presenting educational and physical activity implementation strategies. The consensus was obtained through an iterative process that began with presentation of the state-of-the art in each domain followed by plenary and group discussions. Ultimately, Consensus Conference participants reached agreement on the 21-item consensus statement.

Narrative-collaborative group coaching develops social capital – a randomised control trial and further implications of the social impact of the intervention

The aim of this study was to investigate the influence of narrative-collaborative group coaching on career development, self-reflection and the general functioning of young sports talents with the goal of achieving integration of their sports careers, educational demands and private lives. The intervention was based on a narrative-collaborative approach, with the intention of inviting the participants to share with and learn from each other. The randomised control design was based on 77 participants (questionnaire measuring recovery/stress, motivation and action control). A qualitative interview study included six participants. The group-coaching intervention had a significant effect on the scores for social recovery and general well-being. The qualitative study showed that group-coaching participants valued the shared process of meaning-making as especially valuable. Narrative-collaborative group coaching can be understood as a community psychological intervention that helps to support the development of durable social networks and the increase of social capital.

Daily physical activity and sports participation among children from ethnic minorities in Denmark

Abstract The purpose of this study was to investigate whether Danish children from immigrant backgrounds are less physically active than children from the ethnic majority, and to investigate the possible reasons for any differences found. Accelerometer measures of physical activity as well as questionnaire data about organised sports, family demography, resources and values were collected from 594 children of whom 67 had other ethnic background than Danish. Data were collected when the children were 6–7 years old and again later when the children were 9–10 years old. It was found that children from immigrant backgrounds were not less physically active than other children when their amounts of daily physical activity were measured by direct objective measures, despite their participation rate in organised sports being much lower. Using multiple logistic regression modelling, this study showed that lack of parental experience with organised sports and lack of economic/material resources explained much of the difference in sports participation. Children of immigrant background had significant lower participation in club sports but this did not affect their overall physical activity level.

A quasi-experimental cross-disciplinary evaluation of the impacts of education outside the classroom on pupils’ physical activity, well-being and learning: the TEACHOUT study protocol

BackgroundEducation Outside the Classroom (EOTC) is a teaching method that aims to promote schoolchildren’s learning, physical activity (PA), social relations, motivation, and well-being. EOTC activities are characterized by teachers using the local environment in their teaching, and involve innovative teaching methods, child-led approaches to problem-solving, experimentation, cooperation, PA, and play. EOTC has become common practice for many teachers in Scandinavia; however, only case studies have evaluated its impacts.The TEACHOUT study aims to evaluate the impacts of EOTC on Danish schoolchildren’s PA, social relations, motivation, well-being, and learning.MethodsTEACHOUT is a quasi-experimental, cross-disciplinary study. Sixteen schools participated, containing 19 EOTC school classes and 19 parallel non-EOTC classes, with a total of 834 children aged 9 to 13 years. Measures of the children’s social relations, motivation for school, well-being, and academic performance were collected at the beginning and end of the school year. Data on PA levels were collected over ten-day periods during the school year using accelerometers. The amount and characteristics of the actual EOTC provided in both EOTC and non-EOTC classes were monitored day-to-day throughout the school year, using an online teacher survey platform. The effects of EOTC are mainly analysed by comparing EOTC pupils to non-EOTC (i.e. control) pupils based on their scores on the outcome variables (i.e. school performance, well-being, motivation, and social relations) at the end of the school year, adjusting for the baseline values (from the beginning of the year). The impacts of EOTC on PA are evaluated by comparing the total as well as context-specific amounts of PA of children participating in EOTC to those of children in their parallel non-EOTC classes. Furthermore, the interdependencies between PA, social relations, well-being, motivation, and learning are explored using path analysis. To help describe and understand the processes that have led to the quantitative outcomes, qualitative case observations of children’s practices and interactions in EOTC as well as classroom teaching were carried out and combined with qualitative interviews about children’s perceptions of these practices.DiscussionThe TEACHOUT study represents a holistic multidisciplinary approach to educational and school health-promotion research through its study design and combination of scientific disciplines and methods, as well as its focus on the interdependent relations between learning, PA, social relations, well-being, and motivation. This will result in a comprehensive picture of school health promotion and children’s health and well-being, which will broaden the understanding of the potential benefits of EOTC in school health promotion and primary education. These results can be used to inform and guide future policy and practice.

Measuring Children's Physical Activity: Compliance Using Skin-taped Accelerometers

Introduction Accelerometer-based physical activity monitoring has become the method of choice in many large-scale physical activity (PA) studies. However, there is an ongoing debate regarding the placement of the device, the determination of device wear time, and how to solve a lack of participant compliance. The aim of this study was to assess the compliance of Axivity AX3 accelerometers taped directly to the skin of 9- to 13-yr-old children. Methods Children in 46 school classes (53.4% girls, age 11.0 ± 1.0 yr, BMI 17.7 ± 2.8 kg·m−1) across Denmark wore two Axivity AX3 accelerometers, one taped on the thigh (n = 903) and one on the lower back (n = 856), for up to 10 consecutive days. Participants were instructed not to reattach an accelerometer should it fall off. Simple and multiple linear regressions were used to determine associations between accelerometer wear time and age, sex, BMI percentiles, and PA level. Results More than 65% had >7 d of uninterrupted, 24-h wear time for the thigh location and 59.5% for the lower back location. From multiple linear regressions, PA levels showed the strongest association with lower wear time (thigh: &bgr; = −0.231, R2 = 0.066; lower back: &bgr; = −0.454, R2 = 0.126). In addition, being a boy, being older (only for lower back), and having higher BMI percentile were associated with lower wear time. Conclusion Using skin-taped Axivity accelerometers, we obtained 7 d of uninterrupted accelerometer data with 24-h wear time per day with a compliance rate of more than 65%. Thigh placement resulted in higher compliance than lower back placement. Achieving days with 24-h wear time reduces the need for arbitrary decisions regarding wear time validation and most likely improves the validity of daily life PA measurements.

High intensity and reduced volume training attenuates stress and recovery levels in elite swimmers

Abstract This study investigated the effect of increased high-intensity interval training (HIT) at the expense of total training volume on the stress and recovery levels of elite swimmers. Forty-one elite swimmers participated in the study and were randomly assigned to either a HIT or a control group (CON). Eleven swimmers did not complete the questionnaires. For 12 weeks both groups trained ~12 h per week. The amount of HIT was ~5 h vs. 1 h, and total distance was ~17 km vs. ~35 km per week for HIT and CON, respectively. HIT was performed as 6–10 × 10–30 s maximal effort interspersed by 2–4 min of rest. The Recovery Stress Questionnaire – Sport was used to measure the swimmers’ stress and recovery levels. After the 12 week intervention, the general stress level was 16.6% (2.6–30.7%; mean and 95% CI) lower and the general recovery level was 6.5% (0.7–12.4%) higher in HIT compared to the CON, after adjusting for baseline values. No significant effects could be observed in sports-specific stress or sports-specific recovery. The results indicate that increasing training intensity and reducing training volume for 12 weeks can reduce general stress and increase general recovery levels in competitive swimmers.

The importance of cohesion and enjoyment for the fitness improvement of 8–10-year-old children participating in a team and individual sport school-based physical activity intervention

Abstract This study investigates the enjoyment and cohesion of school children participating in a school-based high-intensity physical activity (PA) intervention. Both enjoyment and cohesion have been found to be important factors for adherence to regular physical and sport activity, an important outcome of PA interventions. The sample consisted of 300 pupils (mean age: 9.3 years; 52.7% female) assigned to a team sport intervention, an individual sport intervention, or a control group for 10 months. The Physical Activity Enjoyment Scale and Youth Sport Environment Questionnaire were used to measure enjoyment and cohesion. The Yo-Yo IR1C test determined fitness improvements. Results showed that enjoyment and cohesion (social) measured at the beginning of the intervention significantly predict fitness improvements achieved after 10 months. No differing developmental effects over time could be found in the intervention groups with regard to cohesion and enjoyment when comparing them to the control group. However, enjoyment and cohesion (social) significantly decreased in the groups that performed individual sports. Team sports seem to be more advantageous for the development of enjoyment and cohesion, which are both factors that positively impact the health outcomes of the intervention.

The influence of club football on children’s daily physical activity

Studies on the effects of organized club sports on children’s total amount of physical activity (PA) show varying results. This may be partly due to different sports having different activity levels, but also different possibilities for being played outside club settings. This study investigates how playing football as a club sport is associated to the total amount of daily PA among children and how increased school recess activity impacts on this. Using accelerometers, the average daily amount of children’s PA as well the activity levels in specific contexts, such as during club-sports and school recess, was measured on a sample of 518 Danish children aged 9–10. The study found that children playing club football had higher total daily amounts of PA than both children taking part in other club-sports and children not taking part in club-sports at all. About half of the difference in total PA could be explained by higher activity levels during school recess. The association between club football and total PA, and the mediating effect of school recess PA, can be interpreted as the result of two main factors: the high activity levels during club football, and that Danish school grounds have football facilities which allow able and interested children to play football for many hours each week during school recess. On a more general level, the results indicate that the influence leisure-time club sport participation has on PA may differ due to how well the sport can be transferred to and played in other daily contexts for children’s self-organized PA, such as school recess.

No structure without culture? A survey study of 15-19 year olds’ practices, preferences and perceptions of physical activity in a Danish upper secondary school

This article presents the results of a questionnaire survey conducted in a Danish upper secondary school where alternative options of physical activity have been provided to the students. The purpose of the study is to gain knowledge about the perspectives of the students concerning physical education (PE), sport and exercise. The study illustrates young people’s practices, preferences and perceptions when physical activity is a gender-integrated activity as is the case in Denmark. The results are discussed in a figurational perspective viewing PE, sport and exercise as interdependent dimensions influencing young people’s participation in and views on physical activity. The study shows that even though we have a long tradition of gender-integrated PE in Denmark, very traditional gender differences similar to countries with gender-segregated PE prevails. The article, therefore, discusses the significance of cultural rather than structural circumstances while studying practices, preferences and perceptions of physical activity among young people.