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While schools provide one opportunity to encourage physical activity, caregivers play an exceedingly important role in creating an environment conducive to preschool children's physical activity. Yet, little is known regarding the perceptions of caregivers, important choice agents for young children's physical activity behavior after participating in a motor skill program. The purpose of this study was to examine caregivers' perceptions of facilitators and barriers to children's physical activity at home among rural, low-income families who participated in a school-based early childhood physical activity program, SKIPping with PALS, designed to increase physical activity and improve motor development. Eleven caregivers consented to participate in a semi-structured interview regarding their perceptions of physical activity and their experience after six months of participation in the program. An inductive, naturalistic evaluation approach was utilized for qualitative data analysis, following the six recursive phases of thematic analysis. A review of the interview transcripts revealed that all caregivers valued physical activity and encouraged their children to be active. Four major facilitators, four major barriers, and an overarching theme of parental support for childhood physical activity were identified. These factors are largely circumstantial and attitudinal and, thus, are difficult to modify but are important to be cognizant of when designing interventions. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Youth with visual impairments (VIs) tend to have lower levels of motor competence and physical activity with increased sedentary behavior and risk of obesity when compared to their peers without VIs. Knowing the influence that motor competence plays on physical activity behaviors in childhood, it is important to identify factors, such as self and others' perceptions, that may be supporting/inhibiting motor competence levels for youth with VIs. To rigorously examine self-perceptions, parents' perceptions, and metaperceptions, it is important to have instruments with appropriate content and face validity. Therefore, the purpose of this Delphi study was to determine the content/face validity of the self-perception, parents' perception, and metaperception questionnaires for youth with VIs. Participants (N = 13, male = 2; female = 11) included experts from four categories: (1) teachers directly working with students with VIs in schools (teachers of the visually impaired [TVI], orientation and mobility specialists [O and M], adapted and general physical educators [ n = 6]); (2) researchers who publish studies in the field of physical education, motor behavior, or VIs (n = 3); (3) parents of children with VIs (n = 2); and (4) individuals with documented VIs (n = 2). After two rounds of completing the Delphi procedure, results showed means above 4.0 out of 5.0 for all three questionnaires. The panel of experts deemed the content/face validity of the instruments acceptable. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Our purpose in this study was to document the criterion validity of the Fitbit Zip for measuring steps taken by youth with visual impairments (VI). A secondary purpose was to determine whether walking pace, mounting position, or relative position to the user's mobility device impacted the criterion validity of the device. Fourteen adolescent-aged individuals (Mage = 15.4; 13 male and 1 female) with VI participated in this study. Participants wore four Fitbit Zips at different mounting positions and completed two, 2-min walking trials while the lead investigator hand tallied steps. Measurement validity was analyzed using absolute percent error (APE), intraclass correlation coefficients estimated level of conformity, and paired samples t tests and Cohen's d effect sizes assessed APE relative to mounting positions. Results supported the use of the Fitbit Zip during regular-paced walking; however, caution must be used during activities exceeding regular walking speeds, as devices consistently underestimated steps. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article discusses a study that examines the developmental trajectory of perceptions of motor competence of children ages 3 to 13 years with and without visual impairments. Study highlights include the use of the United States Association of Blind Athletes system, the Test of Perceived Motor Competence for Children with Visual Impairments, and the use of Pearson Product Moment correlations to examine links among age and perceptions of motor competence.