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The current study examined associations between physical education (PE) class enjoyment and sociodemographic, personal, and perceived school environment factors among early adolescent girls. Participants included 1,511 sixth-grade girls who completed baseline assessments for the Trial of Activity in Adolescent Girls, with 50% indicating they enjoyed PE class a lot. Variables positively associated with PE class enjoyment included physical activity level, perceived benefits of physical activity, self-efficacy for leisure time physical activity, and perceived school climate for girls' physical activity as influenced by teachers, while body mass index was inversely associated with PE class enjoyment. After adjusting for all variables in the model, PE class enjoyment was significantly greater in Blacks than in Whites. In model testing, with mutual adjustment for all variables, self-efficacy was the strongest correlate of PE class enjoyment, followed by perceived benefits, race/ethnicity, and teachers' support for girls' physical activity, as compared to boys, at school. The overall model explained 11% of the variance in PE class enjoyment. Findings suggest that efforts to enhance girls' self-efficacy and perceived benefits and to provide a supportive PE class environment that promotes gender equality can potentially increase PE class enjoyment among young girls. (Contains 4 tables.)

Objective: To determine the incidence of breast cancer-related lymphedema (BCRL) during the early survivorship period as well as demographic, lifestyle, and clinical factors associated with BCRL development., Design: The Pathways Study, a prospective cohort study of breast cancer survivors with a mean follow-up time of 20.9 months., Setting: Kaiser Permanente Northern California medical care program., Participants: We studied 997 women diagnosed from January 9, 2006, through October 15, 2007, with primary invasive breast cancer and who were at least 21 years of age at diagnosis, had no history of any cancer, and spoke English, Spanish, Cantonese, or Mandarin., Main Outcome Measure: Clinical indication for BCRL as determined from outpatient or hospitalization diagnostic codes, outpatient procedural codes, and durable medical equipment orders., Results: A clinical indication for BCRL was found in 133 women (13.3%), with a mean time to diagnosis of 8.3 months (range, 0.7-27.3 months). Being African American (hazard ratio, 1.93; 95% confidence interval, 1.00-3.72) or more educated (P for trend = .03) was associated with an increased risk of BCRL. Removal of at least 1 lymph node (hazard ratio, 1.04; 95% confidence interval, 1.02-1.07) was associated with an increased risk, yet no significant association was observed for type of lymph node surgery. Being obese at breast cancer diagnosis was suggestive of an elevated risk (hazard ratio, 1.43; 95% confidence interval, 0.88-2.31)., Conclusions: In a large cohort study, BCRL occurs among a substantial proportion of early breast cancer survivors. Our findings agree with those of previous studies on the increased risk of BCRL with removal of lymph nodes and being obese, but they point to a differential risk according to race or ethnicity.

Objective: To examine how "travel by walking" before and after school contributes to total physical activity of adolescent girls., Design: Cross-sectional sample., Setting: Thirty-six middle schools from Arizona, Maryland, Minnesota, Louisiana, California, and South Carolina participating in the Trial of Activity for Adolescent Girls (TAAG)., Participants: Seventeen hundred twenty-one sixth-grade girls consented to participate; adequate information was available for 1596 participants (93%)., Main Exposure: Travel by walking before school, after school, and before and after school combined assessed from the 3-Day Physical Activity Recall., Main Outcome Measure: Mean minutes of physical activity measured by accelerometry were estimated for total physical activity (light, moderate, vigorous), moderate to vigorous activity (MVPA), and MVPA of 3 metabolic equivalents., Results: Travel by walking was reported by 14% of participants before school and 18% after school. Girls who reported travel by walking before and after school (combined) had 13.7 more minutes (95% confidence interval, 1.2-26.3) of total physical activity and 4.7 more minutes (95% confidence interval, 2.2-7.2) of MVPA than girls who did not report this activity. Before-school and after-school walkers (but not both) accumulated 2.5 more minutes (95% confidence interval, 0.10-4.9) and 2.2 more minutes (95% confidence interval, 0.24-4.2) of MVPA on an average weekday, respectively, than nonwalkers., Conclusion: Our results provide evidence that walking to and from school increases weekday minutes of total physical activity and MVPA for middle-school girls.