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To examine the associations between physical activity (PA) levels and mental health in children and adolescents with intellectual disabilities (IDs) during the COVID-19 pandemic, 117 participants aged between 6 and 17 years with IDs from 10 Hong Kong special schools were included. There were positive dose--response associations between PA (i.e., light PA, moderate PA, and vigorous PA) and mental health, and participants with higher levels of moderate-to-vigorous PA (MVPA) and self-concept (SC) had better social quality of life (QoL) than those with lower levels of MVPA and SC. Moreover, personal and environmental factors such as age, body mass index, school, sex, ID level, and parental education level influenced the PA levels and QoL in children and adolescents with IDs.

This study aimed to examine the associations between perceived social support, perceived competence, and physical activity in children with physical and intellectual disabilities during the COVID-19 pandemic. During the third wave of the pandemic in Hong Kong (i.e., July through December 2020), 291 participants age 6-17 years from 27 special schools were included. After controlling for demographic variables, the total variance explained by perceived social support and perceived competence was 24%, F(2, 240) = 12.42, p < .001, with perceived competence having a stronger association with physical activity (β = 0.29, p < .001) than perceived social support (β = 0.07, p = .22). This study highlights two key facilitators for shaping physical activity involvement among children with disabilities during the COVID-19 pandemic.

In response to the all-round development of primary school children, this study aimed to evaluate the effectiveness of a blended intervention program on children's health-related outcomes of aerobic fitness, motor skills, inhibition and daytime sleepiness in classroom settings. Three experimental conditions include: (1) the "Stand + Move" group combining sit-stand desks and physical activity (PA) recess, (2) "Move" group with PA recess only, and (3) Control group (CG; normal class schedule). A total of 64 primary school children (37.5% girls and 62.5% boys, M [SD] = 9.6 [0.61], BMI mean = 17.0 ± 3.0) participated in all assessments, including aerobic fitness, motor skills, inhibitory control, and daytime sleepiness. The baseline data collection starts from January 2019, with the intervention lasting for 13 weeks and followed by post-intervention and follow up tests conducted in July and October 2019. There was a significant interaction effect on aerobic fitness [ F (2,76) = 10.62, p = 0.22] after the intervention period, whereas no significant interaction was observed for other variables. Significant main effects were observed in aerobic fitness (pre - post: -11.75 and -7.22) for both experimental groups, with the blended group showing greater improvements immediately post the test, while motor skills only showed a significant increase at the three-month follow-up, with the greatest increase in the blended group (pre-follow-up: -2.50). For inhibition control and daytime sleepiness, better improvements were shown for the experimental groups than for the control group. The blended designed intervention, by incorporating multiple components as an innovative strategy to reconstruct children's traditional classroom environment in Hong Kong, has demonstrated improved physical and psychological development of school children.2 = 0.22] after the intervention period, whereas no significant interaction was observed for other variables. Significant main effects were observed in aerobic fitness (pre - post: -11.75 and -7.22) for both experimental groups, with the blended group showing greater improvements immediately post the test, while motor skills only showed a significant increase at the three-month follow-up, with the greatest increase in the blended group (pre-follow-up: -2.50). For inhibition control and daytime sleepiness, better improvements were shown for the experimental groups than for the control group. The blended designed intervention, by incorporating multiple components as an innovative strategy to reconstruct children's traditional classroom environment in Hong Kong, has demonstrated improved physical and psychological development of school children., Clinical Trial Registration: ChiCTR, ChiCTR2000035038. Registered 29 July 2020 - Retrospectively registered. http://www.chictr.org.cn/hvshowproject.aspx?id=46038., Competing Interests: The authors declare that the research was conducted in the absence of any commercial or financial relationships that could be construed as a potential conflict of interest., (Copyright © 2022 Li, Sit, Wong, Wing, Ng, Rudd, Chow and Sum.)

Background: Children predominantly remain sedentary in a traditional classroom. This study aimed to demonstrate the design and baseline characteristics of a three-armed intervention program that targeted enhancements in children's physical literacy (PL), physical activity (PA), sleep, and executive functions by constructing an active classroom environment in primary schools. The blended approach involved organized PA participation during recess combined with changes to the classroom environment in response to the emphasis on nurturing children's PL in Hong Kong., Methods: This blended "Stand + Move" intervention adopted a randomized controlled trial design to investigate its effectiveness in improving health-related aspects. Three groups were compared: (1) PA recess intervention, (2) blended (sit-stand desks and PA recess) experimental, and (3) control groups. In this 13-week intervention (from March to September 2019), 76 students (59.2% girls) were recruited and randomly assigned to the three groups. The primary outcomes were children's PL and PA. The secondary outcomes were children's sleep and executive functions., Results: Baseline data were evaluated. The mean age was 9.6 years [standard deviation = 0.61, range 9.0-12.0]. There were no significant differences between trial arms at baseline concerning any of the outcomes (all P = 0.06-0.89). Overall, 22.4% met the recommended PA guidelines, 36.8% met the sleep guidelines, and 10.5% met both guidelines. Three aspects of executive functions were evaluated: inhibition, executive control, and planning. Over half of the participants reported satisfaction with their perceived sleep quality., Conclusions: The designed intervention is regarded as an innovative strategy that incorporates sit-stand desks and PA breaks to reconstruct children's traditional classroom environment. The baseline results suggest that intervention was satisfactory in reducing students' sitting time and increasing their PA engagement. We demonstrated the benefits of this intervention on children's PL, various sleep patterns, and executive functions. As expected, the designed intervention changes made to the classroom improved children's health behaviors, as well as the support from stakeholders at schools and the children's families. Our results also provided the desired evidence for policy reforms in teaching and learning strategies., Trial Registration: ChiCTR ChiCTR2000035038 . Registered on July 29, 2020-retrospectively registered., (© 2021. The Author(s).)

In this article, we will explore the recent development of physical literacy in the Hong Kong context and how the concept and operation of physical literacy implicitly exist at different levels of the Hong Kong education system. The Physical Education profession will be introduced. The development of physical literacy in terms of research and operationalization in primary, secondary, and tertiary education will then be discussed. We will go on to explore the challenges of extending the impact of physical literacy to the field of public health in Hong Kong. The article will end with a closing remark adopting the Chinese philosophies of Confucianism and Taoism to justify the belief that physical literacy is both implicitly and invisibly rooted in the Hong Kong Chinese culture.

The concept of physical literacy has evolved to work as a guiding ideology in physical education, physical activity and heath, while little is known for coaching context. The purpose of this study was to examine the influence of perceived physical literacy (PPL) in predicting coaching efficacy and leadership behavior from the perceptions of student-athletes in Hong Kong secondary schools. A total of 352 (200 boys, 152 girls) student-athletes (14.78 ± 1.73 years old) participated in this study. Perceived Physical Literacy Instrument (PPLI) for adolescents, Coaching Efficacy Scale (CES) and Leadership Scale for Sport (LSS) for student-athletes were adopted to assess the student-athletes' self-reported PL, perceptions of coaching efficacy and leadership behavior, respectively. Hierarchical linear regressions revealed that student-athletes' knowledge and understanding of physical literacy significantly predicted all the dimensions of coaching efficacy (18%-23%, p<0.01) and leadership behavior (15%-27%, p < 0.05) except for autocratic behavior after controlling for the effects of demographic variables (such as age, gender, and training experience). The PPL attribute of Sense of Self and Self-confidence also demonstrated significant predictions with coaching efficacy (17%-19%, p < 0.01), while the PPL attribute of Self-expression and Communication with others only significantly predicted social support behavior (14%, p < 0.05). Path analysis showed PPL of student-athletes has significant predictions to their perceptions of coaches' leadership and this relationship was partially mediated by their perceptions of coaching efficacy (β = 0.57). Discussion highlights that this study is the first empirical study to explore PPL in the coaching context and its strength in predicting coaching effectiveness. The study provides a new perspective for coaching education programs or coach-oriented interventions by emphasizing the concept of physical literacy.