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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.)

The article discusses research examining the feasibility, acceptability, and potential for change in the physical activity behavior of individuals participating in a 21-week, 10,000 step exercise program at an academic work site. Topics include an overview of the study design and population, the HealthPartners 10,000 Steps program, and its effectiveness in changing physical activity behavior.

Do people walk more, or less, depending on the physical character of their residential areas rather than merely their individual characteristics? This paper reports findings for the Twin Cities, Minnesota, about how walking and total physical activity are affected by street pattern, 'pedestrian-oriented' infrastructure and amenities, and mixed use or destinations—in shorthand, design and destinations. The effects of density are dealt with in less depth. Like earlier studies, it finds that walking for specific purposes (i.e. travel or leisure) varies in relation to the physical characteristics of places. However, this study using multiple measures of overall walking and physical activity suggests that socially similar people do the same total amount of physical activity in different kinds of places and that level of activity is, on average, low. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: The Twin Cities Walking Study measured the associations of built environment versus socioeconomic and psychosocial variables with total physical activity and walking for 716 adults., Methods: This article reports on the test-retest reliability of the survey portion of the study. To test the reliability of the study measures, 158 respondents completed measures twice within 1 to 4 weeks. Agreement between participants' responses was measured using Pearson r and Spearman rho, and kappa statistics., Results: Demographic questions are highly reliable (R>.8). Questions about environmental and social features are typically less reliable (rho range=0.42-0.91). Reliability of the International Physical Activity Questionnaire (last 7 days version) was low (rho=0.15 for total activity)., Conclusions: Much of the survey has acceptable-to-good reliability. The low test-retest reliability points to potential limitations of using a single administration of the IPAQ to characterize habitual physical activity. Implications for sound inference are accordingly complicated.

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.

Sedentary behaviors, like television viewing, are positively associated with overweight among young people. To monitor national health objectives for sedentary behaviors in young adolescents, this project developed and assessed the reliability and validity of a brief questionnaire to measure weekly television viewing, usual television viewing, and computer use by middle school children. Reliability and validity of the Youth Risk Behavior Survey (YRBS) question on weekday television viewing also were examined. A brief, five-item television and computer use questionnaire was completed twice by 245 middle school children with one week apart. To concurrently assess validity, students also completed television and computer use logs for seven days. Among all students, Spearman correlations for test-retest reliability for television viewing and computer use ranged from 0.55 to 0.68. Spearman correlations between the first questionnaire and the seven-day log produced the following results: YRBS question for weekday television viewing (0.46), weekend television viewing (0.37), average television viewing over the week (0.47), and computer use (0.39). Methods comparison analysis showed a mean difference (hours/week) between answers to questionnaire items and the log of -0.04 (1.70 standard deviation [SD]) hours for weekday television, -0.21 (2.54 SD) for weekend television, -0.09 (1.75 SD) for average television over the week, and 0.68 (1.26 SD) for computer use. The YRBS weekday television viewing question, and the newly developed questions to assess weekend television viewing, average television viewing, and computer use, produced adequate reliability and validity for surveillance of middle school students.

Purpose: The purpose of this study was to estimate the total medical expenditures attributable to physical inactivity patterns among members of a large health plan, Blue Cross Blue Shield of Minnesota., Methods: The study used a cost-of-illness approach to attribute medical and pharmacy costs for specific diseases to physical inactivity in 2000. Relative risks come from the scientific literature, demonstrating that heart disease, stroke, hypertension, type 2 diabetes, colon cancer, breast cancer, osteoporosis, depression, and anxiety are directly related to individual physical activity patterns in adults. Data sources were the 2000 Behavioral Risk Factor Surveillance System and medical claims incurred in 2000 among 1.5 million health plan members aged > or =18 years. Primary analysis was completed in 2002., Results: Nearly 12% of depression and anxiety and 31% of colon cancer, heart disease, osteoporosis, and stroke cases were attributable to physical inactivity. Heart disease was the most expensive outcome of physical inactivity within the health plan population, costing US dollar 35.3 million in 2000. Total health plan expenditures attributable to physical inactivity were US dollar 83.6 million, or US dollar 56 per member., Conclusions: This study confirms the growing body of research quantifying physical inactivity as a serious and expensive public health problem. The costs associated with physical inactivity are borne by taxpayers, employers, and individuals in the form of higher taxes to subsidize public insurance programs and increased health insurance premiums.

Background: Low levels of physical activity (PA) and highly sedentary leisure habits (SLH) in youth may establish behavioral patterns that will predispose youth to increased chronic disease risk in adulthood. The purpose of this paper was to examine associations of demographic and psychosocial factors with self-reported PA and SLH in young adolescents., Methods: A general linear mixed model predicted self-reported PA and SLH in the spring from demographic and psychosocial variables measured the previous fall in 3798 seventh grade students., Results: PA and SLH differed by race, with Caucasian students reporting among the highest PA and lowest SLH. Perceptions of higher academic rank or expectations predicted higher PA and lower SLH. Depressive symptomatology predicted higher SLH scores but not PA. Higher self-reported value of health, appearance, and achievement predicted higher PA and lower SLH in girls. Girls who reported that their mothers had an authoritative parenting style also reported higher PA and lower SLH., Conclusions: Determinants of PA and SLH appear to differ from each other, particularly in boys. Development of effective programs to increase PA and/or decrease SLH in young adolescents should be based on a clear understanding of the determinants of these behaviors., (Copyright 2002 American Health Foundation and Elsevier Science (USA).)