Editorial
Antonis Kambas, PhD Associate Professor Editor-in-Chief Download (pdf, 121kb)
Volume 7 – 2015
Reliability of the National Program for Playground Safety (NPPS) Report Card
Playground injury has been recognized as an important issue in children’s everyday life. In order to analyze the factors that lead to an accident, researchers usually use questionnaires or report cards that have been used in other accident research areas. Reliable assessment tools have to be established in playground safety field. In the current study two researchers evaluated the reliability of the USA’s National Program for Playground Safety (NPPS) report card in 138 Greek public playgrounds throughout Greece.
Cronbach’s alpha (a) was applied in order to estimate the internal consistency of the form and for the total score was found to be .461. The inter-rater and the test-retest reliability of the evaluation form were determined by calculating the Kendall’s tau-b and the McNemar’s test. Coefficients were found .947 (p<.001) and .83 (p<.001) respectively. Also, the standard error of the measurement (SEM) was .443 and .385, the mean coefficient of variation (% CV) fluctuated between 0-23.6 (mean 2.02) and 0-20.2 (mean 1.23) respectively. BlandAltman plots demonstrated that the vast majority of the total scores were within two standard deviations for the two raters and the two measurements. NPPS appears to be a reliable report card for evaluating playground safety.
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Ambulatory physical activity, triglycerides and atheromatic index in preschool children
In the recent years it has been highlighted that health conditions associated with lack of physical activity (such as cardiovascular diseases, obesity, etc.) can appear already from childhood. Therefore, health organizations worldwide have issued directives to organize physical activity (PA) at this age. The current study is focused in the relationship between the number of steps of pre-school children and their level of triglycerides and Atheromatic Index (AI) which is the ratio of total cholesterol over high-density cholesterol (HDL). The study sample was 30 children in the age of 4-6 years old without any diagnosed health issues. To evaluate the ambulatory activity of the children, pedometers Omron HJ-720IT-E2 were used. Morning blood samples were received, after the children were fasting for at least 12 hours. The statistical relationship between the number of steps per day, and the values of triglycerides concentration and AI was evaluated using Pearson correlation. The results showed a negative correlation between the number of steps and both triglycerides (p<.005) and AI (p<.001). It is therefore demonstrated that children without sufficient PA have a higher risk of serious health issues in their future life. In conclusion, the significance of PA from an early age needs to be emphasized and actions to organize the PA of preschool children should be taken.
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Barriers and Inhibitors of Creativity in Physical Education
The promotion of creativity should be an integral part of all educational levels as it is considered a crucial challenge and a necessity for social and economic competitiveness. The present study tried to shed light on the inhibitors and barriers of creativity fostering school Physical Education settings. A qualitative approach was employed in order to record Physical Educators perceptions about the barriers and the inhibitors they sense in their efforts to promote creativity in class. Exploration with a Thematic Content Analysis revealed a total of 11 major barriers which were encompassed in four theme categories. Natural and educational environment and resources, as well as Physical Educators and students’ personality and qualifications were surfaced. Fruitful discussion was trying to provide a substantial assistance toward educational policy and practical implications.
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Do pre-service kindergarten teachers in Greece intent to include movement education? An application of Planned Behavior Theory
Teachers’ role referring to young children’s needs for movement education in school is important. Purpose of the present crosssectional study was to explore whether Greek pre-service kindergarten students intent to teach movement education within the Planned Behavior Theory (TPB) framework, including role identity, attitude strength and past behavior. A second purpose of the study was to examine if TPB variables differ between students in different academic year. In the study participated 394 pre-school teachersstudents, completing self referenced questionnaires (pre-post measures).
Hierarchical regression analysis of intention on the TPB variables (attitudes toward movement education, perceived behavioral control, subjective norms) and additional variables (role identity, attitude strength, past behavior) plus repeated analysis of variances with two levels were computed. The results of the study revealed that intention was predicted by TPB variables and the model of prediction was increased by attitude strength and role identity. Moreover, senior students, more than freshmen, intended to include movement education, had stronger attitudes and it was found that only perceived behavioral control increased from freshmen to senior students by the curriculum. For future research on the subject a mediation analysis through a longitudinal design is proposed.
Physical activity and screen time exposure in primary school aged children.
Children’s sedentary lifestyle and deficient physical activity, increase the dangers for many kinds of non-communicable diseases. Sedentary lifestyle is often related to the increasing tendency towards the use of new technology, mainly the on-screen games and applications. According to several surveys, the time of exposure to such on-screen activities is considered to be a significant risk factor for children. In the current survey, the relation between physical activity of school aged children and the time of exposure to screens was examined. Fifty children coming from Komotini, aged 7-9 years old, participated in this study. Their height and weight were measured with a stadiometer and a weight scale respectively, while their physical activity was estimated with the pedometer Omron HJ-720 ITE2. The time children spent on screen activities was recorded with a questionnaire which was completed by the children’s parents and was reexamined for the accuracy of the answers through interviewdiscussion with the parents during the completion process. For the data analysis a One Factor Analysis of Variance (ANOVA) was used and the significance level was defined at P<.001. The analysis showed that the children who spent more than 3 hours per day on screen activities, recorded less steps ( < 7500 steps per day ) than those who spent less than 2 hours per day ( P<.001 ). The results indicate a constantly increasing danger; children's game seem to be more and more limited to virtual gaming which takes place on a screen and this could lead to considerable limitation of active gaming. This could probably have dramatic health consequences on the later life of the kids and this should be carefully taken into consideration by the experts.
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Musculoskeletal injuries involving Greek recreational tennis athletes
Purpose of the present study was to record the type and the anatomical position in relation to diagnosis of muscular skeletal injuries in recreational tennis players. Also, questions to record the mechanics of injury according to athlete’s opinion were applied. 100 recreational tennis players (80 male) reported a total of 170 injuries. In their tennis participation period 12 players injured once (15%), 45 injured twice (56%) and 22 player (28 %) injured 3 times and 5 players more than 3 times (6%). According to their personal opinion the injury happens due to “Inadequate warm up” “Fatigue” and “High intensity matches” The repetitive arm and elbow joints movements causes overuse injuries in the upper extremity while the enrich running tennis patterns leading at an increased risk for acute injury for the lower extremities. Fortunately, the low total tennis injury rate places the tennis not only a pleasant but a safe sport for junior athletes. Keywords: tennis injuries recreational tennis players
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