This book offers an overview of some of the core concerns underlying lifelong engagement in sport and physical activity, encompassing every age and phase of engagement. The book explores key models of engagement from around the world, as well as specific areas of research that will help the reader understand this important topic. Lifelong Engagement in Sport and Physical Activity is important reading for undergraduate and postgraduate students in teacher education, sport and coaching science, and for health promoters, coaches, teachers and relevant bodies and organisations in sport and education.

This edited collection problematizes trajectories of health promotion across the lifespan. It provides a distinctive critical social science perspective of the various directions taken by dominant policies in their approach to promoting sport for all ages. It offers an array of theoretical and methodologically diverse perspectives on this topic, and highlights the intersections between different life stages and social, economic and cultural factors in the developed world, including class, gender, ability, family dynamics and/or race. Sport and Physical Activity across the Lifespan critically explores dominant policies of age-focussed sport promotion in order to highlight its implications within the context of particular life stages as they intersect with social, cultural and economic factors. This includes an examination of organised sport for pre-schoolers; ‘at-risk’ youth sport programmes; and the creation of sporting sub-cultures within the mid-life ‘market’. This book will be of interest to those wanting to learning more about how age and life stages affect the way people think about and participate in sport, and to better understand the impacts of sport across the lifespan.

The statistics are disturbing: steadily rising numbers of sedentary overweight children and obese teens, and a generation looking at a shorter life expectancy than their parents’. But while it may be obvious that physical fitness benefits both the mind and body, a growing research base is supplying evidence of why this is so, and how these benefits may be reproduced in greater numbers. Physical Activity Across the Lifespan makes a clear, scientific case for exercise, sports, and an active lifestyle in preventing illness and establishing lifetime health habits at both the individual and the population levels. The book focuses on key aspects of physical/mental well-being—weight, mood, and self-regulation—and the role of physical activity in public health and school-based interventions targeting these areas. Contributors review definitional and measurement issues salient to understanding what physical activity is, to analyzing benefits of participation, and to implementing effective interventions. Also addressed are limitations of current research, steps needed to continue building the field, and emerging therapeutic possibilities for activity, such as the role of rough and tumble play in preventing ADHD. Included in the coverage: Physical activity, cognition, and school performance. The influence of social and built environments on physical activity in middle-aged and older adults. Preventing and treating obesity through physical activity. Physical activity in preventing drug use and treating chemical dependence. Antidepressant properties of physical activity. Schools as a foundation for physical activity and an active lifestyle. Physical activity as an adjunct or booster to existing interventions. Physical Activity Across the Lifespan is an innovative text for researchers and practitioners in various disciplines including health promotion/disease prevention, child and school psychology, education, health psychology, and public health, as well as program developers and policymakers in these areas.

While there are plenty of texts out there on adapted physical activity, there are none like this one. That’s because Adapted Physical Activity Across the Life Span takes an interdisciplinary, life span approach and provides content on DEI (diversity, equity, and inclusion), social justice, and SEL (social-emotional learning) that other texts either skim over or skip entirely. Adapted Physical Activity Across the Life Span features the following: Interviews with professionals that provide students with real-life stories from educators, health care professionals, and others who work with people with disabilities Chapter objectives, chapter summaries, tables, and charts that emphasize key concepts An interdisciplinary approach and life span approach to show students the broad scope of careers across education, clinical, and community settings Content on adapted physical education for children and young people to educate students in the full implementation of IDEA and physical education for children with disabilities, including assessments, IEPs, and program modifications Content on adapted physical activity for adults to enable students to understand the roles of various professions that facilitate adapted physical activity for adults—from those who recently finished high school to senior citizens—using the Healthy People guidelines, research, and the most contemporary model of aging Information about adapted physical activity for early childhood, with a focus on professions that help a young child with a disability begin their journey of adapted physical education Instructor ancillaries to make it easier for instructors to prepare for and teach the course The interdisciplinary approach provides instructors greater flexibility for courses that include students not only from adapted physical education but also from allied health professions: occupational therapy, physical therapy, speech and language pathology, nursing, medicine, sport psychology, exercise physiology, therapeutic recreation, and more. “Today, the interdisciplinary nature of service in adapted physical activity begins in the earliest ages and continues with professionals who instruct and nurture the physical activity of the oldest of our communities,” says coauthor Carol Leitschuh. “This is the life span approach.” Coauthor Marquell Johnson adds, “The interdisciplinary approach and life span approach provide a much wider view of helping people with disabilities achieve optimal health. Most texts focus on a narrower perspective, such as in school, in a medical or community setting, or with a certain age group. However, this book looks at all the professions that are involved in a person’s life throughout the life span and offers a coordinated approach.” Adapted Physical Activity Across the Life Span will help prepare future professionals to serve individuals who require adaptations to be able to enjoy full and healthy active lives over their lifetimes. From infants to the elderly, all across the life span, people can be physically active—and this text will help them be just that.

In 1950 men and women in the United States had a combined life expectancy of 68.9 years, the 12th highest life expectancy at birth in the world. Today, life expectancy is up to 79.2 years, yet the country is now 28th on the list, behind the United Kingdom, Korea, Canada, and France, among others. The United States does have higher rates of infant mortality and violent deaths than in other developed countries, but these factors do not fully account for the country's relatively poor ranking in life expectancy. International Differences in Mortality at Older Ages: Dimensions and Sources examines patterns in international differences in life expectancy above age 50 and assesses the evidence and arguments that have been advanced to explain the poor position of the United States relative to other countries. The papers in this deeply researched volume identify gaps in measurement, data, theory, and research design and pinpoint areas for future high-priority research in this area. In addition to examining the differences in mortality around the world, the papers in International Differences in Mortality at Older Ages look at health factors and life-style choices commonly believed to contribute to the observed international differences in life expectancy. They also identify strategic opportunities for health-related interventions. This book offers a wide variety of disciplinary and scholarly perspectives to the study of mortality, and it offers in-depth analyses that can serve health professionals, policy makers, statisticians, and researchers.

Physical inactivity is a key determinant of health across the lifespan. A lack of activity increases the risk of heart disease, colon and breast cancer, diabetes mellitus, hypertension, osteoporosis, anxiety and depression and others diseases. Emerging literature has suggested that in terms of mortality, the global population health burden of physical inactivity approaches that of cigarette smoking. The prevalence and substantial disease risk associated with physical inactivity has been described as a pandemic. The prevalence, health impact, and evidence of changeability all have resulted in calls for action to increase physical activity across the lifespan. In response to the need to find ways to make physical activity a health priority for youth, the Institute of Medicine's Committee on Physical Activity and Physical Education in the School Environment was formed. Its purpose was to review the current status of physical activity and physical education in the school environment, including before, during, and after school, and examine the influences of physical activity and physical education on the short and long term physical, cognitive and brain, and psychosocial health and development of children and adolescents. Educating the Student Body makes recommendations about approaches for strengthening and improving programs and policies for physical activity and physical education in the school environment. This report lays out a set of guiding principles to guide its work on these tasks. These included: recognizing the benefits of instilling life-long physical activity habits in children; the value of using systems thinking in improving physical activity and physical education in the school environment; the recognition of current disparities in opportunities and the need to achieve equity in physical activity and physical education; the importance of considering all types of school environments; the need to take into consideration the diversity of students as recommendations are developed. This report will be of interest to local and national policymakers, school officials, teachers, and the education community, researchers, professional organizations, and parents interested in physical activity, physical education, and health for school-aged children and adolescents.

Offering the most comprehensive coverage available and broadening the audience scope to include students majoring in exercise science or coaching who are preparing for nonteaching positions, this new edition features a lifespan, cross-disciplinary approach valuable for both teaching and non-teaching professionals. Adapted Physical Activity, Recreation, and Sport emphasizes attitude change, inclusion, and psychosocial perspectives for understanding individual differences.