Elite athletes are much smarter than the rest of us
Stone Hearth News    Share   
Elite soccer players have superior executive functions relative to nonplayers, and there is a significant correlation between their cognitive function and number of goals and assists, according to a new study published April 4 in the open access journal PLoS ONE. The researchers, led by Predrag Petrovic of the Karolinska Institute in Stockholm, Sweden, measured general executive functions, including creativity and cognitive flexibility, in male and female soccer players and nonplayers. They found that the soccer players performed better than the nonplayers, and furthermore, the higher level players performed better than the lower division athletes. These results emphasize the importance of cognitive functions, in addition to physical skill, for achieving the highest level of athletic performance. More

Genetic regulator of fat metabolism and muscle fitness discovered
ScienceDaily    Share   
While exercise is accepted universally as the most beneficial prescription physicians can write for patients, little is known about the molecular mechanisms that generate its widespread health benefits. Researchers from Case Western Reserve School of Medicine have shed light on this mystery by discovering that a genetic factor, Kruppel-like Factor 15, governs the body's ability to burn fat during exercise. More

American Association for Health Education

Obese kids: Genes and junk food share blame
MedPage Today via ABC News    Share   
Common childhood obesity — the kind we usually blame on overindulgence and inactivity — also has a genetic component, an international collaboration of researchers has concluded. Using genome-wide association techniques, the researchers showed that several genetic variants associated with adult obesity are also active in childhood obesity, according to Struan Grant of the Children's Hospital of Philadelphia and colleagues. As well, the analysis found two new genetic variants that had not been previously associated with obesity, Struan and colleagues reported online in Nature Genetics. More

Revolutionizing Middle School PE! SPARK is proud to announce their NEW Middle School Physical Education (MS PE) Program is now available! SPARK MS PE is the only program available today that can cite its development from the three largest and most significant N.I.H. studies ever on this student/teacher population. Click here for more information.

How one company is revolutionizing the school lunch
Open Forum    Share   
The recent outcry over pink slime, also known as "finely textured beef," has led many educators and parents to pay more attention to what is being fed to their kids in the school lunch line. That's good news for Revolution Foods, a food services company based in Oakland, Calif., that specializes in providing healthy meals for schoolchildren. Founded in 2006 by UC Berkeley Haas School of Business graduates Kristin Richmond and Kirsten Tobey, the food services company has doubled its revenue each year while espousing a social enterprise business model. Virtually all of Revolution Food's kitchen waste is composted and recycled, food storage units are energy efficient and containers are printed with soy-based inks. More

American Association for Physical Activity and Recreation

Program teaches tennis to blind California students
The Argus via San Jose Mercury News    Share   
The foam ball sailed over the net, rattling as it bounced. Robin Patche quickly adjusted her feet and returned it with a smooth backhand, drawing praise from the sidelines. "Robin, nice turnaround," called out Mary Alice Ross, an adapted physical education teacher at the California School for the Blind, then adding to a bystander, "She got really good really quickly." More

	FDA clears Child Body-Fat Scales Tanita introduces FDA cleared body fat scales for children. Weight and BMI can be misleading. Use Tanita scales to help your students achieve their fitness goals. MORE

Age-defying fountain of youth for seniors: How to turn back the clock
The SOP    Share   
Fauja Singh ran his first marathon at age 89, and last year became the oldest person to complete a full distance marathon at age 100 in Toronto. For some, age is their story, it comes with all sorts of cultural and self-limitations, but for many age is just another number on a calendar. There's a growing number of seniors, "an actual movement" that defy and define age and quality of life as how they feel inside, more biological than chronological. More

National Association for Girls and Women in Sport

Concussion impact among young athletes — A gender difference?
NextGen Journal    Share   
New York University soccer player Molly Henning collided head first with an opposing player during a game last season and never reported her resulting headache to a coach or trainer. For two weeks she suffered through bad migraines without reporting any of her symptoms. "When you're in the moment in a game, you don't want to leave the field so you just try and muscle through it," Henning said. Henning said she didn't report her concussion because she didn't want to be withdrawn from the game and risk sitting on the sidelines for weeks recovering. But in the end, this nonaction put her soccer career at a much greater risk. More



Knee injuries on the rise in female athletes
NBC-17    Share   
A doctor in Fayetteville, N.C., has noticed an increasing number of teen girls coming in with knee injuries from sports. E.E. High School student, Maren Scott, had a knee injury two years ago that sidelined her for a season. "I felt it pop," Scott explained about the accident. "It was terrible." Scott tore a ligament in her knee called the ACL. "What happens when they have an injury is that they will go in hyperextension and the knee will begin to pivot or twist and it will cut that ACL as they go into extension," explained Flanagan. More

National Association for Sport and Physical Education

Advocate for activity
The Spokesman-Review    Share   
Students in PJ Jarvis' physical education classes at Opportunity Elementary School in Spokane, Wash., don't just learn the basics of sports. While they are waiting for their turn to play two-square, they run in place, hoping to reach 2,500 steps by the end of the class. There is information about healthy eating on the walls of the gym, as well as fitness goals for them. "You don't just come and bounce a ball around," said Melanie Rose, spokeswoman for Central Valley Schools. More

	Guaranteed Learning Every instructor can be invincible. Every student can learn if YOU use a teaching system that cannot fail. See it demonstrated at the Guaranteed Learning World Conference as people who are terrified in water learn to swim happily. YOU can guarantee that students will learn. Boost confidence. Change lives. MORE

US Olympic athletes have a hard-knock life
Inside the Games (blog)    Share   
Long-distance runner Nick Symmonds is brandishing temporary tattoos on his arm to the highest bidder to display at track and field meets to raise money to train full time for the 2012 London Olympics. The United States synchronized swimming team performed a show to entertain Super Bowl revelers and to raise money to support their Olympic aspirations. These are just two examples cited in a recent Time magazine article, Keeping Afloat: For Many Olympic Athletes, Raising Money is a Second Job, about the struggles of many Olympic-caliber athletes to make ends meet. More

National Dance Association

'Dancing With The Stars' 8 great health benefits of dancing
Huffington Post    Share   
Each Monday night, millions of Americans hunker down on their couches to watch their favorite celebrities break a sweat on "Dancing With The Stars." And aside from offering entertainment, all those fox trots and sambas add up to some serious cardio. The proof is in the weight loss. Each season, we've seen some remarkably healthy transformations, from Kirstie Alley to Kelly Osbourne. More

Having fun while getting fit
NAPSI    Share   
If you want to become more active — and have fun at the same time — why not start the party by playing the latest dance and fitness games? The new releases offer some great options for getting your moves on. More