U.S. flagAn official website of the United States government
                    Here's how you know **Official websites use .gov**
                            
                            A **.gov** website belongs to an official government organization in the United States.
 **Secure .gov websites use HTTPS**
                            
                            A **lock** (                            
                              A locked padlock                                                      
                            
                            ) or **https://** means you’ve safely connected to the .gov website. Share sensitive information only on official, secure websites.


Menu Agricultural Research Service
						
                    U.S. DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE
 close



Research
                Research Home
                            National Programs
                            Research Projects
                            Scientific Manuscripts
                            International Engagement
                            Scientific Software/Models
                            Databases and Datasets
                            Office of Scientific Quality Review
            Media
                News & Features
                            Multimedia
                            Briefing Room
                            Down on the Farm
                            Press Room
                            Science in Your Shopping Cart
                            Scientific Discoveries
                            Tellus
                            Under the Microscope
            About ARS
                About ARS Home
                            Staff Directory
                            Labs and Research Centers (Map)
                            Headquarter Offices
                            Organizational Chart
                            Employee Services (REE Employees Only)
                            Office of Outreach, Diversity, and Equal Opportunity
            Work With Us
                Work With Us Home
                            ARS Vacancies at USAJOBS
                            Careers at ARS Information
                            Scientific Collaborations
                            Extramural Agreements
                            1890 Faculty Research Sabbatical ProgramSearch small
                    Search
            
            ARS Home
                                About ARS
                                Contact Us




ARS Home News & Events News Articles Research News 2003





- ARS News & Events
- AgResearch Magazine
- Image Gallery
- News
- Search News & Events
- Pesticide Drift May Endanger Pollinators
- ARS Seeks a Fire Ant Fix
- Scientific Discoveries 2024
- ARS Featured Photos
- Down on the Farm
- Facebook Live Events
- Food and Nutrition Research Briefs
- News Archive
- Science in Your Shopping Cart
- Scientific Discoveries
- Social Media
- Under the Microscope
- AgResearch magazine
- ARS at Work
- ARS Memorial Lectures
- ARS Science Hall of Fame
- Citrus Disease (Huanglongbing)
- Contact Office of Communications
- Plant Hardiness Zone Map
- Mobile Apps
- Public Affairs Contacts
- Publications and Other Resources
- USDA Blog
- Videos

Archived Page
 This page has been archived and is being provided for reference purposes only. The page is no longer being updated, and therefore, links on the page may be invalid.
 Study Tracks Childrens' Attitudes About Athletic Abilities
By Alfredo FloresOctober 23, 2003
The Agricultural Research Service is participating in a Texas study of 900 middle-school students and their changing attitudes about their own athletic abilities. The Children's Nutrition Research Center (CNRC) in Houston, Texas, is leading the four-year, $1.2 million study funded by the National Institutes of Health.
Increasingly, researchers believe that remaining physically active into adulthood is often determined by whether a person develops an "athletic identity" in childhood. Even the specific sport a child chooses can have an impact on whether he or she exercises later in life--and can even influence future risk for cardiovascular disease. Also, regular physical activity throughout life is crucial in maintaining a healthy body weight.
The biggest drop in children's physical activities tends to occur as they move from middle school to high school, partly because they get busier and school-based team sports become more exclusive.
Cheryl B. Anderson, an assistant professor of pediatrics at Baylor College of Medicine in Houston, is leading this study. It will track seventh graders into eighth and ninth grades, and eighth graders into ninth and tenth grades in various middle schools in the Houston Independent School District and the Spring Branch School District in suburban Houston.
About twenty percent of the sample, approximately 200 kids, will wear small activity monitors--the size of a watch face--24 hours a day for four days, to record their level of movement. These select students will wear monitors Thursday through Sunday in the fall of each year and keep a personal activity journal. Twice each year, all students will complete questionnaires on their physical activities, in addition to answering questionnaires on athletic identity.
Anderson has hypothesized that people keep exercising over time because they see themselves as being the types who do these things. In other words, being athletic, or exercising to be fit, becomes part of their identity.
The CNRC is operated by Baylor College of Medicine in cooperation with Texas Children's Hospital and ARS, the U.S. Department of Agriculture's chief scientific research agency.


Return to top


Research
                            Media
                            About ARS
                            Work With Us


Connect with ARS Sign up


ARS Home
                            USDA.gov
                            Plain Writing
                            Policies & Links
                            Civil Rights Statements
                            FOIA
                            Accessibility Statement
                            Privacy Policy
                            Non-Discrimination Statement
                            Quality of Information
                            USA.gov
                            WhiteHouse.gov