While physical activity (PA) declines across the lifespan, this does not occur linearly. Declines are most pronounced during the transition into early adulthood. This dissertation consisted of three studies examining PA decline during the transition into early adulthood: (1) to understand patterns of PA and other health behaviours of Canadians; (2) to understand reasons for PA declines during entry into university; and (3) to examine the feasibility and effects of a website-delivered PA intervention. Study 1 utilized multilevel modeling to identify patterns of PA, binge drinking and smoking among a nationally-representative cohort of adolescents (N = 640). Results found PA decline evident among all young adults transitioning into early adulthood regardless of educational trajectory – declines being most pronounced among college/university males – highlighting the saliency of PA decline, as other health behaviours stabilized or declined during early adulthood. Given justification for intervening with the university population, study 2 explored students’ perceptions of PA, and their preferences towards a PA intervention. Eight focus groups were conducted with first-year university students (N = 45). Results found students being concerned with PA decline, and were receptive to an Internet-based intervention. However, such concerns are inflected with ambivalence, potentially posing a challenge for interventionists. Findings from studies 1 and 2 informed the development of a website-delivered PA intervention – ‘Active Transition’. Pre-testing was conducted with first-year students (N = 15) and PA experts (N = 7), which found the website and its content being acceptable and usable. Results of the efficacy trial (N = 65) found Active Transition to successfully attenuate declines in PA cognitions, and to some extent, PA behaviours. This confirms the Internet being a useful tool for delivering PA interventions in this population. However, given modest compliance in terms of usage, future work is required to evaluate the addition of more current/popular strategies for engaging students. Overall, this dissertation has provided justification for why it is critical that research continues work with this population, and has provided the foundations in helping with the long-term vision of implementing a population-level initiative to help students attenuate the significant declines in their PA behaviours.

Overweight and obesity, one of the most common public health problems in affluent societies, have become epidemic not only in Canada but also throughout the world. Obesity is also a major contributor to the global burden of chronic disease and disability such as diabetes, hypertension, and cardiovascular disorders. <p>Studies have demonstrated clearly that higher intake of cholesterol and saturated fats and generally higher intake of energy-dense food are a key determinant of increasing levels of obesity and overweight in children. Physical activity is also recognized as a major factor in preventing obesity among children. Environmental factorsby which we mean both social (such as social support, social networks) and physical environment (such as access to physical activity amenities, roads and trails, grocery stores)in generally believed to have a powerful influence on either limiting or enhancing the effects of fundamental determinants (diet and physical activity) of obesity in children. This thesis focuses on one of the key determinants, physical activity, and in turn examines factors that are related to changing physical activity in children. <p>This research was designed to examine two major questions: (1) How do physical activity and overweigh/obesity change over time in a cohort of adolescents in Saskatoon? Are there differences in the patterns of change in overweight/obesity and physical activity between boys and girls? (2) What are the effects of family/friends and physical environments on the changing patterns of physical activity in this sample? <p>The data used in this study was taken from the in motion studies longitudinal data. Study participants include 837 adolescents from12-18 years of age from two high schools and five elementary schools from two diverse geographic areas in Saskatoon (low and high socioeconomic status). Physical activity patterns of adolescents were investigated over a five-month period (e.g., type, frequency, and duration). Participants were also asked to respond to questions on demographics, social support, perceived benefits and barriers of physical activity, and health practices. <p>The results of this study indicated that overweight/obesity increased with age, while physical activity decreased with age for both boys and girls. Boys overall were more likely to be physically active than were girls. Adolescents who received greater direct support from family members were 21% more likely to sustain their physical activity levels (relative odds 1.21; 95% CI 1.17, 1.24); in contrast, the more the familys indirect support the 5.4% less sustaining were the adolescents physical activity (relative odds 0.94; 95% CI 0.91, 0.98). Home environments which were rich in resources relevant to physical activity had 4% greater influence on adolescents physical activity levels, and this relationship was stronger than that of the influence of living in certain neighbourhoods (relative odds 1.04; 95% CI 1.03, 1.05). <p>This research shed some greater understanding of the impact of familys support and physical environment factors on adolescents continued physical activity levels. The implications of results for further research, targeted programs, and social policy is discussed in the thesis.

Introduction: Obesity is a public health concern in its association with various comorbidities, especially cardiovascular disease. Negative structural and functional changes of the left ventricle are associated with obesity and research is conflicting as to the effect of diet-induced and diet plus exercise-induced weight loss in Class II and III obese adults. Purpose: The purpose of this study was to examine effect of diet-induced or diet plus exercise-induced weight loss on cardiac structure and function in Class II and III obese women. Methods: 24 healthy, sedentary, obese women (BMI: 35.0 to 45 kg/m2; Age: 45.4 + 6.9yrs.) underwent a 12-week diet and exercise intervention: caloric restriction alone (DIET), caloric restriction plus aerobic training (DIET+AT), and caloric restriction plus resistance training (DIET+RT). Subjects reported to UPMC Presbyterian Hospital to undergo Cardiac MRI to measure left ventricular mass (LVM), myocardial fibrosis (Ve), end diastolic volume (EDV), end systolic volume (ESV), and ejection fraction (EF). Results: 18 out of 24 subjects completed the intervention. 16 out of 24 completed 12 week Cardiac MRI at UPMC Presbyterian. Body weight significantly decreased across all treatment groups (~4.5kg lost, p=0.001). Subjects in the DIET group had significantly greater reduction in LVM (-7.2 ± 3.9g) than the DIET+AT (2.3 ± 4.7g) and DIET+RT (-0.2 ± 3.5g) groups (p=0.007). Subjects in the DIET+RT group had a significantly higher Ve score at 12 weeks (27.9 ± 1.5%) than subjects in the DIET+AT (26.5 ± 1.4%) and DIET (24.0 ± 0.8%) groups (p=0.010). There were no significant changes in EDV, ESV, or EF at 12 weeks between groups (p>0.159). Conclusions: In conclusion, only LVM in the DIET group and Ve in the DIET+RT showed statistical changes from baseline. Further investigations into the effect of weight loss and exercise on cardiac structure and function in Class II and III obese adults are warranted to expand upon the results of this investigation.

Introduction: The role that inflammation plays in the atherosclerotic disease process is well established. Obesity is coupled with a state of chronic inflammation and is associated with increased circulating inflammatory markers including C-Reactive Protein. Purpose: The purpose of this study was to evaluate the additive effect of aerobic or resistance exercise training to caloric restriction for weight loss on high sensitivity C-Reactive Protein changes compared to dietary restriction alone in class II and class III obese individuals. Methods: 24 healthy, sedentary, obese women underwent a 12-week diet and exercise intervention: Caloric restriction weight loss program with no exercise (DIET); Caloric restriction with aerobic endurance training (DIET+AT); and Caloric restriction with resistance training (DIET+RT). Blood was drawn at baseline and 12-weeks and assayed for hs-CRP. Results: Weight was decreased significantly in all groups in the intervention. Hs-CRP was unchanged at 12-weeks.Conclusions: In conclusion, this investigation was successful in producing weight loss, BMI decreases, decreases in body fat percentage, and positive changes in fitness markers, though no changes in hs-CRP were associated with weight loss or weight loss with exercise. Further investigations into the influence of weight loss and exercise on CRP levels among Class II and Class III individuals should be completed to examine and expand upon the results observed in this study.

Electrodermal activity (EDA), an indicator of arousal of the sympathetic nervous system, was investigated as a potential correlate of feeling-of-knowing (FOK) and tip-of-the-tongue (TOT) states. In Experiment 1, skin conductance was measured while participants answered general knowledge questions and made binary FOK and TOT judgments. Significant correlations were found between frequency of skin conductance responses (SCRs) and presence of both FOK and TOT states. In Experiment 2, warmth ratings were used and a follow-up clue session was added to offer participants the opportunity to resolve initially unanswered questions. SCR frequency during TOT states was significantly predictive of resolution during the clue period, although not as predictive as participants' warmth ratings. The potential of EDA as an on-line, non-intrusive measure of metamemory and memory retrieval is discussed.

Holding festival activities is one of the major measures in regional tourism development, and the purposes of which are simply raising the regional awareness via these large-scaled activities, attracting more tourists to expend in order to promote economic benefits. In the beginning, these activities may once bring many helps for the local. However, they often become worse in a predicament of sudden reduction in tourism numbers, revenue deficit, or even suspension after several years. In this study, we take Kenting Music Festival in Spring as an object to investigate whether the current marketing strategies meet the consumer requirement or not, in order to further promote its future development. In this research, the marketing strategy is studied in five dimensions, i.e., product, price, place, promotion and service. A quantitative survey is adopted, and analysis methods of descriptive statistics, chi-square test, one-way ANOVA and independent samples T-test are used to study the consumer satisfaction and importance of current marketing strategy on Kenting Music Festival in Spring, and to investigate whether the variable of population statistics will result in a significant difference on the consumer perception of the marketing strategy. Entirely speaking, the results reveal that the consumers feel ¡§satisfied¡¨ but ¡§unimportant¡¨ on the product strategy of Kenting Spring Music Festival in Spring, ¡§unsatisfied¡¨ but ¡§averagely important¡¨ on the price strategy, ¡§satisfied¡¨ and ¡§important¡¨ on the place strategy, ¡§averagely satisfied¡¨ and ¡§unimportant¡¨ on the promotion strategy, and ¡§unsatisfied¡¨ but ¡§important¡¨ on the service strategy. Meanwhile, consumers with different social and economic backgrounds have dissimilar degrees of satisfaction and respect on the activity experiences. According to the results and focusing on the target market requirements, several suggestions are provided, e.g., imitating the successful foreign and domestic marketing cases, being defined as an international activity, establishing a certification mechanism to effectively control the service quality, building up more basic public facilities, improving the traffic capacity, cooperation with public media, integrating environmental maintenance into cost consideration, cooperation with the government department to set up a marketing inspecting organization, etc.

Background: University administrator physical activity (PA) attitudes and actions may play an important role in student fitness promotion on campus but have been given little attention. Guided by the Theory of Planned Behavior (TPB), this study explored the relationships of factors that influence Chinese university administrator PA behaviors. Methods: A survey was designed to collect information regarding participants’ PA behaviors, intentions, perceived health, body mass index (BMI) and common demographic factors. A total of 474 Chinese university administrators participated in this study with 443 completed surveys. Path analysis was used to test the predictive and mediational role of the aforementioned variables on total PA. Results: Results revealed a good model fit. Attitudes mediated the effects of BMI and perceived health on total PA; subjective norms and self-efficacy had significant direct effects and mediated the effects of satisfaction and attitudes on total PA. The effects of intentions on total PA were not significant. Conclusions: Chinese university administrator PA behaviors were significantly influenced by attitudes, subjective norms, self-efficacy, BMI, perceived health and satisfaction with exercise facilities. The non-significant effects of intention on PA participation were not expected. More studies on university administrator’s PA are needed in the future. / text

Two prospective studies were conducted to examine the social and built environmental barriers to physical activity among middle childhood youth in a low income, minority, urban community. The mixed method design first explored parent and child perceptions related to the social and built environmental barriers to middle childhood, ages 8-12, physical activity (PA) for families residing in East Austin, and then compared those to barriers identified by a systematic objective assessment of the neighborhoods of residence. Study 1 was a qualitative study where middle childhood-aged students and their parents participated in six parent-only and student-only focus groups. The focus group prompts encouraged discussion of the participants's perceptions of built and social environmental barriers to PA within their community. The parents identified traffic, crime, limited programming at local PA sites and technology, such as video games and television, as barriers to middle childhood PA. While the students discussed traffic and crime, they expressed less concern than their parents, and although they acknowledged that television and video games competed with PA, they expressed a desire for more family PA. Study 2 was an environmental study incorporating spatial analysis and systematic objective observation. Five East Austin neighborhoods were selected from those represented by the Study 1 participants. The neighborhoods and nearby recreational sites were mapped. Built environmental barriers were located and crime and traffic data were incorporated for each specific neighborhood. The measured barriers were then compared to the perceived barriers from Study 1. The spatial analysis revealed that the youth of East Austin have access to many parks and PA sites. Built environmental barriers included railroad tracks; traffic danger and fenced commercial properties blocking access. Social environmental barriers included limited age-appropriate programming for middle childhood-aged youth. / text

Introduction: Pedometers are increasingly used as a self-monitoring aid for achieving and increasing daily physical activity. Older pedometers had varied levels of accuracy ranging from 0 to 45% difference and were needed to be positioned in a certain way (on the waist). Newer models can be placed anywhere on the body but its accuracy is unknown when they are placed at different bodily sites. Purpose: We determined the accuracy of various newer pedometers under controlled laboratory and free walking conditions. Method: A total of 40 subjects (20 male and 20 female) varying widely in age (18-61 years) and BMI (18-38 kg/m²) were studied. The pedometers, including Omron HJ-320, Omron HJ-324U, Lifesource XI-25, Fitbit Ultra, and Virgin Health Miles, were placed at waist, at chest, in a pocket, and on an armband. The number of steps recorded with the pedometers was compared against those counted with a hand tally counter while the subjects walked on the treadmill at 54, 80, 107, 134, and 161 m/min and on paved ground outside at a self-selected pace. Results: With the exception of one, all the pedometers were accurate (within ±5% of the criterion measure) at moderate walking speeds (80 and 107 m/min). The results were similar no matter where the pedometers were placed on the body and where the walking was performed. There were general tendencies for the accuracy to decrease at slower and faster walking speeds in most pedometers. The mean difference scores increased particularly when the pedometers were placed in the pockets or in the purse. Conclusions: Most of the pedometers examined were accurate when they were placed at waist, chest, and armband no matter what walking speed or what terrain they exercised. But some pedometers did not register accuracy when they were put in the pocket or in the purse particularly at a slow and fast walking speed. / text

Syftet med studien var att undersöka om vårdpersonal använder fysisk aktivitet på recept(FaR) som behandling till personer med depression. Frågeställningar: Ordinerar vårdpersonal FaR som behandling till personer med depression? Arbetar vårdpersonalen utifrån Socialstyrelsens Nationella riktlinjer (2010) gällande patienter med depression? Metod Studien är gjord utifrån en kvalitativ metod och analyserad utefter en innehållsanalys. Intervjumetoden är av semistrukturerad art med en frågeguide på elva öppna frågor som underlag. Av de fyrtio kontaktade verksamhetschefer som i sin tur gick ut och frågade sina anställda om de var någon som ville ställa upp så intervjuades fyra stycken respondenter. Alla fyra informanterna var utbildade läkare inom allmänmedicin eller psykiatri som antingen arbetade inom primärvården (3) eller som specialist inom psykiatrin (1). Resultat Resultaten visar att alla intervjupersoner var positivt inställda till fysisk aktivitet som del i behandling till personer med depression. Även om själva FaR metoden ansågs som ett trubbigt och komplicerat verktyg så tyckte informanterna ändå att det gav positiva resultat för deras patienter att komma igång och aktivera sig. Det framkom att enklare budskap till vårdpersonal gällande de nationella riktlinjerna möjligen kan öka användningen av FaR för deprimerade inom hälso- och sjukvården, och på så sätt bidra till att fler patienter uppnår en förbättrad psykisk hälsa. I analysen framkom att de flesta hade många års erfarenhet av att arbeta med deprimerade. Slutsats Det kan rekommenderas att se över bristande rutiner i uppföljning med FaR för patienter som har depression samt en förenkling av journalinförandet och det digitala receptet. Med grund i denna studies resultat kan man dra slutsatsen att Socialstyrelsens nationella riktlinjer gällande personer med depression behöver lyftas fram och implementeras ytterligare i den svenska hälso- och sjukvården.