No description available.

Élite adult athletes are known to have physical and physiological characteristics specifically suited to their sport. However, it is not clear whether the observed adult differences arise because of training or whether the sport selects the individual with the appropriate characteristics.The purpose of this study was to compare and contrast the physical development of young athletes (8 - 19 yr) and in so doing provide an answer to this question. Development of anthropometric characteristics, sexual maturation, pulmonary function and aerobic power were assessed in a group of 232 boys and 222 girls. The athletes were a randomly selected group of young athletes who had demonstrated previous performance success or who were excepted to do so in the future. They came from 4 sports namely: soccer (all male); gymnastics (2:1 female to male ratio), swimming (1:1 sex ratio) and tennis (1:1 sex ratio). The subjects were assessed annually for three consecutive years. The adjusted mean (ANCOVA) height of male swimmers (161.6 ± 0.6 cm) was found to be significantly greater (P<0.01) than non-athletes (159.2 ± 0.4 cm), gymnasts (150.7 ± 0.8 cm) and soccer players (158.7 ± 0.6 cm) and adjusted body mass (51.3 ± 0.6 kg) significantly greater (P<0.01) than the other groups. These trends were also observed in females. When testicular volumes were compared, it was found that swimmers matured significantly earlier (P<0.05) than gymnasts, tennis players and a reference population of non athletes. Female gymnasts attained sexual maturation (indexed by menarche) on average (14.4 ± 0.2 yr) a year after the other sports and the general population. A positive correlation was found between menarcheal age in mothers and daughters (r=0.29 , P<0.05), suggesting a familial trait. The observed late sexual maturation of gymnast therefore suggests some form of sports specific selection. Swimmers had the highest initial lung volumes (P<0.001), a difference which did not change with time. However, as training began well before the subjects were tested it was not possible to determine whether these observed differences were present prior to training. When age, height and weight were controlled for VO₂ max in males significantly increased both pubertal development, although this pattern was not shown in females. Swimmers had the highest VO₂ max values at all ages.

The purpose of this study was to determine the relationship between self-report physical activity as quantified by the Ball State University Adult Physical Fitness Program (BSU-APFP) Physical Activity Code (PAC) and measured physical fitness attributes of participants tested through the Ball State University Adult Physical Fitness Program. For the analysis, subjects were separated into three physical activity groups based on their self-reported PAC. The activity groups were sedentary, moderately active, and active. Comparisons were made among the groups for the following measured physical fitness attributes: age, resting blood pressure and heart rate, body weight, body mass index (BMI), percent body fat, total serum cholesterol, serum triglycerides, and high density lipoprotein cholesterol (HDL-C), and maximal oxygen consumption (VO2max). The subject pool for this study consisted of 2152 participants tested through the BSU-APFP between 1972-1992. A subset analysis was performed comparing serum lipids among the physical activity groups using 1432 participants from the original subject pool. Gender-specific univariate ANOVA's were used to assess differences among the physical activity groups for the physical fitness attributes. Significant differences (p<0.05) were observed between the sedentary and active men for all the physical fitness attributes. Significant differences (p<0.05) were observed between the moderately active and active men for all the physical fitness attributes except age and systolic blood pressure. In addition, significant differences (p<0.05) were observed between the sedentary and moderately active men for body weight, BMI, percent body fat, serum triglycerides and V02max. Significant differences (p<0.05) were observed between the sedentary and active women for all the physical fitness attributes except for age and total cholesterol. Significant differences (p<0.05) were observed between the moderately active and active women for all the physical fitness attributes except age, systolic/diastolic blood pressure and the serum lipids. In addition, significant differences (p<0.05) were observed between the sedentary and moderately active women for BMI, percent body fat, the serum lipids and V02max. The observed differences among the PAC groups were in the expected direction meaning that active men and women had more favorable physical fitness profiles as compared to their less active counterparts. / School of Physical Education

There is no abstract available for this thesis.

There is no abstract available for this thesis.

Are today's children and adolescents physically fitter than their peers from the past? Both scholarly and lay opinion is divided on this question. Using a meta-analytical strategy, this thesis comprehensively quantifies the secular trends in the fitness test performance of Australasian children and adolescents, more specifically, the secular trends in power, speed and cardiovascular endurance test performance. It also provided a global context for the Australasian evolution. / The thesis starts by charting the global evolution of the fitness test performance of children and adolescents. To do this, an extensive literature search was undertaken to identify as many studies as possible, which explicitly commented on secular trends in fitness test performance. Only studies reporting fitness test performances at a minimum of two time points on comparable populations were reviewed. Although numerous studies reporting on the fitness test performances of children and adolescents exist, many only make informal comparisons with past results, with very few quantifying these comparisons. Data were available from 54 studies, on approximately 26 million children and adolescents from 29 countries, tested between 1911 and 2001. Most of these studies were very localised in time and space, and only when put together did they paint a global picture. Globally, power and speed test performances have evolved little over time, while cardiovascular endurance test performances have been declining systematically since 1970. The distributional characteristics of performance on fitness tests have changed over time, with increasing skew in cardiovascular endurance tests, but little change in power and speed tests. / After painting the global picture, the focus shifts to the Australian literature. This thesis used a more fine-grained-meta-analytical strategy, considering every suitable report, even if measured at a single point in time, to build up a picture of secular trends in fitness test performance of children and adolescents from Australia and New Zealand. A total of 56 Australasian studies were used to quantify the patterns of change of performance on fitness tests. Secular trends in mean test performance, and in the variability of test performance, were determined on 393,454 Australasians aged 6-17 years, tested in the period 1960-2002. Australasian children and adolescents follow the global model. The results show that there has been a sharp decline in the cardiovascular endurance test performance of Australasian children and adolescents in recent decades, with little change in tests of power and speed. There have also been increases in the variability of performance on fitness tests over time, with increases most marked in cardiovascular endurance tests. / Possible causes, correlates and mechanisms of change are discussed. It seems likely that changed in fitness test performances reflect physiological decrements, largely resulting from energy imbalance subsequent to changes in behavioural patterns (e.g. increases in levels of screen-based inactivity, reductions in incidental physical activity and increased access to energy-dense food). / Thesis (PhDHumanMovement)--University of South Australia, 2004.

Thesis (M.S.)--Eastern Illinois University, 1989. / Includes bibliographical references (leaves 91-134).

Thesis (M. App. Psych.)--University of Adelaide, Dept. of Community Medicine, 1992. / Includes bibliographical references (leaves 91-103).

Thesis (D. Phil.(Biokinetics, Sport and Leisure Sciences))--University of Pretoria, 2003. / Includes bibliographical references.

Thesis (M.A.(Biokinetics, Sport and Leisure Sciences))--University of Pretoria, 2003. / Includes bibliographical references.