Study: Kids Bullied in Gym, Sports Avoid Future Activity
Many people believe that mandatory P.E. encourages sedentary kids to become physically active. They are sadly mistaken. Especially when the kids have no interest in sports.
http://www.athleticbusiness.com/more-news/study-kids-bullied-in-gym-sports-avoid-future-activity.html
Study: Kids Bullied in Gym, Sports Avoid Future Activity
by Lois M. Collins, Deseret News January 2014
AthleticBusiness.com has partnered with LexisNexis to bring you this content.
Copyright 2014 The Deseret News Publishing Co.
Deseret Morning News (Salt Lake City)
When kids are bullied during physical activities like PE classes and sports, they tend to withdraw from being physically active -- not just in class, but in general. A year later, kids who are picked on are less active, according to a study led by BYU researchers.
That's true of both overweight and healthy-weight kids, the study found. The research is published in the Journal of Pediatric Psychology.
The research touches on two different factors in child well-being that concern experts. First, physical activity -- or its lack -- and the resulting weight gain have serious ramifications for both present and future health, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, the American Academy of Pediatrics and others. Research suggests that only 8 percent of school-age children get the recommended one hour of physical activity a day that federal guidelines say they need. Obesity is considered by health officials to be a national epidemic that includes children.
At the same time, the U.S. Department of Education's National Center on Educational Statistics noted that at least 13.5 million episodes of bullying were reported in 2011, ranging from insults to threats and physical harm. It's not a count of how many students were actually bullied, since some students were likely bullied in more than one way and other students probably never reported incidents, but it is suggestive.
Intrigued by earlier research that suggested kids who are bullied by peers may become more sedentary, the researchers in the BYU-led study decided to look at what happens when the bullying itself involves physical activity. "Kids may be teased about their physical skills, ostracized when teams are chosen for sports, or criticized for their physical appearance when they wear exercise clothing," said lead researcher Chad D. Jensen, assistant professor in the Department of Psychology at Brigham Young University.
Sitting it out
"Children who have been criticized for their physical skills, chosen last and ridiculed seem to avoid physical activity, perhaps because from previous experience they figure it's punishing and they'll stay on the sidelines," Jensen said.
The researchers asked 108 students from several Midwest grade schools questions that ranged from what their diets were like to how they were treated by peers. The research focused on a "constellation of physical, psychological, emotional and academic functioning," Jensen said.
Using two surveys, they asked about health and activities, feelings, whether the children had problems with other children and how they felt about and performed in school. They also asked about bullying, although they didn't call it that, measuring things like feeling put down and perceptions of how others see them, as well as how upset the child felt as a result of how he or she was treated.
They found that even a year later, children ages 9 to 12 who had been teased during physical activity were less active than those who had not been teased. The finding was especially true for healthy-weight kids a year later, he added. Overweight children who were teased experienced a decrease in their health-related quality of life, including physical, social and academic well-being.
Activity matters
"Children's early experiences with physical activity can influence their exercise habits well into adulthood," Jensen said. He cites the benefits of an active lifestyle: reduced risk for obesity, depression, diabetes, sleep problems and other physical and mental health issues.
The American Academy of Pediatrics "Bright Futures" report notes that "physical activity is an essential component of a healthy lifestyle and must begin in infancy and extend throughout adulthood. Regular physical activity increases lean body mass, muscle and bone strength and promotes good physical health. It fosters psychological wellbeing, can increase self-esteem and capacity for learning and can help children and adolescents handle stress."
Jensen hopes the study will serve as a call to action. It highlights how important it is to prevent bullying in schools and on the playing field. "We encourage educators and other adult leaders to intervene if children are being teased during physical activity and to consider physical education classes and recess important domains for bullying prevention," he said.
The other researchers were Christopher C. Cushing of Oklahoma State University and Allison R. Elledge of University of Kansas.
EMAIL: lois@deseretnews.com, Twitter: Loisco
January 26, 2014
Copyright © 2014 LexisNexis, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All Rights Reserved.
= new reply since forum marked as read
Your post serves an an indictment of mandatory boys' P.E. Yet how many guys are there in the sports crowd who object to this kind of mistreatment of nonathletic kids? The answer seems to be . . .
Congratulations on your weight loss! 
You may have more will power than I. If I didn't work with a personal trainer, I'd probably goof off! 
I've had a very positive health-club experience. Granted, I was a bit nervous when I went to the local 24 Hour Fitness for the first time. But I've had very supportive relationships with all of my personal trainers, even though I had a nonathletic background and they all were young former athletes. (I've had a succession of personal trainers because each one has had to make career changes for one reason or another. In other words, it had nothing to do with me.) I've encountered none of the machismo one would expect. My health club is like a second home to me. Two of them once asked me if I was a sports fan. When I said I wasn't, they weren't offended. In fact, I was (and currently am) a favorite client of each one of them.
But I was a nerd and really piss poor at throwing a ball, etc. and received my share of mocking/bullying, which drove me to solitary sports - jogging, weight-lifting, and just to throw everyone for a loop, I wrestled my junior and senior year primarily because my math teacher, the wrestling coach, who I respected, asked me to. I consider wrestling solitary because even though you're part of a team, you only have yourself to rely on in a match. I remember in 8th grade, Fridays were often free days in gym so that often meant pick-up basketball games except for me. There was a little alcove in the gym that lead to the heating/cooling system of the school that I would get in and practice juggling five balls (a passion at the time). It counted for physical activity.
Even now I'm very solitary in my physical activity. I've taken up jogging again, and an old college friend has tried repeatedly to get me to come run with his club, but I probably never will. I like the solitude and serenity of it, and I'm thinking of getting a bike because I don't know if my knees will be able to handle a very rigorous jogging schedule.
TlalocW
