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The declining mental health of youth in late adolescence and early adulthood represents a serious public health concern, resulting in substantial symptom burden, mortality, and societal cost. Despite this, youth with clinical mental illnesses show poor engagement with mental health services.
We explored how university students’ mental and physical health changed during a 12-week on-campus exercise program. When students enjoyed exercise more than usual or more than others, they reported better mental and physical health. These findings highlight the importance of prioritising enjoyment of exercise when designing exercise programs for student wellbeing.
Playgrounds are essential for children's physical, mental, and social development, yet there is a lack of high-quality evaluations of playground interventions in public spaces.
Research suggests there is considerable opportunity to improve children's movement behaviors while they are being cared for by their grandparents. An understanding of the extent to which grandparent practices facilitate children's engagement in physical activity is critical to the development of health interventions targeting grandparent caregivers.
Behavior change techniques (BCTs) have been extensively used in physical activity interventions for children, however, no systematic reviews have synthesized their effects.
Gratitude has consistently been associated with various beneficial health-related outcomes, including subjective wellbeing, positive mental health, and positive physical health. In light of such effects, positive psychology researchers and practitioners have often implemented gratitude interventions in an attempt to build individuals' orientations toward appreciation and thankfulness. Recent meta-analyses and reviews have revealed, however, that these interventions often have mixed effects on gratitude or other health outcomes.
With an increasing number of grandparents providing care to their grandchildren, calls have been made for these caregivers to be considered important stakeholders in encouraging children's engagement in health-promoting behaviors, such as physical activity.
Physical inactivity is a leading contributor to increased cardiovascular morbidity and mortality. Almost 500 million new cases of preventable noncommunicable diseases (NCDs) will occur globally between 2020 and 2030 due to physical inactivity, costing just over US$300 billion, or around US$ 27 billion annually (WHO 2022). Active adults can achieve a reduction of up to 35% in risk of death from cardiovascular disease.
There is no published information on preterm children's activities and participation during middle childhood, a time when growth and development are characterised by increasing motor, reasoning, self-regulation, social and executive functioning skills. This study explored the health, activities and participation of children born very preterm during middle childhood (6-9 years) from the perspectives of their parents.
Participation in sport is associated with a range of physical, psychological, and social benefits. However, children in out-of-home care face complex barriers to sport participation, with lower participation rates than children in other household arrangements.