Walking football as sustainable exercise for older adults – A pilot investigation

The health benefits of playing football and the importance of exercise and social contact for healthy ageing are well established, but few older adults in the UK take enough exercise. Football is popular, flexible in format and draws players into engrossing, effortful and social exercise, but the physical demands of play at full speed may make it unsustainable for some older adults. Restricted to walking pace, will play still be engaging? Will health benefits be retained? Will physical demands remain manageable? This pilot study aims to investigate: (1) the experience of older adults playing walking football every week, is it sustainable and rewarding, (2) the intensity and locomotor pattern of walking football, (3) the scale and nature of walking football health benefits and (4) possible cognitive benefits of playing walking football through measures of processing speed, selective and divided attention and updating and inhibition components of executive function. ‘Walking football’ and ‘waiting list’ groups were compared before and after 12 weeks of one-hour per week football. Walking football was found to be engaging, sustainable for older adults and moderately intensive; however, selective health and cognitive benefits were not found from this brief intervention.

Highlights

• Walking football is a lower impact but authentic form of football that enables older players to extend their active participation.

• Walking football is enjoyable and moderately demanding and may be a sustainable form of exercise for older adults.

• Health and cognitive benefits to playing walking football were not found.

     

Daps,Dykes and Five Mile Hikes: Physical Education in Pupils' Folklore

abstract

This paper explores the relationship between the school and the body. It does so by considering the transfer from primary to secondary school. Analysing children's and young adult's stories about transfer reveals that physical education (PE), and more generally the body, are central to pupils’ anticipations and anxieties about the move to secondary school. The paper argues that the fears pupils express about the dangers associated with secondary school PE should be placed within the context of the transition to adulthood. Secondary school PE is an integral part of the status passage to adulthood, during which the recognition of the body as physical, social and sexual is central.

     

The Onion and the geopolitics of satire

This article considers the representation of global events in The Onion, a satirical news publication. Drawing on a content analysis of headlines and news stories, the article offers a set of general conclusions about the publication’s geographical and topical focuses. When considered in aggregate, the headlines offer an implicit critique of the mainstream media and coverage of international events. The idea that The Onion is a critical voice is, however, subject to interrogation. The Onion should be recognized with other satirical outputs as a profit-oriented enterprise, with appeal to key demographics and growing connections to multinational corporations. Yet The Onion’s position is further complexified through its direct engagement with international actors who do not get the joke.     

Cytokine responses to resistance training in people with multiple sclerosis

Exercise for individuals with multiple sclerosis (MS) has been shown to improve cardiovascular function, increase strength and endurance, and reduce fatigue. The impact of exercise on immune function in the disease, however, remains mostly unexplored. Ten female MS patients participated in an 8 week programme of twice-weekly progressive resistance training, with pre- and post-training assessment of serum concentrations of cytokines IL-2, IL-4, IL-6, IL-10, CRP, TNF-alpha and IFN-gamma. After training, IL-4, IL-10, CRP and IFN-gamma showed statistically reduced resting concentrations in blood, while TNF-alpha showed non-significant reductions and IL-2 and IL-6 remained unchanged. These results suggest that progressive resistance training may have an impact on cytokine concentrations in individuals with MS and should be confirmed in studies with stronger statistical power. The impact of these changes on overall immune function in MS and on disease status and prognosis remains to be determined.     

First catch your indexer*

Indexes are essential for many learned publications, yet often overlooked because those responsible for the publications do not realize the value of an index or know how to commission one. This article provides basic guidelines for coping with indexes.     

The issue at a glance

The issue at a glance     

Interpretations of Independent Learning in the Early Years Interpre´tations de l'Apprentissage Inde´pendant dans le Secteur des Tre ¤ s Jeunes Enfants Interpretaciones del Aprendizaje Independiente en la Edad Infantil Temprana

There is currently widespread interest in fostering 'independent learning' among young children. This paper reports research concerned with ways in which teachers, parents and young children themselves perceive and interpret this notion and how these perceptions influence classroom practice and planning for children's learning in the first few years of schooling. The research used structured interviews with 48 children aged between 3 and 7 years in nursery, reception, Year 1 and Year 2 classes and self-completion questionnaires with their parents and teachers. The main findings suggest that children's abilities to think and act independently are underestimated by teachers, particularly children at the older end of the age range under study. Children were found to become more teacher dependent, rather than less, during the first few years in school. A tension emerged between teachers' intention to foster independence and the constraints of the social, organisational and curricular context of early years classrooms. Actuellement l'encouragement de l'apprentissage indépendant chez les jeunes enfants est d'un intérêt répandu. Cette étude se concerne des perceptions et des interprétations de cette notion de la part des enseignants, des parents et des enfants eux-mêmes, ainsi que les effets de ces perceptions sur le programme des activités en classe pendant les premières années scolaires. Les recherches consistent en des intervues avec 48 enfants âgés de 3 à 7 ans dans les classes maternelles, 'réception' et de la 1ère et 2e années. Les parents et les enseignants de ces enfants ont rempli individuellement des questionnaires. Les résultats principaux suggèrent que la capabilité des enfants d'apprendre et de se conduire indépendamment est sérieusement sous-estimée par leurs enseignants, en particulier chez les enfants dans le secteur le plus âgé des élèves étudiés. On a trouvé que les enfants deviennent plus, plutôt que moins, dépendants des adultes au cours des premières années scolaires. Une tension se développe entre les intentions des enseignants d'encourager l'indépendance et les contraintes imposées sur les classes des plus jeunes enfants par les neécessités de la société, de l'organisation de l'école et du programme d'études. Actualmente existe un interés amplio en fomentar el 'aprendizaje independiente' entre los niños pequeños. Este artículo presenta investigación referida a la manera en que profesores, padres y los mismos niños pequeños perciben e interpretan este concepto, y cómo esta percepción influye en la practica pedagógica y en el planeamiento para el aprendizaje de niños en los primeros años escolares. La investigación fue realizada a través de entrevistas estructuradas con 48 niños de 3 a 7 años de edad en guarderías, 'recepción', y los años 1ro y 2do y por medio de cuestionarios individuales a sus padres y profesores. Las conclusiones principales sugieren que las abilidades de los niños para pensar y actuar de manera independiente son subestimadas por sus profesores, particularmente en el caso de los niños en la edad mayor de la escala estudiada. Se encontróque, en vez de menos, los niños se volvían mas dependientes de los profesores en los primeros años escolares. Un conflicto surgióentre la intención de los profesores de estimular la independencia y las limitaciones del contexto social, organizativo y curricular de las clases de los primeros años.     

Book Reviews

Towards Electronic Journals: Realities for Scientists, Librarians and Publishers by Carol Tenopir and Donald W. King. Washington, DC: SLA Publishing, 2000 Science Editing and Information Management edited by Connie J. Manson. USA: Geoscience Information Society, 1999. Pp. 118. Paperback, $25.00. ISBN 0‐934485‐30‐5 Futurize Your Enterprise: Business Strategy in the Age of the E‐Customer by David Siegel. Chichester: Wiley, 1999. Hardback, £19.50, ISBN 0‐471‐357634 The Impact of Electronic Publishing on the Academic Community (the Wenner–Gren International Series, Volume 73) edited by I. Butterworth. London: Portland Press 1998, Pp. 191. Price £75. ISBN 1‐85578‐122‐0 University Library Spending on Books and Journals: A Major Concern by Peter Sowden. Available from CAPP at the Publishers Association (1 Kingsway, London WC2B 6XF)