scholarly journals Learning to Run From Narrative Foreclosure: One Woman’s Story of Aging and Physical Activity

2014 ◽  
Vol 22 (3) ◽  
pp. 393-404 ◽  
Author(s):  
Meridith Griffin ◽  
Cassandra Phoenix
Keyword(s):  
Physical Activity ◽  
Health Behavior ◽  
Life Course ◽  
Active Aging ◽  
Physically Active ◽  
Aging Body ◽  
Linear Problems ◽  
Creative Analytic Practice ◽  
The Life Course ◽  
Behavior Choices

In this article, the authors construct a story of one woman’s (Justine’s) experience of learning to run within the context of a beginners group. Building on existing scholarship on narrative, aging, and physical activity, this work is part of a larger ethnographic project examining subjective accounts of the physically active aging body across the life course. Concerned with often simplistically linear problems of representation, the authors present a messy text that represents the complex and fluid nature of Justine’s embodied tale. The aim is to show the intersection of biographical (storied) identity with health behavior choices and to interrogate the process of challenging narrative foreclosure. By using the emerging genre of messy text as a creative analytic practice, the authors avoid prompting a single, closed, convergent reading of Justine’s story. Instead, they provoke interpretation within the reader as witness and expand the ways in which research on aging and physical activity has been represented.

scholarly journals Expanding the Agenda for Research on the Physically Active Aging Body

2009 ◽  
Vol 17 (3) ◽  
pp. 362-379 ◽  
Author(s):  
Cassandra Phoenix ◽  
Bevan Grant
Keyword(s):  
Physical Activity ◽  
Social Aspects ◽  
Active Aging ◽  
Multiple Forms ◽  
Physically Active ◽  
Objective Truth ◽  
Dynamic Relationship ◽  
Aging Body ◽  
The Impact ◽  
The Relationship

In this article, the authors consider the different approaches that can be used to examine the relationship between physical activity and aging. They propose that much is to be gained in our awareness of this dynamic relationship by drawing on multiple forms of knowledge that can generate diverse understandings regarding the impact of physical activity on physiological, psychological, and social aspects of aging. Accordingly, 3 different approaches to understanding the older physically (in)active body are presented. These are categorized as (a) the objective truth about the aging, physically active body; (b) the subjective truth about the aging, physically active body; and (c) “tales” about the aging, physically active body. The key underpinnings, strengths, and weaknesses of each approach are outlined. A number of examples from the literature are also offered to demonstrate where and how each approach has been used to contribute to our understanding about older people and physical activity. The more thorough, multidisciplinary, and wide spanning our knowledge of the aging, active body is, the more informed we might become in every dimension of its existence.

scholarly journals Intrapair Comparison of Life-Course Appetite and Physical Activity in Elderly Danish Twins: Reliability and Association With Subsequent Survival

2016 ◽  
Vol 19 (5) ◽  
pp. 447-455 ◽  
Author(s):  
Laura E. Løkkegaard ◽  
Lisbeth A. Larsen ◽  
Kaare Christensen
Keyword(s):  
Physical Activity ◽  
Life Course ◽  
Healthy Aging ◽  
Positive Association ◽  
Late Life ◽  
Lifestyle Factors ◽  
Physically Active ◽  
Individual Level ◽  
The Individual ◽  
The Life Course

Avoiding overeating and being physically active is associated with healthy aging, but methodological issues challenge the quantification of the association. Intrapair comparison of twins is a study design that attempts to minimize social norm-driven biased self-reporting of lifestyle factors. We aimed to investigate the association between self-reported lifestyle factors and subsequent survival in 347 Danish twin pairs aged 70 years and older and, additionally, to investigate the reliability of these self-reports. The twins were interviewed in 2003 and followed for mortality until 2015. They were asked to compare their appetite and physical activity to that of their co-twins in different stages of life. On an individual level, we found a positive association between current self-reported physical activity and late-life survival for elderly twins. This was supported by the intrapair analyses, which revealed a positive association between midlife and current physical activity and late-life survival. A positive association between lower appetite and late-life survival was found generally over the life course in the individual level analyses but not in the intrapair analyses. Kappa values for the inter-twin agreement on who ate the most were 0.16 to 0.34 in different life stages, and for physical activity 0.19 to 0.26, corresponding to a slight-to-fair agreement. Approximately, 50% of the twin pairs were not in agreement regarding physical activity, and of these twins 75% (95% CI: 67–82%) considered themselves the most active twin. These findings indicate a still-existing tendency of answering according to social norms, even in a twin study designed to minimize this.

A life course approach for understanding later life sustainability

2017 ◽  
pp. 103-110
Author(s):  
Holly Syddall ◽  
Avan Aihie Sayer
Keyword(s):  
Physical Activity ◽  
Risk Factors ◽  
Life Course ◽  
Grip Strength ◽  
Optimal Strategies ◽  
Later Life ◽  
Present Evidence ◽  
Considerable Evidence ◽  
Life Course Approach ◽  
The Life Course

This chapter describes a life course approach for understanding later life sustainability, focusing on grip strength as a marker of physical sustainability, and explaining how a life course approach recognizes that muscle strength in later life reflects not only rate of loss in later life, but also the peak attained earlier in life. We present evidence that risk factors operating throughout the life course have an impact on physical sustainability in later life with particular consideration of the effects of body size, socioeconomic position, physical activity, diet, and smoking. We have shown that low birth weight is associated with weaker grip strength across the life course and that there is considerable evidence for developmental influences on ageing skeletal muscle. Finally, a life course approach suggests opportunities for early intervention to promote later life physical sustainability; but optimal strategies and timings for intervention are yet to be identified.

scholarly journals Social Relationships and Health Behavior Across the Life Course

2010 ◽  
Vol 36 (1) ◽  
pp. 139-157 ◽  
Author(s):  
Debra Umberson ◽  
Robert Crosnoe ◽  
Corinne Reczek
Keyword(s):  
Health Behavior ◽  
Life Course ◽  
Social Relationships ◽  
The Life Course

Physical Activity: An Underestimated Investment in Human Capital?

2013 ◽  
Vol 10 (3) ◽  
pp. 289-308 ◽  
Author(s):  
Richard Bailey ◽  
Charles Hillman ◽  
Shawn Arent ◽  
Albert Petitpas
Keyword(s):  
Physical Activity ◽  
Human Capital ◽  
Life Course ◽  
Human Development ◽  
Well Being ◽  
Domain Specific ◽  
Capital Growth ◽  
To Come ◽  
Healthy Functioning ◽  
The Life Course

Despite the fact that physical activity is universally acknowledged to be an important part of healthy functioning and well-being, the full scope of its value is rarely appreciated. This article introduces a novel framework for understanding the relationships between physical activity (and specifically sport-related forms of physical activity) and different aspects of human development. It proposes that the outcomes of physical activity can be framed as differential ‘capitals’ that represent investments in domain-specific assets: Emotional, Financial, Individual, Intellectual, Physical, and Social. These investments, especially when made early in the life course, can yield significant rewards, both at that time and for years to come. The paper presents a new model—the Human Capital Model—that makes sense of these effects, outlines the different capitals, and briefly articulates the conditions necessary for the realization of Human Capital growth through physical activity.

Moderate-to-vigorous intensity physical activity across the life course and risk of pre- and post-menopausal breast cancer

2013 ◽  
Vol 139 (3) ◽  
pp. 851-861 ◽  
Author(s):  
Lindsay C. Kobayashi ◽  
Ian Janssen ◽  
Harriet Richardson ◽  
Agnes S. Lai ◽  
John J. Spinelli ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Breast Cancer ◽  
Physical Activity ◽  
Life Course ◽  
Intensity Physical Activity ◽  
Vigorous Intensity ◽  
Post Menopausal ◽  
The Life Course

Life Cycle Patterns of Physical Activity among Sedentary and Active Older Women

1995 ◽  
Vol 3 (4) ◽  
pp. 340-359 ◽  
Author(s):  
Sandra O’Briem Cousins ◽  
Norah Keating
Keyword(s):  
Physical Activity ◽  
Life Cycle ◽  
Life Course ◽  
Older Women ◽  
Elderly Women ◽  
Life Course Perspective ◽  
Time Activity ◽  
Health Promoting ◽  
The Life Course ◽  
Life Cycle Patterns

Federal studies report that health-promoting physical activity declines markedly over the life course, so that by late life, about half of Canadian elderly women are sedentary. Although some older women are engaged in optimal levels of exercise, others develop lifestyles that are generally sedentary. This divergence of women's pursuit of leisure-time activity requires examination. Focus groups with active and sedentary older women were conducted to explore the variability Of participation in health-promoting forms of physical activity over the life course. The life course perspective of Bengston and Allen (1993) provided a framework for the investigation of the life cycle patterns of these women. Although life stages and life events of these women were similar, the pathways of coping with life challenges differed between the two groups. Content analysis highlighted the importance of turning points that led women to either significantly increase or decrease physical activity.

scholarly journals Physical Literacy - A Journey of Individual Enrichment: An Ecological Dynamics Rationale for Enhancing Performance and Physical Activity in All

2020 ◽  
Vol 11 ◽  
Author(s):  
James R. Rudd ◽  
Caterina Pesce ◽  
Ben William Strafford ◽  
Keith Davids
Keyword(s):  
Physical Activity ◽  
Life Course ◽  
Skill Learning ◽  
Physical Literacy ◽  
Ecological Dynamics ◽  
Functional Movement ◽  
Sports And Physical Activity ◽  
Enriched Environments ◽  
Embedded Development ◽  
The Life Course

Internationally, governments, health and exercise practitioners are struggling with the threat posed by physical inactivity leading to worsening outcomes in health and life expectancy and the associated high economic costs. To meet this challenge it is important to enhance the quality, and quantity, of participation in sports and physical activity throughout the life course to sustain healthy and active lifestyles. This paper supports the need to develop a physically literate population, who meaningfully engage in play and physical activity through the development of functional movement skills in enriched environments. This is a shift away from reductionist approaches to physical activity engagement and maintenance to an ecological dynamics approach that focuses on enrichment to support functional movement skill learning and development. This is an embedded approach to physical literacy that allows learners the space and time to “explore–discover” (ecological psychology) within environments that will lead to a concomitant self-organization of highly intricate network of co-dependent sub-systems (anatomical, respiratory, circulatory, nervous, and perceptual-cognitive) resulting in functional movement solutions for the performance task and enduring positive adaptations to subsystems supporting the physical literacy journey across the life course. “Explore-discover adapt” is at the heart of two contemporary learner-centered pedagogies: Non-linear Pedagogy (NLP) and the Athletic Skills Model (ASM). Both emphasize the importance of enrichment experiences from an early age, and throughout life course, and both appreciate the inherent complexity involved in the learning process and the importance of designing a rich and varied range of athletic, participatory experiences that will support the embedded development of physical literacy leading to ongoing physical activity for all. The final part of this paper will demonstrate the potential of an ecological dynamics approach for supporting the concept of physical literacy by providing a roadmap for a reliable and valid measurement of physical literacy when considered from both an ecological dynamics perspective and the phenomenology understanding of physical literacy.

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