Date of Award
2004
Document Type
Dissertation
Degree Name
Doctor of Education
Department
Fischler Graduate School of Education and Human Services
Advisor
Janice Rashid
Committee Member
Maryellen Maher
Keywords
activity assessments, attainable fitness goals, children, eating habits, fitness activities, fitness plan, fitness routine, fourth-grade students, healthy eating, healthy lifestyle, home fitness, learning styles, nutrition, physical activity, physical education, pretest findings, pretesting, student observation, students, vigorous activity
Abstract
The problem that was addressed in this applied dissertation was that fourth-grade students did not live healthy lifestyles. Through student observation, it was evident that physical activity and healthy eating habits were lacking. When asked to participate in a vigorous activity, children were reluctant to take part. The children had poor eating habits that required address and modification.
The solution strategies included increasing each student’s physical activity outside of physical education class with the development of fitness activities. A variety of assessments to accommodate the different learning styles was developed. Each student learned how to develop attainable fitness goals, was pretested in physical activities, and developed a fitness routine to be completed at home. The fitness routine was based on the pretest findings. In addition, each student learned nutrition through a variety of activities.
The results led to the conclusion that today’s children need to be taught at an early age the benefits of eating healthy and how to develop a fitness plan. Although some of the goals were not achieved, students gained an understanding of what it means to live a healthy lifestyle.