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Teenage Boys Physical Activity Intervention by David Roche and Neil Shannon

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Teenage Boys Physical Activity Intervention by David Roche and Neil Shannon

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-Teenage boys demographic section, Individual level and Group level by David Roche
- Environment level, Policy Level, Implementation and funding by Neil Shannon

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Very few teenage boys meet the recommended guidelines of 60 mins MVPA per day. As such there is great need for interventions geared towards this age group to combat obesity, mental health issues, heart disease and the various other negative health factors associated with a sedentary lifestyle(James et al., 2018).

Teenage boys also face numerous other challenges. At this age, people are often very susceptible to peer pressure and the need to fit into social groups. This can often lead to involvement in alcohol, drugs, crime and anti-social behaviour. As such involvement in physical activities and sports can often give young boys in this age bracket a positive outlet to engage in and socialise through, without the negative implications of the other activities mentioned above

A study by James et al.(2018) directly engaged with teenagers to see what they themselves believed could encourage PA among their demographic and various recommendations they had for interventions.

5 main recommendations came out of it regards teenage boys:

1. Remove or lower the cost of various of physical activities, without having a drop in the quality of service provided.
2. Make PA services and facilities more accessible in the locality.
3. Upgrade the standard of already available PA facilities
4. Tailor activities and facilities more specifically towards teenagers.
5. Give a good variety and choice of activities

These recommendations were taken into account when creating our own intervention.

The intervention would be have four targeted components:
- Individual level
- Group level
- Environmental level
- Policy level

Each component will be outlined one by one in the following presentation.

References:

James, M., Todd, C., Scott, S., Stratton, G., McCoubrey, S., Christian, D., .. & Copp, I.                (2018). Teenage recommendations to improve physical activity for their
age group: a qualitative study. BMC public health, 18(1), 372.

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Description: The plan behind our intervention is to provide the teenage boys who are participating with a introductory course in strength and conditioning training. The intervention can accommodate up to 50 teenage boys over a 6 month period. The boys will be aged between 13-16. All activities will be tailored to suit specific age and body types in terms of safety and levels of exertion etc. The main environment for this intervention is the local gym in the locality of the teenage boy group.

Aims: The aim of the intervention is to provide the participants with a beginner level introduction to resistance and cardio training in a gym environment. This will take place by each teen meeting one of our own qualified personal trainers for 5  1 hour sessions(once every fortnight for first 10 weeks of intervention) where they will be given a program tailored to their needs and shown the basics and fundamentals of S+C training. As well as this they will be given 6 months free member ship in the local gym where the sessions take place. This will allow them to practice what they have learned in the one on one sessions and hopefully build a healthy habit of gym attendance.

Objectives: The objective of the intervention is to introduce the young person to the practices and benefits of personal fitness. Through the intervention it is hoped the teenagers may spark an interest in all, or some of the various practices covered whether that be weight lifting, conditioning or cardio exercise. It also provides an opportunity for the boys to become familiar with the gym environment prior to the age most gyms have set for admission(which is usually 16-18).

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Description: The group aspect of our intervention will take place in the same local facility. It will involve the same group of teenage boys(50 approx boys aged 13-16). This side of the intervention will involve 5-a-side soccer and basketball games which will take place in the astro-turf pitch and basketball court of the facility.

Aims: The aim here is to get the boys involved in team sport and physical activities. All boys will have the option to attend either or both the soccer and basketball games.

Objectives: The objective of this part of the intervention is give the participants an outlet to socialise and interact with other peers in their age group in a safe and healthy environment while engaging in physical activity. Through this friendships can be built, and a deeper interest in the sports involved may be created.

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Description: The plan for teenage boys participating in our intervention is to provide them with the best possible environment for physical activity. one of the most effective ways to promote physical activity in teenage boys is to create a 'culture' within their schools (Morton et al., 2016). There are many schools around the country that have developed sports culture within them such as a GAA school, rugby school etc.

Aim: Our intervention aims to create an environment for both competitive and non competitive sports in schools. With this intervention we aim to engage boys who may want to play sports for fun as opposed to those who want to play at a high level but will both be encouraged.

Objectives: The objective here is to promote physical activity with a team spirit among teenage boys where friendships etc can be made. Along with this they will develop hobbies and interests which will hopefully help young boys enjoy there PA and not have it feel like a task.

Reference
Morton, K. L., Atkin, A. J., Corder, K., Suhrcke, M., & van Sluijs, E. M. (2016). The school environment and adolescent physical activity and sedentary behaviour: a mixed-studies systematic review. Obesity reviews : an official journal of the International Association for the Study of Obesity, 17(2), 142–158. https://doi.org/10.1111/obr.12352

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Description: By implementing mandatory interventions in schools it will be possible to promote PA more effectively. For example, some schools make it compulsory to take part in a specific sport during first year of secondary school.  Clongowes wood college in Kildare do this by requiring all first years to play rugby. This intervention will look to make sport compulsory in school.

Aim: The aim here is to make sure all schoolboys are physically active outside school hours. They will be put through regular sport training up to twice per week with the option of a third Training session on a Friday.

Objective: The objective here is to get teenage boys to reach  physical activity guidelines. By doing this participants will reach at least the 3 hours of MVPA per week when P.E class is included in school hours.

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This intervention will be implemented easily in schools. Boys would have a selection of sports to play in. There will be a list of 5-10 sports which they will have to pick from. This list will contain both team and individual sports. Funding received will be distributed among various sports based on popularity and needs for equipment. Funding will be applied for via government grant from the relevant sporting bodies and councils.