Children, Physical Activity, Exercise and Obesity

Dear colleagues,

Physical activity and exercise remain key behaviours which, when instilled during childhood, promote health throughout the life course. Engaging in sufficient amounts of physical activity during childhood is associated with lower levels of unhealthy weight and obesity, enhanced cardiometabolic health, improved cognition and academic achievement, and a more positive sense of wellbeing. Despite these known benefits, data from across the world still suggest that children are not meeting the required levels of physical activity for health benefits. Additionally, although interventions to enhance physical activity have been had trials, there remain significant gaps in scientific understanding of the effectiveness and utility of physical activity interventions in children. This Special Issue invites contributions from across the spectrum of health, sport and exercise, social and life sciences examining the issue of physical activity, exercise and obesity in children.

This Special Issue is open to original research, review articles, short reports, brief commentaries, case reports, and meta-analyses, related to physical activity and exercise in children and their impact on obesity and other health-related variables. The keywords listed below suggest just a few of the many possibilities.

Potential topics include but are not limited to:

• Cross-sectional and longitudinal association of physical activity, fitness and health- related variables during childhood
• Environmental, sociocultural, and biological correlates of physical activity and obesity during childhood
• Interaction of physical activity, motor competence, obesity, and health markers during childhood through adolescence
• Intervention strategies targeting physical activity and healthy weight during childhood
• Process evaluation of interventions designed to enhance physical activity and reduce obesity during childhood
• Association of motor competence and physical fitness in childhood with lifestyle habits later in life

Measurement issues related to physical activity, exercise and obesity during infancy and through adolescence

Prof. Dr. Michael J. Duncan
Prof. Dr. Jorge Mota
Dr. Cain Clark
Dr. Clarice Maria De Lucena Martins
Guest Editors

Manuscript Submission Information

Manuscripts should be submitted online at www.mdpi.com by registering and logging in to this website. Once you are registered, click here to go to the submission form. Manuscripts can be submitted until the deadline. All submissions that pass pre-check are peer-reviewed. Accepted papers will be published continuously in the journal (as soon as accepted) and will be listed together on the Special Issue website. Research articles, review articles as well as short communications are invited. For planned papers, a title and short abstract (about 250 words) can be sent to the Editorial Office for assessment.

Submitted manuscripts should not have been published previously, nor be under consideration for publication elsewhere (except conference proceedings papers). All manuscripts are thoroughly refereed through a single-anonymized peer-review process. A guide for authors and other relevant information for submission of manuscripts is available on the Instructions for Authors page. International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health is an international peer-reviewed open access monthly journal published by MDPI.

Please visit the Instructions for Authors page before submitting a manuscript. The Article Processing Charge (APC) for publication in this open access journal is 2500 CHF (Swiss Francs). Submitted papers should be well formatted and use good English. Authors may use MDPI's English editing service prior to publication or during author revisions.