![]() ![]() The technology of physical seems deaf to this dimension of life. And as I survey the array of scientific, government and commercial texts on physical fitness, I hear only silence in this regard. The technological education I was receiving rendered the wonder second. And I said that when I started to study physical education, that dimension was completely absent from everything we were taught. “I wrote about ‘the powerful source,’ the wonder and infinity that I discovered in swimming. To illuminate this point, consider how Brian Pronger’s (2002) could not reconcile the embodied emotion and amazement of his active childhood with the technological knowledge of his university studies in physical education: Struggle, pain, joy, achievement to name a few are inherent components of physical activity (either as motivations, outcomes or both), and so need to be accommodated. The elements of physical activity by Caspersen et al omit any reference to personal motives, emotions or thought. ![]() The cerebral, psychological and emotional aspects of physical activity are not accounted for. It is dis-integrated because it prioritises some aspects – the anatomical (bodily movement, skeletal muscles), physiological (energy expenditure) – to the exclusion of others. By framing physical activity solely in relation to disease-potential and disease management, much is marginalised and ignored.Ĭaspersen’s et al definition is dis-integrated and exclusionary. The British Medical Journal describes epidemiology as “the study of how often diseases occur in different groups of people and why” (BMJ, 2019). However, there are various reasons why the definition falls short of articulating what physical activity (really) is.įirst, I argue that physical activity is not the sole domain of epidemiology. The aim here is not to allege Caspersen’s definition and description of physical activity is insufficient for epidemiology. And so the definition is heavily laden with a particular type of science. And so, in describing the “elements” of physical activity, the focus is on “bodily movement, skeletal muscles, energy expenditure, kilo-calories” and a positive correlation with “physical fitness” (p. Indeed, the first sentence of their 1985 article declares that “The epidemiological study of any concept or event requires that the item under investigation be defined and measured” (p. ![]() The definition by Caspersen and colleagues is confined to, and thereby constrained by, epidemiology discourse. In any case, I argue the sentiment remains the same. ![]() In 2018, the World Health Organisation’s (WHO) Global Strategy on Physical Activity deployed a slight variation of this definition – instead of activity resulting in energy expenditure, the WHO claimed that “any bodily movement produced by skeletal muscles that requires energy expenditure” (p. This definition informs many health policies around the world (Australian Government, 2011 WHO, 2018). Other slight variations on this definition are also popular. 1985 article has been cited 8138 times according to Google Scholar (at the time of writing), an indication of its popularity. It is important to note that this definition is authoritative within academia. Perhaps the most well-known and most cited definition of physical activity comes from Caspersen, Powell and Christenson (1985), who describe it as “any bodily movement produced by skeletal muscles that results in energy expenditure” (p. There is an opportunity to open up the discourse of physical activity to be more inclusive of the wide variety of academic disciplines that study it, the increasing number of governmental departments that address it, and most importantly the enormous range and depth of human experiences which are attached to it. Previous definitions are too narrow and therefore insufficient to account for the complex nature of physical activity. Physical activity involves people moving, acting and performing within culturally specific spaces and contexts, and influenced by a unique array of interests, emotions, ideas, instructions and relationships.Ī new definition is needed to move the concept of physical activity beyond it’s previous entrenchment in biomedical and epidemiological discourse. Definitions are important because they set the scene for everything that follows. In this recent article, and in my book, I offer a new definition of physical activity. ![]()
0 Comments
Leave a Reply. |