Articles
Publication Date: 2024
Journal of Adolescent Health (1054139X)75(1)pp. 133-139
Purpose: In the current world, adolescents are less likely to turn to physical activity games and often prefer to spend more time in the technological and digital world and have fun with digital games. This study aimed to explore reasons for preferring digital games to physical activity games in adolescents. Methods: Twenty-one adolescents participated in this qualitative study. The participants' age ranged from 11 to 19 who participated in semistructured interviews. The recorded interviews underwent thematic analysis to identify overall themes. Results: Five overall themes were identified from the interviews regarding reasons for preferring digital games over physical activity games. Identified themes included game characteristics, game space, game outcomes, peer pressure, and accessibility. Discussion: The findings of this research contribute to design adolescent-centered interventions that sustain/increase adolescents' interest in physical activity games and protect them from excessive/harmful use of digital games. © 2024 Society for Adolescent Health and Medicine
Publication Date: 2020
International Journal Of High Risk Behaviors And Addiction (22518711)9(4)pp. 1-4
The prevalence of high-risk behaviors among professional athletes as role models for their fans, especially adolescents and young people, is important to be considered. Thus, this study aimed to investigate the prevalence of HRBs in Iranian professional athletes. This cross-sectional study included 1,940 athletes that were active in eight popular sports from 12 cities of the country. Data were collected using stratified random sampling and a self-made high-risk behavior questionnaire. To analyze the data, descriptive statistical methods were used. The results showed the prevalence of doping among professional athletes was 3%. Besides, 0.3% of the professional athletes on average smoke daily, and 2% used shisha (smoking water pipes) daily. Moreover, 2.5% of professional athletes drunk alcohol at least one time per month. Also, the prevalence of violence involvement among professional athletes was 4.1%, and the prevalence of illicit drug use was 0.3%. The research results showed all high-risk behaviors were prevalent to some degree among professional athletes. © 2020. Author(s). This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0 International License (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/4.0/) which permits copy and redistribute the material just in noncommercial usages, provided the original work is properly cited. All Rights Reserved.
Publication Date: 2020
Journal of Facilities Management (14725967)18(2)pp. 159-178
Purpose: Sports facilities can play a vital role in encouraging physical activity and sport. Also, just the distribution of sports facilities is very important for better access to these facilities. Therefore, the purpose of this study is to evaluate spatial justice in the distribution of built outdoor sports facilities in the city of Isfahan, Iran and provide insight for planning in terms of equitable accessibility. Design/methodology/approach: All facilities located in the 15 areas of the city, whether private or public, built for the purpose of physical activity and sports programs were considered in this study (107 cases). To obtain information on the locations of the outdoor sports facilities, Isfahan Atlas data, which has been compiled by Isfahan Municipality was used. Arc geographic information systems environment and its different algorithms were also used to perform different calculations and prepare maps. Findings: The results indicated the unfair distribution of built outdoor sports facilities in the city of Isfahan in terms of spatial justice based on the number of built outdoor sports facilities in each area, the population, land area, population density and the spatial pattern of the facilities. Practical implications: In this regard, urban authorities and sport managers should make an effort to decrease or obviate inequity in access to outdoor sports facilities for the purpose of promoting participation in physical activity and sport and providing residents with numerous other benefits. Originality/value: This paper has concluded that spatial justice in the distribution of built outdoor sports facilities for the improvement of access to these facilities is very important. © 2020, Emerald Publishing Limited.
