Bound to
be active
Have you started several
exercise programs in your life only to stop the program after a few days or
weeks? Have you wrestled with your conscience and won? How can you develop a
healthy lifestyle pattern?
UNO Professor Jennifer White might not have answers
for everyone, but what she has to say is intriguing. For instance, women with
high self-worth, notes White's research, are more likely to adhere to a regular
physical activity program. Why so?
Such
women often are more motivated by quality of life rather than physical
appearance.
"The
first step in developing a lifestyle that will result in a quality life," White
says, "is related to improving your feeling of self-worth."
An assistant professor in
the School of Health, Physical Education and Recreation, White has focused on
developing programs for adult women and for young children enrolled in
after-school programs throughout Omaha. The programs focus on cognitive
strategies to enhance a participant's feeling of self-worth rather than
focusing on participation for weight loss.
A popular program with
adult women involves the Women Bound to Be
Active book club. Participants meet on a regular basis and read books that
focus on exercise and healthy lifestyles. No exercise or prescribed physical
activities take place during a book club session. Instead, participants become
motivated to develop their own healthy lifestyle patterns through education,
social contact and discussion.
Where boredom or a
negative feeling toward an activity might lead some to discontinue their
efforts, book club participants learn how to make their exercising a positive
experience. For example, a treadmill located in a poorly lit basement is not an
inviting place to be. Positioning it amid light and beautiful surroundings,
however, promotes more activity.
Women who participated
last year in book club activities demonstrated increased feelings of
self-worth, believed they had an improved quality of life, and took an average
of 708 steps a day, according to pedometers. Their feelings of self-worth and
regular attendance at the book club sessions were predictors of their physical
activity.
White also has developed
and directs a program for children, funded by a grant from Alegent Health and
involving the Douglas County Health Department, the Visiting Nurses
Association, Boys and Girls Club, Campfire, USA, Girl Scouts and the YMCA (78th
and Maple Streets). It enrolls 669 youth between the ages of 5 and 14; 33
percent are Hispanic, 32 percent white, 28 percent African-American, and 7
percent from other ethic groups.
White and two graduate
students complete staff training at the participating institutions and conduct
data analysis to determine the results of the activity. The youth are involved
in 60 to 90 minutes of physical activity per week, in addition to education
relative to healthy lifestyles, including nutrition education and intervention.
A family night once a month extends the training to others in the youth's home.
"My goal in these programs
is for the participants to learn cognitive strategies to be active for a
lifetime," White says, adding that such knowledge and participation will result
in healthier women and youth.
For more information
regarding the Women Bound to Be Active book club, contact White by email at jenniferwhite@mail.unomaha.edu.
Jen White photo by Tim Fitzgerald, University Relations.
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Professor Nick
Stergiou:
One-of-a-kind research
What would you do if you
had all of the money in the world?
Many of us probably have
played this game after purchasing a lottery ticket, dreaming that this time the
jackpot will be ours.
Nick Stergiou, professor
in the School of Health, Physical Education and Recreation, knows exactly what
he would do with unlimited funds: expand his groundbreaking research and work
toward advancements in diagnosis and treatments for babies and adults who
demonstrate movement difficulties.
Stergiou
carries out "the only research of its kind on the planet" by investigating the
dynamics of the development of sitting postural control in infants with
cerebral palsy.
It is funded by a
three-year grant from the U.S. Department of Education and the National
Institute on Disability and Rehabilitation Research, and a five-year award from
the National Center of Medical Rehabilitation Research (NCMRR).
The study includes infants
age 5 months to 2 years who are developing typically, and infants who are
at-risk/diagnosed for cerebral palsy. Stergiou is collaborating with colleagues
Reggie Harbourne and Dr. Wayne Stuberg from the Munroe-Meyer Institute at the
University of Nebraska Medical Center.
The research involves a
measurement of the sway of the infant in a sitting posture.
"All babies sway, but the
pattern of sway of a cerebral palsy baby differs from the sway of a typical
infant" Stergiou explains. "When we learn more about the differences, we work
on developing treatment plans."
Parents take their
children participants to the Munroe-Meyer Institute, where UNMC graduate
student Anastasia Kyvelidou and physical therapist Stacey Dejong conduct a
motor evaluation of the child. The grant also provides for a translator who
assists in communicating with those parents who speak Spanish. Analysis of the
data is conducted at UNO by Joan Deffeyes, a UNL doctoral student, and other
graduate students.
Parents receive a motion
diagnosis of their baby, a small stipend and follow-up treatment until the baby
can sit. The treatment includes physical therapy at Munroe-Meyer and a home
treatment plan. Stergiou also plans to develop biomedical devices that can
assist physical therapists working with the baby at home.
The NCMRR grant provides
additional training for Dr. Stergiou. A quantitative scientist especially
recognized for his expertise in nonlinear analysis, Stergiou is enrolled in
classes and is mentored by Dr. Brad Schaefer, a professor of pediatrics at
UNMC, Dr. Jeff French, a UNO professor in behavioral psychology, and Dr. Jack
Heidel, a UNO professor of mathematics. This training will provide Stergiou
with additional knowledge in medical, behavioral and mathematical analysis.
Stergiou's excitement
about the potential of this project is tempered only by the realization that he
could be doing so much more if additional funds were available. He currently
maintains a hectic schedule that in addition to the research design and
direction involves numerous speaking engagements to share the nature and
results of his research.
"You can tell I do not do
this for the money," he says. "I do it because of the satisfaction I receive
from helping kids and parents and others in the community. I sleep well at
night."
For more
information or to support Stergiou's research, contact College of Education
Dean John Langan at jlangan@mail.unomaha.edu.
Photo courtesy Dr. Nick Stergiou
Motor
evaluations of children in Stergiou's research takes place at the University of
Nebraska Medical Center's Munroe-Meyer Institute.
Happenings schedule
College of Education alumni can read more about fellow
alumni, faculty and current students in Happenings, a newsletter mailed in
early November.
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