Promoting physical literacy in Irish adolescent youth: the Youth-Physical Activity Towards Health (Y-PATH) intervention

摘要

In their most contemporary model, strategic plan and call to action, the Aspen Institute have encouraged a cross-sector embrace towards the concept of â physical literacyâ , specifically defined as the â ability, confidence, and desire to be physically active for life.â This proposed physical literacy definition is a welcome addition to policy and practice for health, considering the unprecedented prevalence in recent years of topical areas such as physical inactivity, movement inefficiency and unhealthy weight gain during childhood. Aligned with the United States primary objective of creating conditions for all youth to be physically literate by the middle schools years, the inception of the Youth-Physical Activity Towards Health (Y-PATH) programme in Ireland is of particular consideration. The Y-PATH school-based physical education (PE) intervention for adolescent youth was developed in 2011, as guided by the contextual Irish need for physical activity (PA) promotion and the subsequent wealth of literature surrounding this thematic field. In this evidence-based study, the reader will be introduced to the guiding principles of the intervention, specifically the educational focus of promoting physical literacy for adolescent youth. The Y-PATH intervention consists of a multi-component whole-school approach to PA promotion in second level education. In terms of originality, the PE component of the intervention addresses psychosocial, health related activity (HRA) and fundamental movement skills (FMS) as particular strategies for increasing adolescent PA participation. All of the intervention components are grounded within a cost-efficient and feasible approach to overall physical literacy promotion.