Russell R Pate

University of South Carolina | USC · Department of Exercise Science

This study used data the Youth Risk Behavior Surveillance System ( N = 7,088) to examine factors associated with the odds of overweight/obesity. Overweight/obese was defined as a body mass index ≥85th percentile, based on age- and sex-specific growth charts. Participants were categorized into meeting/not meeting guidelines for: sleep, moderate-to-v...

Schools are well-positioned to provide physical activity opportunities to help youth achieve the recommended 60 or more daily minutes of moderate-to-vigorous physical activity. The Children’s Physical Activity Research Group (CPARG) at the University of South Carolina has focused on understanding physical activity in school-aged youth for 30+ years...

Physical activity (PA) plays an integral role in reducing risk for the leading causes of death and has also been shown to buffer stress.Based on the stress-buffering hypothesis, the present study examined whether protective factors (self-efficacy and informal social control) buffered the effects of perceived stress on PA over time. Secondary data a...

Background: Cardiorespiratory fitness (CRF) plays a significant role in health and academic performance in youth. The purpose of this study was to examine the longitudinal relationship between CRF and academic performance from fifth to eighth grade among a large, diverse, and state-wide cohort of students, and to determine the extent to which the...

Objective: To examine the association of physical activity (PA), measured by accelerometry, to hemoglobin AIC (HbA1c) and Oral Glucose Tolerance Test (OGTT) outcomes in children who were multiple persistent confirmed autoantibody positive for type 1 diabetes (T1D). Methods: The Environmental Determinants of Diabetes in the Young (TEDDY) multinat...

Introduction: This longitudinal study determined if social cognitive variables influence physical activity in girls stratified on the basis of maturity status. Methods: Participants attended South Carolina public schools (Mage in 5th grade = 11.1 years) and included a cohort of 529 girls who provided physical activity data in the 5th grade and i...

Introduction: The United Kingdom and World Health Organization recently changed their youth physical activity (PA) guidelines from 60 minutes of moderate-vigorous PA (MVPA) every day, to an average of 60 minutes of MVPA per day, over a week. The changes are based on expert opinion due to insufficient evidence comparing health outcomes associated w...

Background: To describe objectively measured physical activity (PA) in infants, and to identify demographic, behavioral, and environmental factors associated with infants' PA. Methods: Participants were 6-7-month-old infants and their mothers (N = 143 dyads) from two Southeastern US counties. Infant measures included PA assessed by accelerometers a...

This study was designed: 1) to describe patterns of age-related change in total and moderate-to-vigorous physical activity (MVPA) in children as they transitioned from elementary school to high school, and 2) to determine if those patterns differed across demographic sub-groups formed on the basis of gender, race/ethnicity, parent education (socioe...

Achieving recommended levels of physical activity is important for optimal cardiovascular health and can help reduce cardiovascular disease risk. Emerging evidence suggests that physical activity fluctuates throughout the life course. Some life events and transitions are associated with reductions in physical activity and, potentially, increases in...

As part of the National Children's Study (NCS) comprehensive and longitudinal assessment of the health status of the whole child, scientific teams were convened to recommend assessment measures for the NCS. This manuscript documents the work of three scientific teams who focused on the motor, sensory, or the physical health aspects of this assessme...

This study examined associations between objectively-measured nighttime sleep duration and physical activity in a sample of 6–7 month-old infants (N=93). The study also investigated relationships between infant sleep and demographic and environmental characteristics. Cross-sectional relationships were assessed using linear regression analyses. Nigh...

Purpose This study described associations between selected walk indices (WI) and walking and physical activity behaviors in rural and urban children. Findings WI were higher in urban environments, yet children from rural areas walked for transportation more than children from urban areas. There was a negative correlation between National WI scores...

Objectives To examine the association between acculturation and leisure-time physical activity among Asian Americans. Design: Data came from the 2011–2016 National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey, restricting to non-Hispanic Asian adults aged 20 years and older (n = 1989). Acculturation was assessed by language preference at home, birth loc...

This study evaluates whether parental provision of transportation for physical activity is associated with child/adolescent moderate-to-vigorous physical activity, while also evaluating community-level poverty. Self- and parental-reported surveys were administered with parents/caregivers and children in the Healthy Communities Study (N = 5138). Ass...

Objective To examine associations between household food insecurity and children’s physical activity and sedentary behaviors. Design Secondary analysis was conducted on the Healthy Communities Study, an observational study from 2013-2015. Household food insecurity was assessed by two items from the US Department of Agriculture’s 18-item US Househo...

Discusses the importance of promoting health-related fitness enhancing physical activity in the schools.

Introduction The coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic may have negatively impacted children's weight status owing to the closure of schools, increased food insecurity and reliance on ultra-processed foods, and reduced opportunities for outdoor activity. Methods In this interrupted time series study, height and weight were collected from ch...

Background: The effects of compliance with the US Physical Activity (PA) Guidelines and changes in compliance over time on cardiovascular disease (CVD) mortality are unknown. Methods: Male participants in the Aerobics Center Longitudinal Study (n = 15,411; 18-100 y) reported leisure-time PA between 1970 and 2002. The frequency of and time spent...

Background: The prevalence of childhood obesity is higher in economically and socially deprived areas. Higher levels of physical activity reduce the risk of excessive weight gain in youth, and research has focused on environmental factors associated with children's physical activity, though the term "physical activity desert" has not come into wid...

Background Structure may mitigate children's accelerated summer BMI gain and cardiorespiratory‐fitness (CRF) loss. Objectives Examine BMI and CRF change during school and summer for year‐round and traditional calendar school children. Methods Three schools (N = 2279, 1 year‐round) participated in this natural experiment. Children's BMI z‐score (z...

Objective: In the present study, we sought to determine if a comprehensive school physical activity program (CSPAP) delivered using the Be a Champion! (BAC) framework was effective in increasing moderate-to-vigorous physical activity (MVPA) and decreasing sedentary time in elementary school youth. Methods: We implemented a CSPAP in 3 elementary...

The purpose of this study was to examine the effects of exercise on cardiovascular disease (CVD) risk factors in children and adolescents with obesity. Randomized controlled trials (RCTs) of exercise ≥4 weeks in children and adolescents with obesity were included if one or more CVD risk factors were included as an outcome. Studies were retrieved by...

Purpose The Structured Days Hypothesis (SDH) posits that children’s behaviors associated with obesity – such as physical activity – are more favorable on days that contain more ‘structure’ (i.e., a pre-planned, segmented, and adult-supervised environment) such as school weekdays, compared to days with less structure, such as weekend days. The purpo...

Background: Provide national estimates of the number of US children and adolescents with overweight and obesity who could improve their percent body fat by exercising. Methods: Data were derived from (1) a previous meta-analysis, (2) 2015-2016 prevalence data from the National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey (NHANES), and (3) 2017 US Censu...

Measurement of physical activity is challenging, and objective and subjective methods can be used. The purposes of this study were to apply structural equation modeling in: 1) examining the associations between three distinct measures of physical activity and three factors that are often found to be correlated to physical activity in children, and...

Background Children’s BMI gain accelerates during summer. The Structured Days Hypothesis posits that the lack of the school day during summer vacation negatively impacts children’s obesogenic behaviors (i.e., physical activity, screen time, diet, sleep). This natural experiment examined the impact of summer vacation on children’s obesogenic behavio...

Background: Latino preschool children have higher rates of obesity than children from other racial/ethnic backgrounds. Few effective, culturally-tailored obesity prevention interventions exist that have focused on Latino preschool children, and even fewer have published results of the process evaluation. The purpose of this paper was to monitor re...

This research evaluates the effects of a South Carolina (SC) policy, which changed the nutrition standards for foods served in early care and education (ECE) settings, on wasted food. A two-group pre-test/post-test evaluation was performed in ECE centers serving children age 3-5 from households with lower incomes in SC (n = 102 children from 34 cen...

Background: Physical activity (PA) behaviors during preschool settings can influence the health and development of children with developmental disabilities (DD). There is a need for a direct observation system that simultaneously assesses PA and preschool environmental contexts. Objective: The purpose of this study was to develop an observation...

Study objectives: Studies examining time-use activity behaviors (sleep, sedentary behavior and physical activity) on school days compared to non-school days have examined these behaviors independently, ignoring their interrelated nature, limiting our ability to optimize the health benefits of these behaviors. This study examines the associations o...

(1) Background: Few studies have examined the relationship between neighborhood socioeconomic deprivation (SED) and weight-related outcomes in youth, controlling for weight-related behaviors. Hence, the purpose of this study was to examine the association between neighborhood SED, weight status, and fat mass in a diverse sample of youth, before and...

Background : Sport has been identified as one of the 7 best investments for increasing physical activity levels across the life span. Several questions remain on how to effectively utilize youth sport as a strategy for increasing physical activity and improving health in youth. The purpose of this paper is to identify the main research priorities i...

Purpose: The purpose of this study was to describe associations between physical and social environmental features of preschools and physical activity behaviors of young children with developmental disabilities. Methods: A sample of 34 preschool-aged children (Mage=4.28 ±1.07, male=64.7%) with developmental disabilities participated in this stud...

Background: Interventions promoting physical activity (PA) in youth have had limited success, in part because studies with methodological challenges have yielded an incomplete understanding of personal, social, and environmental influences on PA. This study described changes in these factors for subgroups of youth with initially high PA that decre...

Background Exercise has been recommended as an important intervention for reducing adiposity in children and adolescents with overweight and obesity. Objective Determine whether inter‐individual differences exist in relation to exercise‐induced changes in adiposity among children and adolescents with overweight and obesity. Methods Meta‐analysis...

Physical activity (PA) naturally declines during pregnancy and its effects on infant size are unclear, especially in overweight or obese pregnancies, a low-active subpopulation that tends deliver heavier infants. The objective of this study was to evaluate changes in prenatal PA and infant birthweight in a group of overweight or obese pregnant wome...

BACKGROUND The purpose of the study was to examine the associations among cardiorespiratory fitness (CRF), weight status and academic achievement in youth, and to determine if these relationships are moderated by poverty status. METHODS The sample included 5th (N = 27,791) and 8th grade (N = 16,047) South Carolina students. Academic achievement wa...

Background: Physical activity is known to provide important health benefits in children ages 3 years and above, but little is known about the effects of physical activity on health in very young children under age 3. LAUNCH (Linking Activity, Nutrition, and Child Health) is a study designed to expand the body of knowledge on development of physica...

Policies to promote healthy foods in early care and education (ECE) in the United States exist, but few have been prospectively evaluated. In South Carolina, a statewide program serving low-income children in ECE enacted new policies promoting healthy foods. We conducted an evaluation to measure changes in dietary intake among children in ECE expos...

Abstract Background Early care and education (ECE) is an important setting for influencing young children’s dietary intake. There are several factors associated with barriers to healthy eating in ECE, and recent evidence suggests that participation in the Child and Adult Care Food Program (CACFP), the primary national food assistance program in ECE...

Purpose: Previous studies have observed that physical activity (PA) levels tend to be lower in the U.S. population than in many other countries. Within the U.S., PA levels in children are lower in the South than in other regions. Cross-country and interregional differences in PA have not been studied in young children. Methods: In an ongoing stu...

Background: Determine whether inter-individual response differences exist with respect to changes in fat mass and percent body fat as a result of aerobic exercise training in overweight and obese children and adolescents. Methods: Using the meta-analytic approach, randomized controlled trials that examined the effects of aerobic exercise training...

Objective To examine diet quality levels and changes in a diverse sample of youth from fifth to 11th grade, and interactions by race/ethnicity and socioeconomic status. Design Transitions and Activity Changes in Kids prospective cohort study. Setting Elementary, middle, and high schools in South Carolina. Participants A sample of 260 fifth-grade...

Background: Children’s BMI gain accelerates during summer. The Structured Days Hypothesis posits that the lack of the school day during summer vacation negatively impacts children’s obesogenic behaviors (i.e., physical activity, screen time, diet, sleep). This natural experiment examined the impact of summer vacation on children’s obesogenic behavi...

Background: Children’s BMI gain accelerates during summer. The Structured Days Hypothesis posits that the lack of the school day during summer vacation negatively impacts children’s obesogenic behaviors (i.e., physical activity, screen time, diet, sleep). This natural experiment examined the impact of summer vacation on children’s obesogenic behavi...

Background: Children’s BMI gain accelerates during summer. The Structured Days Hypothesis posits that the lack of the school day during summer vacation negatively impacts children’s obesogenic behaviors (i.e., physical activity, screen time, diet, sleep). This natural experiment examined the impact of summer vacation on children’s obesogenic behavi...

Background: Physical activity (PA) provides important health benefits to children, and a large percentage of children's PA occurs at home. The purpose of this study was to examine the associations between psychosocial, home, and neighborhood environmental factors and children's reported PA at home and in the neighborhood, during the transition fro...

Objective: Early life physical activity may help prevent obesity, but objective quantification in infants is challenging. Methods: A total of 506 infants were examined from 2013 to 2016. Infants wore accelerometers for 4 days at ages 3, 6, 9, and 12 months. Daily log-transformed physical activity counts were computed, averaged, and standardized...

Center-based early childhood education and care (ECEC) programs are well-positioned to create positive impacts on the health and development of large numbers of young children by promoting physical activity using evidence-based programs. Studies testing physical activity programs for young children should examine the circumstances under which progr...

Objectives: To examine associations between sport participation, and objectively assessed physical activity and sedentary behavior in youth during the transition from middle school to high school. Design: Longitudinal study with 2-year follow-up. Methods: Sport participation and accelerometer-measured physical activity and sedentary behavior w...

Objectives Determine both the effects and hierarchy of effectiveness for exercise interventions (aerobic, strength training or both) on selected measures of adiposity (body mass index (BMI) in kg/m ² , fat mass and per cent body fat) in overweight and obese children and adolescents. Design Network meta-analysis of randomised exercise intervention...

Background: This study aims to examine the longitudinal association of neighborhood socioeconomic deprivation (SED) with physical activity in youth during the transition from elementary to middle school, and to determine if access to physical activity facilities moderates this relationship. Methods: Data were obtained from the Transitions and Ac...

Background: Growing evidence suggests that the broader neighborhood socioeconomic environment is independently associated with cardiometabolic health. However, few studies have examined this relationship among younger populations. Purpose: The purpose of the study was to (1) investigate the association between neighborhood socioeconomic deprivat...

Purpose: Physical activity is known to provide important health benefits in school-age youth. However, until recently, few studies have examined associations between physical activity and health in young children. The purpose of this study was to conduct a systematic review of the relationship between physical activity and selected health outcomes...

Purpose: To conduct a systematic literature review to determine if physical activity is associated with prevention of weight gain in adults. Methods: The primary literature search was conducted for the 2018 Physical Activity Guidelines Advisory Committee and encompassed literature through June 2017, with an additional literature search conducted...

Purpose: This systematic umbrella review examines and updates the evidence on the relationship between physical activity (PA) and blood pressure (BP) presented in the 2008 Physical Activity Guidelines Advisory Committee Scientific Report. Methods: We performed a systematic review to identify systematic reviews and meta-analyses involving adults...

Introduction: Cardiorespiratory fitness is one of the most important markers of cardiometabolic health and is a strong predictor of cardiovascular disease and all-cause mortality across the lifespan. However, little is known regarding the relationship of area-level socioeconomic environment on cardiorespiratory fitness during childhood and adolesc...

Physical activity (PA) patterns track from childhood through to adulthood. The study aimed to determine the levels and correlates of sedentary time (ST), total PA (TPA), and moderate-to-vigorous PA (MVPA) in preschool-aged children. We conducted cross-sectional analyses of 1052 children aged three-to-four-years-old from six studies included in the...

Study of Health and Activity in Preschool Environments (SHAPES) aimed to increase preschoolers’ physical activity by engaging preschool teachers in professional development designed to modify instructional practices. SHAPES originated as a randomized controlled trial, tested in 16 preschools and disseminated to 4 control schools, and was shown to b...

Background: Comprehensive School Physical Activity Programs (CSPAPs) are widely supported to increase physical activity (PA) in schools, but little has been reported to inform a comprehensive evaluation effort. The purpose of this report is to describe a comprehensive evaluation and monitoring strategy for CSPAP implementation. Methods: The Syst...

Purpose: To evaluate the potential of a year-round school calendar (180-day school year distributed across 12 months) as an intervention compared to a traditional school calendar (180-day school year distributed across 9 months) for mitigating children's weight gain and fitness loss via a natural experiment. Methods: Height, weight, and cardiore...

Objective: To examine whether the decline in physical activity observed from childhood through adolescence is explained by moderating effects of self-efficacy on concurrent changes in children's goals and beliefs about their physical activity environments. Method: Latent growth modeling was used in longitudinal tests in a cohort of 79 boys and 1...

Background Few studies have examined the moderating role of neighbourhood environments on the relation between psychosocial factors and physical activity, and results of these studies are mixed. This study examined this relationship in 636 fifth to seventh graders from South Carolina, USA. Methods From 2010 to 2013, children and their parent/guard...

BACKGROUND We assessed the extent to which schools in the United States implement physical education policies identified in SHAPE America's Essential Components of Physical Education document and how implementation of these policies varies by school characteristics. METHODS School policy data were collected as part of the 2014 School Health Polici...

Background Physical activity has been observed repeatedly to decline as children transition into adolescence; however, few studies have explored the possibility that sub-groups of children experience uniq