Current Recipients

Cathleen M. Connell

School of Public Health, Health Behavior and Education

 

Patterns of Physical Activity among a National Sample of Older Women with Diabetes

In the United States, 18.5 percent of women, 65 years and older, have a diagnosis of diabetes (CDC, 2011). Physical activity is key to the optimal management of diabetes; yet, only 21 percent of older women with diabetes are adequately active (Zhao et al, 2011). Little is known about how physical activity changes over time among older women with diabetes. Results of this study will be used to develop interventions to promote sustained engagement in this critical self-management behavior.

James T. Eckner

Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation

A Novel Assessment of Head Impact Biomechanics in Female Athletes

Sport-related concussion (SRC) is a common and serious injury associated with athletic participation. SRC can affect any athlete, but the risk of SRC appears to be disproportionately higher in female athletes. To date, no meaningful study of head-impact biomechanics in female youth athletes has been reported. This study will measure peak linear and rotational head accelerations of female high school ice hockey players with comparison to a matched group of men’s high school ice hockey players. Results will help prevent head injuries in females.

Kathryn L Heinze

Kinesiology, Sport Management

Who Will Pay for Girls to Play? Assessing the Influence of Individual and Community-level Factors on Support for Girls’ Sports

Children’s participation in sports requires both opportunity and parental support (Heitzler et al, 2006). The growing prevalence of pay-to-play raises issues around both of these factors, including (1) the price that parents are willing to pay for their children’s sports activities and (2) the ways communities address gaps in the sports activities they provide. This study investigates historical precedents that indicate if pay-to-play leads to disproportionate restrictions on girls’ sports. Findings have implications for public policy at the community, state, and national levels.

Scott McLean

Kinesiology

Habitual Loading and the Maturing Female Knee: Reducing the Risk of ACL Injuries

The study’s working hypotheses are that maturing females develop riskier knee-joint and ligament anatomical and structural combinations compared to maturing males, with the risk directly impacted by habitual knee-joint loading. This study will test these hypotheses by examining maturing male and female subjects longitudinally via a combination of magnetic resonance, motion capture, and inertial motion unit technology methods. The long-term goal is to elucidate and develop technology to counter mechanisms compromising female knee-joint health and the resulting decline in quality-of-life for women across the life span.

Susan Woolford

Medical School, Pediatrics

Hair, Activity, Identity and Race (HAIR) Study

African American (AA) females have a higher prevalence of obesity than any other subgroup in the United States. This disparity first becomes apparent in the adolescent years. It is vital to explore the etiology of lower levels of physical activity among AA girls to decrease the health burden from obesity-related conditions that awaits this generation of adolescents. Previous research suggests that hair maintenance presents a barrier to physical activity among AA women. Due to cultural pressures, AA women often select hairstyles that require hair weaving or straightening. However, the straightening process is reversed by exposure to moisture (e.g., sweat or rain). Little is known about the role of hair maintenance in physical activity among AA adolescent females and how this may be impacted by ethnic identity. This project explores the extent to which hair maintenance is a barrier to physical activity among AA girls, a first step toward developing ethnically appropriate interventions to address what may be a key issue related to participation.