Valerie Iancovich

Topic

Alumni

Research & Innovation

We’ve all been there. The holiday reading is done, the leftover feast is ready for the compost and the scale is showing a new, higher, number. Regret and guilt is setting in.

But according to Eva Pila, a recent PhD graduate from the Faculty of Kinesiology & Physical Education, it's time to rethink our associations between eating and guilt and weight gain and failure, and show ourselves a little more compassion. Pila’s research focuses on mental and physical health as it applies to weight management.

“We are inundated by guilt-inducing messages about managing our health, and consequently our weight, year round. But these messages are especially noticeable during the holiday season,” says Pila, who is currently a post-doctoral fellow at the Centre for Addiction and Mental Health.

Exercising some self-compassion could lead to a healthier festive season, she says.

Here are some of Pila’s recommendations for finding joy in the coming weeks:

Be generous with yourself

“Self-compassion is a fairly new concept in our modern society, but the philosophy has deep historical roots in Buddhist traditions,” she explains. The holidays, a time for exercising generosity and kindness to others, are a fitting time to strive for the basic principles of self-compassion – kindness, acceptance, and understanding – towards the self.

Channel your ‘common humanity’

“Self-compassion has gained popularity recently as emerging research evidence suggests being self-compassionate is associated with better physical and mental health and well-being, including increased happiness, better social relationships, overall life satisfaction, engagement in positive health behaviours, and lower mental health concerns,” says Pila.

One way to achieve these benefits at this time of year is to embrace the camaraderie of the festive season. “In my field of research, we refer to this as ‘common humanity.’ We all experience the same desires, needs and failures, and being aware of these shared experiences can help us feel more connected and compassionate towards ourselves and those around us. A self-compassionate approach reminds us that this time of year can be very emotionally and physically challenging, and we ought to give ourselves permission to be caring and kind.”

Honour your body

A self-compassionate approach to food choices honours the needs of our bodies and our minds.

“One of the most healthful approaches to eating is considering mindful and intuitive practices – choosing foods that nourish the body and the mind, paying particular attention to cues of hunger, satiety, and mindfulness of when and why we chose certain foods, and how they make us feel both physically and mentally.”

But you can exercise self-compassion and still eat your favourite holiday treats. “When you do, really enjoy them and tune in to cues and feelings of fullness and be aware of when eating the treat is no longer pleasurable.”

Pila also advises checking in on how external cues, such as stress and boredom, influence eating habits, in particular at those often awkward holiday gatherings.

Take stock of what you actually want to do over the break

Evaluate what situations make you feel critical of yourself.

“Give yourself what you need in the present moment, which may mean taking more breaks from work, skipping a holiday event you are not excited about, telling a family member not to comment on your weight or exercise habits, and engaging in a relaxing activity after a stressful family event.”

And, if you’re tired and choose to snooze rather than hit the gym, remember to be compassionate. “Remind yourself that you have been overworked and your body is exhausted. And it is just as important to honour and nourish yourself with sleep as it is to meet those exercise goals.”

Give to yourself to improve interactions with others

When you’re in so many highly social situations over the holidays, practising self-compassion may actually improve your interactions with your family and friends.

“One of the most interesting findings in this area of research is that by practising compassion towards the self, you are also fostering a deep connection and compassion towards others,” Pila explains. “By mindfully and kindly addressing our own self-criticisms, we can identify and combat automatic negative judgments we are prone to making of others, and be more accepting of those around us.”

Lose the ‘no pain, no gain’ attitude

After a bout of physical inactivity, coupled with the decadence of the holidays, many of us take an almost punitive approach to getting back on track.

“The fitness and diet industries have long promoted the idea of ‘willpower’ and the glorification of dietary restriction and engagement in strict and specific exercise routines to maintain your weight,” Pila says. “This mindset has allowed us to believe that being tough on ourselves sparks motivation, and that being kind to ourselves is indulgent and will lead to complacency. Luckily, there is abundant evidence to refute these claims and suggests that individuals who are more self-compassionate maintain high standards and personal goals, and are better able to cope and accept when they fail to meet their goals.”

So if you miss the gym or have overeaten, but react with more self-compassion and less self-criticism, you are better equipped to cope emotionally, move on more quickly and effectively plan for the next time you have an opportunity to exercise, or mindfully eat.

“Self-compassion can be a very effective antidote to dealing with failed health-related goals during the holidays and going forward into the new year.”

'We could do a better job': �Թϱ�� expert on new guidelines about physical activity for kids under four

rasbachn — Wed, 22 Nov 2017 16:23:05 +0000

'We could do a better job': �Թϱ�� expert on new guidelines about physical activity for kids under four rasbachn Wed, 11/22/2017 - 11:23

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(photo by iStock)

Topic

Experts have been saying for decades that Canadians are in the midst of an inactivity crisis. A new report released this week looks at the lives of babies and toddlers and concludes that they are far too sedentary and get too much screen time.

The report, by a number of experts including researchers at Ottawa's Children's Hospital of Eastern Ontario (CHEO), the Canadian Society for Exercise Physiology and ParticipAction, includes new guidelines that advocate for three hours of physical activity a day for infants and children up to age four, with at least one of those hours committed to “energetic play.”

John Cairney, a professor in the Faculty of Kinesiology & Physical Education, has published extensively on early childhood physical activity. He speaks with Valerie Iancovich about what these latest guidelines could mean for Canadian families.

This report seems to suggest that parents make assumptions about how much their small children are moving in a kind of innate, organic way. How do we get back to really allowing children to get the movement they need?

That is a real challenge for parents. For many families in Canada, children are in daycare from an earlier age and are starting school sooner. This means there is much more structure in the lives of children than in previous generations. Parents should ask daycares and schools about their policies are around unstructured play – how much of the day is devoted to free play, which must include “active” play alongside other activities (for example, arts and crafts)?

Read the guidelines for children up to the age of four

Read a CBC story about the guidelines

It is also sometimes difficult to allow kids the time they need to explore and play and practise fundamental movement skills because of our busy lives. Some of that play also involves some risk (for example, the chance of falling while learning to walk). We want to keep our kids safe but we don’t want to bubble wrap our children either. As difficult as it is, we need to step back sometimes and let our children take some reasonable risks in their physical literacy journey – that is the how they learn and grow.

Is it mostly about eliminating screen time and getting back to play? What role, if any, does structured physical activity (toddler soccer, baby yoga) play in the solution?

There are clear guidelines about limiting screen time and those should be followed. But, as important as free play is, structured play is also important. We know from the literature on motor development that children do not acquire fundamental movement skills only through free play. Instruction, support and constant encouragement are also needed.

There are some great programs in the community that support movement skill development. It is really important though to pick programs that emphasize movement skill across domains (fine, gross, balance) and not just specific sport skills. The early years should be about acquiring the fundamentals of physical activity and sport. It is not the time to specialize in a single sport. It should always be about fun!

The trend is hardly new. What might advocates and health-promotion campaigns be getting wrong in raising awareness about this? Or is this just a result of the modern lifestyle demands on families?

It isn’t new, but the hope is by continuing to raise awareness, we can get the message through. Often it is not about not having enough time but how we use the time we have. Instead of an hour of TV watching in the evening, play an active game together as a family. Go for a walk and use the time to connect with your children. I am not saying it is easy, but if we see the value and know the importance of doing it, we are more likely to make it happen. Part of this knowledge. Part of it is making a commitment to change. Remember, playing with your children is good for you too.

This report says daily toddler physical activity should include at least one hour of “energetic play” for three and four year olds – something that previously wasn't recommended until age five. Why the change?

Part of it is related to concerns about how little time children three to four spend in energetic play. We used to think this just happened naturally but we see from research this is not so. It is tragic that we need to make these recommendations, but it speaks to how the experience of children – the ways children’s lives are structured around sedentary pursuits – has changed so profoundly in our society over the past couple of decades.

Can you speak to any potential connection between these findings in preschool children and the lack of universal access to early childhood education? If we had a more regulated system that not only had standardized curriculum, but provided access to early childhood education for all young children (across the socioeconomic spectrum), could we perhaps expect healthier, more active kids?

A quality early childhood program (preschool, daycare) should include opportunities for the development of physical literacy. This requires training and support for staff and ongoing monitoring. The provision of quality daycare that is universally accessible is extremely important. However, even in structured settings, we could do a better job.

After the game: How parents can improve the car ride home with young athletes

rasbachn — Wed, 04 Oct 2017 18:49:42 +0000

After the game: How parents can improve the car ride home with young athletes

rasbachn Wed, 10/04/2017 - 14:49

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The study involved both teenagers and their parents and their interactions while driving home after games and practices (photo by Barry Lenard via Flickr)

Author legacy

Valerie Iancovich

Topic

Subheadline

Advice from �Թϱ��'s Katherine Tamminen

The car door closes, and your adolescent daughter slumps in the seat – a sheen of sweat from the game still lingers on her brow and a scowl emerges on her face. She reaches for her ear buds and avoids eye contact. Clearly, the game didn’t go well.

Katherine Tamminen, assistant professor in University of Toronto's Faculty of Kinesiology and Physical Education, recently published one of the first studies to explore the ways that parents and young athletes interact during the car ride home, and how this unique interaction might influence the parent-child relationship.

Tamminen spoke with 27 adolescents between the ages of 11 and 16 involved in a range of sports including baseball, hockey and figure skating, as well as with their parents. She asked athletes about interactions with their parents while they drove home after games and practices.

She found that while there isn’t a one-size-fits-all approach for parental communication during the car ride home, there are some points for parents to consider to ensure the experience is as positive as possible for both parties.

Here are some of her suggestions:

Take some time

This is advice for both parents and athletes. “Give the child some time to think and give yourself some time to think, rather than just attacking the topic of the athlete’s or the team’s performances,” advises Tamminen. “Parents said it was really valuable to let the emotions cool down. When people get in the car right after the game, especially if it’s a poor performance, there is the potential for conflict or negativity. Just take time to think before you speak.”

Use the privacy as a positive

“The physical set-up – you’re side by side, you’re not facing each other – also opens up the conversation,” says Tamminen. “You’re non-confrontational. We found that the car ride creates this pod of privacy where you can talk about things you might not otherwise talk about in front of other people, which could be a good or a bad thing,” she explains.

If an athlete was being treated poorly by teammates or their coaches, for example, the car could provide a safe space to talk about that. But in other cases, Tamminen found things could get more heated when there weren’t spouses, siblings or teammates in the car to act as potential buffers.

Talk about the actual car ride home

It could be helpful to directly address the car ride home with your kids. “Some parents said that even having a conversation about the car ride helped,” says Tamminen. “Ask them what they want to talk about during that time. Maybe they’d prefer to talk about their performance after dinner or before bed. Perhaps you’d rather use the car ride home as a cooling-off period, perhaps to put on music or just relax.”

Develop rules of the road

Allow your child to contribute to the plan. Your child may say, “I’d really rather you start with something positive rather than always telling me the negative.” Having that conversation with your child and allowing them some input on how these talks unfold can be very valuable, according to Tamminen’s research.

Pay attention to non-verbal communication

Every relationship is different. But some children may come to the car and ask directly how they did or what they did wrong. “In other cases, athletes might get in the car, put in their headphones and look out the window,” Tamminen explains. Some of the athletes admitted that they’d pretend to fall asleep to avoid having to talk about the game. “That could be an example of athletes trying to assert their power over the direction of the conversation. They may choose not to talk sometimes as well, and sometimes that silence is useful if everyone needs to cool down. It’s important to distinguish between good silence and bad silence.”

Don’t be afraid of tough conversations

There are non-accusatory ways to talk about mistakes on the field. “I think that there’s value in those hard conversations,” says Tamminen. She emphasizes that these must be measured, thoughtful and productive. “Maybe you witness something negative that happened to your child during that game, and you need to debrief about it because it can’t sit and fester. These tough conversations can be valuable for the athlete’s development or more broadly for the child’s development and for the parent-child relationship. But you want to ensure that your child doesn’t feel alienated from you, or dread the car ride home. It’s a fine balance.”

The Car Ride Home: An Interpretive Examination of Parent-Athlete Sport Conversations was funded in part by the �Թϱ�� Connaught Fund and the Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council.

Life lessons: �Թϱ�� Camp participants take what they learned to the streets

rasbachn — Fri, 22 Sep 2017 18:32:12 +0000

Life lessons: �Թϱ�� Camp participants take what they learned to the streets

rasbachn Fri, 09/22/2017 - 14:32

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Camp �Թϱ�� and Junior Blues run through the summer and March Break, offering 33 programs committed to sport, recreation and play (photo by Seed9)

Author legacy

Valerie Iancovich

Topic

Create an inclusive and safe environment and look out for your fellow campers – those are just a couple of the values promoted through Camp �Թϱ��'s camper code.

This fall, Oliver Wong, Arnav Shah and Quinlan Birmingham exemplified these principles when they translated a project they dreamed up at a business camp run by University of Toronto's Faculty of Kinesiology & Physical Education into a real-world solution to make their neighbourhood safer.

The 11-year old boys started the Crosswalk Company, developing a system for placing bright orange flags at the crosswalk near their school to further alert drivers to pedestrian traffic. In 2014, a young girl, Georgia Walsh, was struck and killed by a driver in their neighbourhood and the community has since been committed to getting cars to slow down to prevent another tragedy.

“They are such smart, thoughtful kids,” says Rowan DeBues, who led the business camp the boys attended. “I'm so proud of them. It's awesome seeing these guys take lessons from camp games and simulations and run with them to another level.”

Camp �Թϱ�� and Junior Blues run throughout the summer and during March Break. They offer 33 unique programs committed to sport, recreation and play, with topics ranging from animation to track and field. In 2015-16, more than 4,300 children and youth participated in these programs.

CBC's Lisa Naccarato recently profiled the young entrepreneurs. Will Kopplin, �Թϱ��’s acting manager of children and youth programs, is also planning to acknowledge the boys' initiative with a presentation during half-time at an upcoming Varsity Blues football game. "We couldn't ask for a better example of taking the fundamental principles of Camp �Թϱ�� out into the real world. On behalf of everyone at �Թϱ��, we’d like to send them a great big congratulations.”

Read the CBC story

Why adolescent girls drop out of sports and how to keep them in the game

sgupta — Wed, 09 Dec 2015 10:35:54 +0000

Why adolescent girls drop out of sports and how to keep them in the game sgupta Wed, 12/09/2015 - 05:35

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Research suggests more girls will continue to play if organizers can make changes to uniforms, establish positive, supportive atmosphere (Photo by Prince William Hockey Club U16 Panthers via Flickr)

Author legacy

Valerie Iancovich

Topic

Breaking Research

Exercise

(See the original of the above photo at Flickr)

Subheadline

Participating in team sports boosts mental health but body image and fitness worries make girls quit

A rink occupied by female hockey players isn’t the rare sight it was 15 or 20 years ago. Yet while opportunities for girls in sport continue to grow, participation remains lower than for boys.

Moreover, girls drop out at higher rates when they begin to experience physical changes, sometimes as early as age 9 or 10.

Associate Professor Catherine Sabiston of the Faculty of Kinesiology & Physical Education is exploring how feelings about appearance – both positive and negative – influence girls’ likelihood to stay involved in sport. Her findings suggest that the worse a girl feels about her appearance and fitness, the less likely she is to enjoy, and remain enrolled in, her sport or physical activity.

Sabiston’s study, which began in summer 2014 and followed more than 300 girls between 14 and 18 throughout two seasons, is the first to explore a wide range of body-related emotions.Until now, analysis of girls and sport has focused on whether girls were satisfied with their experiences – or examined negative moods connected to body image.

During just the first phase of the study, six per cent of the girls dropped out.

“Self-consciousness related to the body is one of the key reasons why girls drop out of sport during adolescence as their bodies are changing,” Sabiston explains.

Girls in her study reported that they felt growing shame and guilt, in particular when they compared their bodies to those of their peers.

Self-criticism often leads to distorted perception. Twenty-four per cent of the girls reported that they thought they were overweight. In reality, only three per cent were.

Sabiston says that these negative emotions likely influence the girls’ confidence in their ability. Forty per cent reported that they were worried that they would perform badly and 27 percent said they felt anxious about sport in general.

The good news is that 70 per cent of the girls said they thought they played well and 64 per cent said they were proud of their fitness accomplishments.

Sabiston says that encouraging positive emotions can help to thwart the drop-out trend. She also recommends giving girls a choice of uniform style to help build confidence.

“Small but important modifications to uniforms can make more girls feel more comfortable,” she says.

It’s also important to discourage girls from comparing one another’s performances and physicality. Together, these types of efforts could create a more supportive environment for girls and allow them to reap the benefits of sport participation, both physical and mental.

From related research Sabiston has found that team sport participation is particularly beneficial for mental health, including body image. “Depression and anxiety outcomes are lower and general mental health is higher when adolescents are involved in sport, team sport in particular.”

Research also finds that if girls form these positive relationships with sport early on, they are more likely to continue an active lifestyle into adulthood.

“It starts as early as 10. We need to help more at that level, as girls are going through body transitions.”

Sport participation is often viewed as a coping strategy for girls undergoing physical changes. But if the girls are too self-conscious to play, they never reap those benefits. “It’s an unfortunate cycle,” Sabiston says.

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Stuck in traffic? These pedometer apps think you're walking

sgupta — Mon, 07 Dec 2015 13:03:06 +0000

Stuck in traffic? These pedometer apps think you're walking sgupta Mon, 12/07/2015 - 08:03

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Researchers found several popular pedometer apps have an “an unacceptable error percentage” (photo by iStock)

Author legacy

Valerie Iancovich

Topic

Breaking Research

App

Exercise

Health

More News

Research

Subheadline

Study finds flaws in popular downloads for phones

GPS navigator, recipe finder, camera, music player: the phones that most of us use today go well beyond voice-to-voice communication.

However, if you thought your smartphone could also serve as a pocket-sized personal trainer, newly-published research has found that three of the most popular free apps designed to track fitness are seriously flawed.

The evaluation, led by Professor Guy Faulkner of the Faculty of Kinesiology & Physical Education and KPE master’s student Krystn Orr, appears in the journal BMC Research Notes.

“We know that more and more Canadians want to take their health into their own hands and these apps seem like a good way to do just that,” Orr says.

“Self-evaluation can be very effective in lifestyle change as well, so it’s important that people are getting the most accurate information possible and using tools they can trust.”

The work was inspired by Rise at Work, a larger project intended to evaluate workplace physical activity at the University of Toronto. (Read more about the project.) Researchers looking for a cost-effective, accessible way to track steps noted that there had been few published research papers looking into commercial smartphone pedometer applications.

Why yoga belongs in gym class

sgupta — Mon, 16 Nov 2015 14:00:02 +0000

Why yoga belongs in gym class sgupta Mon, 11/16/2015 - 09:00

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If high school gym class looked more like this, teens might be less critical of their bodies, Holly Howe says (photo courtesy Georgia National Guard via flickr)

Author legacy

Valerie Iancovich

Topic

Breaking Research

(See the original of the photo above on flickr)

More News

Research

Students

Subheadline

12-month research project examines impact on body image, motivation, mindfulness

Awkward gym uniforms, regulated fitness tests, being the last one picked – for many high school kids, gym class is anything but fun and games.

But second-year master’s student Holly Howe is looking to change that. Howe spent the summer at Washington State University contributing to a 12-month research project about how introducing yoga into physical education curriculum may influence things like body image, motivation and mindfulness.

The findings are set to be published in early 2016.

Howe was able to seize the opportunity thanks to a grant from the Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council, the Michael Smith Foreign Study Supplements scholarship (which funded a fourth-month research exchange anywhere in the world) and her supervisor, Professor Catherine Sabiston.

Aware of Howe's interest in exploring the physical and mental health benefits of yoga, Sabiston suggested she connect with Professor Anne Cox – an expert in in sport and exercise psychology at Washington State University.

“Cathi has known Anne for quite a while and knew her work well. She got in touch with her, helped set up the connection and then she sent me off!”

When Howe arrived in Washington in April, the study, Testing the Effects of a High School Physical Education Yoga Curriculum, was well underway. The team was exploring whether yoga curriculum might be more effective than tradition phys ed activities at promoting positive body image as well as a love of exercise in high school students who may otherwise avoid gym class.

“We got the sense that many were only taking a fitness class because it was mandatory,” Howe explains. “They had no actual interest in sport."

Throughout those four months, Howe refined her research skills in helping to put the paper together, running the stats and learning more about the academic writing process.

“It was a really great experience to learn writing from someone who isn't your supervisor, to get a different take on it.”

The findings were promising: students had marginally improved body images and were less critical of their bodies, likely because yoga promotes internal awareness over competition.

“This allows a person to appreciate their body for what it can do rather than what it's not doing or what it looks like, comparing it to other people, all that type of stuff,” Howe says. “There are a lot of subtle ways that we could change PE make it a lot more focused on simply enjoying physical activity.”

Along with enriching her understanding of yoga and its potential role in improving gym class, the experience ignited Howe’s interest in field work, especially internationally.

“I’ve noticed changes in my writing and even in how I'm designing studies. �Թϱ�� made it super-easy to work abroad. In Cathi's lab, she really emphasizes getting out there and trying new things and looking at different research. She's great at forging those connections.

“It's really valuable to get another person's opinion, to get off of campus and out of the city to research in a different setting. It really lets you know what's out there.”

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Russia’s doping scandal: �Թϱ�� sports expert on the crimes and punishments

sgupta — Thu, 12 Nov 2015 11:24:54 +0000

Russia’s doping scandal: �Թϱ�� sports expert on the crimes and punishments sgupta Thu, 11/12/2015 - 06:24

Author legacy

Valerie Iancovich

Topic

Global Lens

Global

International

Sport

First of its kind: new master of professional kinesiology program at �Թϱ��

sgupta — Tue, 10 Nov 2015 07:41:10 +0000

First of its kind: new master of professional kinesiology program at �Թϱ�� sgupta Tue, 11/10/2015 - 02:41

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(photo by John Hryniuk courtesy Faculty of Kinesiology & Physical Education)

Author legacy

Valerie Iancovich

The Faculty of Kinesiology & Physical Education will launch the master of professional kinesiology (MPK) program in August. 2016 – the first program of its kind in the province.

“MPK students will gain advanced knowledge and skills in the professional practice of kinesiology through exposure to diverse learning environments, interprofessional health care teams and top scholars,” says Professor Scott Thomas, one of the developers of the MPK program.

“Through a mix of classroom, case-based, laboratory and experiential educational offerings, we will take full advantage of the networks of expertise and breadth of populations in the GTA.”

The Faculty received approval from the Ministry of Training, Colleges and Universities to introduce the program, on the heels of Ontario becoming the first province in Canada to regulate kinesiology as a health profession.

Attend an information session

“This is a tremendous advancement for our Faculty” says Acting Dean Gretchen Kerr. “With the growing recognition of the value of physical activity for health and wellness across the lifespan, research-informed practice in kinesiology is more important than ever.

“This new MPK programme uniquely integrates theory, research, and practice through leading-edge experiential education and community engagement opportunities. It is exciting to be a part of developing leaders in the field.”

Visit the web site

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Why walking to school is better than driving for your kids

sgupta — Fri, 11 Sep 2015 13:52:09 +0000

Why walking to school is better than driving for your kids sgupta Fri, 09/11/2015 - 09:52

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Children who walk to school have been found to have higher academic performance, says George Mammen

Author legacy

Valerie Iancovich

Back to School

Children