Cultural Dance and Health

Detecting and Visualizing Stops in Dance Training by Neural Network Based on Velocity and Acceleration

Various genres of dance, such as Yosakoi Soran, have contributed to the health of many people and contributed to their sense of belonging to a community. However, due to the effects of COVID-19, various face-to-face activities have been restricted and group dance practice has become difficult. Hence, there is a need to facilitate remote dance practice. In this paper, we propose a system for detecting and visualizing the very important dance motions known as stops. We measure dance movements by motion capture and calculate the features of each movement based on velocity and acceleration. Using a neural network to learn motion features, the system detects stops and visualizes them using a human-like 3D model. In an experiment using dance data, the proposed method obtained highly accurate stop detection results and demonstrated its effectiveness as an information and communication technology support for remote group dance practice.

A Pilot Dance Intervention to Encourage Physical Activity Engagement for Adolescent Girls with Intellectual Disabilities

Adolescent girls with intellectual disabilities (ID) are at risk for low physical activity (PA) participation due to their limited opportunities. Purpose: To evaluate the feasibility and preliminary efficacy of a 12-week dance intervention to promote engagement in moderate-to-vigorous PA (MVPA) and increase cardiorespiratory fitness. Methods: The 12-week intervention included two 75-min weekly dance sessions. Continuous heart-rate (HR) monitoring assessed time spent below/at/above each girl’s target HR zone. Cardiorespiratory fitness was measured by the 6-min walk test (6MWT). Survey items assessed participant enjoyment and participant and parent satisfaction. Results: The mean (SD) age of 18 adolescent girls was 17.3 (2.7) years. Overall, girls attended 88% of sessions and spent 52.3% of each session in MVPA. Mean MVPA was unchanged across the 12 weeks, but the pattern differed across the three sites. We observed a non-significant pre-post increase of 74.6 feet on the 6MWT. Post-intervention surveys indicated that most girls liked the program, perceived improved fitness, and wished to continue dancing. The majority also reported a preference for a girls-only dance program exclusively for those with ID. Conclusion: Our findings suggest that dance is viable for promoting PA for girls with ID. More frequent exercise training is likely needed to improve cardiorespiratory fitness.

Dance Is for All: A Social Marketing Intervention with Children and Adolescents to Reduce Prejudice towards Boys Who Dance

Dance is proven to offer a myriad of physical, psychological, and social benefits. However, because dance has been frequently perceived as a feminine practice, there is a prevailing prejudice towards boys who dance, making it hard for them to engage in this physical activity. Social marketing has been presented as a promising framework to deal with different social problems, including prejudice, although its effectiveness is still difficult to establish. Drawing on the Theory of Planned Behavior (TPB), a quasi-experimental study involving a sample of 436 children and adolescents, composed of 51.38% boys and 48.62% girls was implemented to measure the effectiveness of a Social Marketing Intervention (SMI) in reducing prejudice towards dance and boys who dance, in particular, and in increasing their intentions to practice this physical activity. The study furthermore aimed to compare the influence of the SMI on participants of two different stages of child development to ascertain when it is most effective to intervene. The questionnaire was used to collect information and included items derived from relevant literature. To assess differences between children and adolescents before and after the SMI, the analysis relied on independent t-tests and paired t-tests. Results suggest positive effects of the SMI on some dimensions of the TPB.

The Impact of an Intergenerational Dance Project on Older Adults' Social and Emotional Well-Being

There has been strong interest in intergenerational arts practice in the United Kingdom since the 1980s; however, there is a generally weak evidence base for the effectiveness of intergenerational practice regardless of the domain. The aim of this study was to investigate the outcomes of an intergenerational arts project on participants’ social and psychological well-being using a mixed-methods, short-term longitudinal design. Generations Dancing brought together community artists with students (n = 25) and older adults (n = 11) living in Bedford. Over an 11-week period, participants worked together to produce a new dance performance and photography exhibition. Focus groups were conducted with the participants to explore their feelings about the collaboration across generations and communities. Participants also completed a battery of questionnaires preproject and postproject, to assess any change in their levels of well-being. Results indicate that the older adults showed increased confidence and willingness to connect with others; they got immense enjoyment from talking about their experience with others. Furthermore, the project helped to address negative stereotypes that the older adults had of working with the young people. The older adults enjoyed the students’ company and felt encouraged and supported by the young people. While a small number of challenges were identified, including difficulties in traveling to the workshops for vulnerable participants, most challenges were overcome through the older adults’ engagement in the project. For example, initial anxieties regarding the performance seemed insufficient to affect the participants’ overall enjoyment of the project. The findings were supported by the increased scores in relatedness, affect, and social well-being over time, but were not statistically significant. The results of this study indicate that intergenerational dance and arts projects can have wide-reaching positive impacts on both social and psychological well-being. However, there were a number of methodological challenges, including difficulty in recruiting sufficient numbers of both experimental and control groups for a robust quantitative evaluation of the data. These challenges highlight that “real life” settings and scenarios can influence the amount, nature, validity, and reliability of data collected. Going forward we encourage researchers to continue to consider innovative ways to address such methodological challenges.

Let food and physical activity be your medicine : Lessons from EuGMS Athens 2020 pre-congress seminar

Purpose In the context of the preparation of the 16th EuGMS Congress that will be held in Athens in 2020, EUGMS and the Hellenic Consortium for Geriatric Medicine organized a pre-congress seminar in November 2018.

METHODS

The seminar focused on the role of diet and physical activity in healthy aging.

RESULTS

It seems that the Mediterranean Diet (MD) remains one of the most well-studied and scientifically appreciated diets and holds much promise also in older age. It is never too late to adhere to a healthier diet and MD seems to attenuate inflammaging and reduce the risk of various chronic diseases, impaired cognition, and frailty. Food preparation also emerges as a critical issue due to its relation to Advanced Glycation End-products that are tightly related to the aging process. Physical activity is the second pillar of health-promoting lifestyle changes. It can alleviate related to age structural and physiological decline. It does not only reduce total morbidity and mortality in older adults, but also improves functionality and decreases disability in aerobic capacity, body composition, muscle mass, bone density, articulation performance. A multi-component physical activity, combining endurance, strength, balance, and flexibility training which is preferable for older adults is advisable. However, adherence to an active lifestyle meets additional challenges for older people, which could be overcome by adjusting intensity and types of exercise in individual capacities and preferences and by campaigning against stereotypes.

CONCLUSIONS

Promoting healthy diet and physical activity as the new trend in healthy aging is a relevant, cost-effective, and challenging perspective, adjustable to individual needs and values. But most importantly, eating and moving are part of our living, our socializing, and our cultural routines, and by these means, could consist two particularly effective remedies.

Pilot of a Tailored Dance Intervention to Support Function in People With Cognitive Impairment Residing in Long-Term Care: A Brief Report

Older adults who live in long-term care settings are at risk for functional decline, which may be mitigated by regular exercise. Using a single-group repeated measures design, this pilot study explored the feasibility, acceptability, and preliminary effects of a Waltz-based dance intervention delivered to 13 Canadian, English-speaking, long-term care residents with mild to moderate cognitive impairment. The findings supported intervention feasibility, based on a high completion rate (93%), level of attendance (M = 7.15 of 10 sessions) and level of engagement during dance sessions (M = 1.75 to 1.97 out of 2.00). On average, residents perceived dance sessions positively, and staff and family participants (N = 26) rated them as somewhat acceptable overall (M = 2.37, 0 to 4 scale). Additional research is needed to assess intervention efficacy in a larger sample.

Salsa dance and Zumba fitness: Acute responses during community-based classes

BACKGROUND

Research interest in both partnered Latin dance and non-partnered Latin-themed aerobic dance has increased in recent years, likely a result of the gaining popularity of these types of instructor-led group classes among the mainstream dance and fitness audiences; however, the efficacy of these activities for the purposes of health promotion currently remains unclear. The purpose of this study was to simultaneously assess the physiological responses and psychological experiences during salsa dance and Zumba fitness in a community sample of physically inactive women.

METHODS

Twenty-four participants, aged 22-56 years, visited the laboratory to perform a graded exercise test for determination of maximal oxygen uptake and maximal heart rate. The participants then attended 2 partnered salsa dance and 2 non-partnered Zumba fitness classes each in a counterbalanced order over a 2-week period. The 1-h classes were taught by certified instructors in established venues in the Royal Borough of Kingston and the surrounding communities of London, UK. Physiological data were collected using a wrist-worn ActiGraph wGT3X+ accelerometer with accompanying heart rate monitor and were processed using previously validated dance-specific techniques. Psychological experiences were measured via the Subjective Exercise Experiences Scale.

RESULTS

There was a significantly higher (p < 0.001) total time spent in moderate-to-vigorous physical activity (51.2 ± 3.1 vs. 32.6 ± 5.9 min), total energy expenditure (411 ± 66 vs. 210 ± 46 kcal), and total step count (6773 ± 556 vs. 4108 ± 781 steps) during Zumba fitness when compared to salsa dance. Significant pre- to post-class improvements in positive well-being (p < 0.01, partial η ² = 0.41) and psychological distress (p < 0.001, partial η ² = 0.72) were simultaneously observed for both salsa dance and Zumba fitness.

CONCLUSION

The acute responses to classes of partnered Latin dance and non-partnered Latin-themed aerobic dance suggest that in physically inactive women participation is indeed efficacious in terms of community-based physical activity and psychosocial health promotion.

Is Attitude a Key Factor to Consider When Designing Physical Activity Interventions for Black Adolescent Girls

Chronic diseases continue to be disproportionately higher in Black women in comparison with other ethnic groups, with physical inactivity being linked to the growing incidences of many of these diseases. The review of the literature indicates that attitude which is shaped by beliefs, self-efficacy, and cultural factors is a key variable in promoting physical activity (PA) in Black adolescent girls. Specific aims of this review were to identify PA interventions designed specifically for adolescent girls, with an emphasis on Black adolescent girls, and to identify what factor promotes PA in this group. The long-term goal is to use the information from this review to design effective PA programs aimed at Black adolescent girls. Physical activity and fitness were improved in four of the interventions in this review that focused on enhanced self-efficacy, goal setting, social support, and measures aimed at changing attitudes. Overall, this review shows that more effective interventions targeting Black adolescent girls are needed that consider the cultural factors (beliefs, self-efficacy, and family dynamics) that shape one’s attitude toward being physically active.

A church-based intervention to change attitudes about physical activity among Black adolescent girls: a feasibility study

OBJECTIVE

To feasibility test a 12-week church-based physical activity intervention that was culturally sensitive, age- and gender specific directed at changing attitudes of Black adolescent girls' to be more physically active.

DESIGN AND SAMPLE

A one-group pre- and posttest design was used. A convenience sample of Black adolescent girls between the age of 12-18 (n = 41).

INTERVENTION

A 60-min 12-week church-based program that included interactive educational sessions followed by a high energy dance aerobics class was used.

MEASURES

Data were collected on biophysical measures. Surveys were used to assess the following variables: attitudes, enjoyment, self-efficacy, intention, social and family support, and PA levels.

RESULTS

Paired t-tests and repeated measures ANOVA revealed no significant changes in key variables. Positive changes were noted in the odds ratios for attitudes, self-efficacy, and intention. Body mass index, metabolic equivalent tasks, and fitness showed positive trends from pre to post intervention. Family support was significantly correlated with physical activity level (p < .01).

CONCLUSIONS

The study showed that physical activity programs in Black churches aimed at Black adolescent girls are feasible. Participants evaluated the intervention very favorably. Family support may be a key factor in increasing physical activity levels in Black adolescent girls.