VCE Physical Education Unit 2: Physical Activity, Sedentary Behaviour, and Contemporary Issues

Vocabulary practice flashcards covering VCE Physical Education Unit 2 content, including health-related fitness components, the social-ecological model, national physical activity and sedentary behaviour guidelines, assessment methodologies, and contemporary intrapersonal and interpersonal issues.

Interpersonal Issues

External factors and social elements that shape relationships, communication, and interactions between people in wider society, directly influencing access, inclusion, participation, and performance in sport and physical activity.

Intrapersonal Issues

Internal factors that arise within an individual (such as thoughts, emotions, self-efficacy, hormonal changes, and injuries) that affect their ability to access, participate, and perform in physical activity and sport.

Regional Training Hubs

Centralised training bases in regional areas providing athletes with access to specialised coaching, equipment, sports science, and performance services, reducing the need for long-distance travel to metropolitan centres.

Inclusive Coaching

A coaching approach centered on creating a safe, fun, and accessible environment that adapts activities and facilities so all individuals, regardless of ability, impairment, or background, can participate and achieve their potential.

Victorian Child Safe Standards

Eleven compulsory standards introduced in 2016 that all Victorian organisations working with children must follow to ensure appropriate leadership, staff management, cultural safety, and reporting procedures to safeguard child wellbeing.

Sports Technology

Innovative tools, digital devices, artificial environments, wearable monitors, and equipment designed to capture real-time data, optimize training loads, support recovery, or increase access to sport and exercise.

Female Athlete Triad

A serious medical condition characterized by three interrelated components: energy deficiency (often resulting from disordered eating), menstrual disturbance (such as amenorrhea), and low bone mass (osteoporosis).

Amenorrhea

The abnormal cessation or absence of menstruation in females of reproductive age, often triggered by excessive physical training, low body weight, or insufficient energy intake.

Concussion

A traumatic brain injury resulting from direct or indirect impact to the head, face, neck, or body that disrupts brain function and requires strict removal from play and graduated medical return-to-play protocols.

Mental Fitness

The state of psychological wellbeing and capacity that provides individuals with the tools to handle daily stressors, sustain a positive mindset, recover from adversity, and prevent mental health issues like anxiety and depression.

Optimal Arousal

The ideal state of physiological and psychological alertness and readiness at which an athlete produces their peak sports performance.

Emotional Resilience

The ability to adapt to, manage, and bounce back from setbacks, disappointments, or prolonged challenges such as injuries and competitive pressure.

Aerobic Power

The maximum rate of energy production from the aerobic energy system in the presence of oxygen ($\text{VO}_2\text{ max}$).

Muscular Strength

The peak or maximal force that a muscle or muscle group can generate against resistance.

Muscular Endurance

The ability of a muscle or muscle group to perform repeated contractions or sustain a single isometric contraction against resistance over an extended period.

Flexibility

The ability of muscles, tendons, and joints to move smoothly through their complete, unimpeded range of motion.

Functional Movement Assessment (FMA)

An observational screening procedure evaluating an individual across various physical movements to gauge movement efficiency and identify injury risks before prescribing an exercise program.

Physical Activity Readiness Questionnaire (PAR-Q)

A pre-participation health screening survey designed to detect underlying health concerns, symptoms, or medical conditions that may require formal medical clearance prior to physical testing or exercise.

Informed Consent

A formal ethical and legal protocol ensuring participants receive full disclosure of a test's purpose, procedures, and risks, while confirming that involvement is voluntary and can be withdrawn at any time.

Test Reliability

The consistency, repeatability, and dependability of test measurements when administered multiple times under identical conditions.

Test Validity

The degree to which an assessment tool or fitness test accurately measures what it intends or claims to measure.

Test Accuracy

How close measured test results are to the participant's true physical ability or physiological characteristic.

Play

Spontaneous, unstructured physical activities engaged in primarily for recreation and personal enjoyment rather than a serious, formal, or practical purpose.

Games

Activities that an individual engages in for amusement, often involving informal rules and interaction.

Sport

Structured, competitive physical activities involving exertion and skill, governed by formal rules and organisations, where individuals or teams compete against others.

Active Transportation

Travelling between destinations using human-powered, non-motorised modes of movement such as walking, running, skateboarding, or cycling.

Chores

Routine physical tasks and manual jobs completed around the home or garden, such as mowing the lawn, cleaning, or vehicle restoration.

Exercise

Physical activity that is planned, structured, and repetitive, undertaken specifically to improve or maintain physical fitness and health.

Recreational Activities

Active leisure pursuits performed during discretionary time, outside of formal work, study, or household commitments.

Physical Inactivity

Failing to meet the minimum levels of physical activity recommended in the national physical activity guidelines for one's age group.

Sedentary Behaviour

Waking activities characterized by an energy expenditure of $\le 1.5\text{ METs}$ performed while in a sitting, reclining, or lying posture.

Metabolic Equivalent (MET)

The ratio of a person's working metabolic rate to their resting metabolic rate, where $1\text{ MET}$ equals resting expenditure and moderate intensity ranges between $3\text{ and }6\text{ METs}$.

Australian Physical Activity Guidelines: Children Aged 5–17

Guidelines recommending at least $60\text{ minutes}$ of moderate to vigorous physical activity (mainly aerobic) daily, muscle and bone strengthening activities at least $3\text{ days per week}$, and no more than $120\text{ minutes}$ of recreational screen use daily.

Australian Physical Activity Guidelines: Adults Aged 18–64

Guidelines recommending being active on most or all days, accumulating $150\text{--}300\text{ minutes}$ of moderate-intensity or $75\text{--}150\text{ minutes}$ of vigorous-intensity physical activity weekly, muscle strengthening at least $2\text{ days per week}$, and breaking up prolonged sitting.

Australian Physical Activity Guidelines: Adults Aged 65 and Over

Guidelines recommending accumulating at least $30\text{ minutes}$ of moderate-intensity physical activity on most, preferably all days, incorporating strength and balance exercises, and remaining as physically active as possible.

Social Desirability Bias

The tendency of survey respondents to report overly favourable, socially acceptable answers by exaggerating physical activity levels and underestimating sedentary time.

Reactivity

An alteration in an individual's typical physical activity behaviour caused by their conscious awareness that they are being observed, recorded, or monitored.

Recall Survey

A subjective self-report assessment tool requiring respondents to remember and record their physical activity frequency, duration, and intensity over a previous timeframe.

Direct Observation

An objective assessment method where trained independent observers visually track, code, and record physical activity levels and environmental context in real-time (such as SOFIT or SOPLAY).

Pedometer

A low-cost, objective motion sensor worn on the body that detects ambulatory hip movement and counts the total number of steps taken.

Wearable Technology

Electronic tracking devices (such as smartwatches, accelerometers, and heart-rate monitors) that provide objective, continuous, real-time data across all dimensions of physical activity and sedentary behaviour.

Social-Ecological Model (SEM)

A comprehensive conceptual framework that explains how physical activity and sedentary behaviours are shaped by dynamic, interrelated influences across four distinct levels: Individual, Social Environment, Physical Environment, and Policy.

Individual Level (SEM)

The core level of the social-ecological model comprising personal characteristics such as age, sex, knowledge, attitudes, motor skills, self-efficacy, and socioeconomic status.

Social Environment (SEM)

The layer of the social-ecological model comprising relationships and cultural contexts, including family support, peer encouragement, community norms, and cultural traditions.

Physical Environment (SEM)

The built infrastructure and natural surroundings in which physical activity occurs, including parks, trails, bike paths, street lighting, weather, and facility access.

Policy Level (SEM)

The outermost layer of the social-ecological model incorporating formal legislation, government regulations, funding programs, organizational rules, and school curriculum mandates.

Intersectoral Collaboration

A coordinated approach where distinct government agencies, non-government bodies, schools, community groups, and private organizations work together to address complex physical activity barriers.

FITT Principles

The four core training variables used to structure and evaluate an exercise program: Frequency (how often), Intensity (how hard), Time (duration), and Type (the mode of exercise).

SMARTER Goal-Setting Framework

A structured goal-setting method that ensures personal targets are Specific, Measurable, Accepted, Realistic, Time-framed, Exciting, and Recorded.

Self-Efficacy

An individual's personal belief and confidence in their capability to execute specific tasks, learn new movement skills, and persist despite obstacles or fatigue.