Exercise for the kiddies

By MENG YEW CHOONG

UNIVERSITI Sains Malaysia's (USM) Sports Science Unit (SSU) will be organising an intensive course titled Exercise and Sports in Children from Sept 22-24. To be held at the USM Health campus in Kubang Kerian, Kelantan, the course consists of lectures and poster presentations related to exercise among children.  

Formerly known as the Fitness and Performance Laboratory (under the Physiology Department), SSU (http://www.medic.usm.my/dept/ssu/index.htm) was formed in 2000, and is now equipped with the state-of-the-art equipment that enables researchers to conduct various types of work related to sports and performance.  

Among the areas covered during the intensive course are physical growth and development of children, psychological and physiological aspects of exercise and training, nutrition for the physically active child, sports injuries, training, performance monitoring, talent identification and development, as well as the promotion of exercise and physical activity.  

To be held in English, the course hopes to provide an educational forum for obtaining and exchanging scientific data pertaining to exercise and sports in children, socio-psychological perspectives regarding exercise, as well as to help participants apply the basic concepts of sports science in talent identification and coaching.  

The fee for this course is RM200 for the public, and RM100 for students with a valid student ID.  

The scientific programme committee also requests that those with posters relevant to the title to submit them as soon as possible. The abstracts must be summaries of original work that has not been previously published. The closing date for all applications is Sept 13.  

Full details for abstract submissions as well as the application form can be found at www.medic.usm.my/dept/ssu/icss_4.htm or by calling 09-766-4671/4672.