The Equitable Sport & Physical Activity Innovations (ESPI) Lab

We created Move + Thrive because exercise is for everyone. Move + Thrive is a free online physical activity video library, created with and for young people. Our videos focus on physical activity for self-care: not on weight, dieting, and body shaming. We believe movement should feel good, support emotional and physical health, and be a safe space for all youth.

Young people like our videos because they feature friendly, real humans with diverse body sizes and abilities; come in different video lengths; and give fun, safe options for movement. No special clothes or equipment required! Video choices include yoga, salsa, cardio, Pilates, strength building, barre, core, HIIT, hip hop, meditation, relaxation, and warm ups and cool downs.

Healthcare providers share our videos with patients because they are developmentally appropriate and free from fitness triggers that can potentially harm adolescents (e.g., body shaming, food shaming, misleading talk about weight or dieting, product promotions, or air-brushed models providing the content). Our videos purposefully respect diverse gender identities, feature instructors with different body shapes and sizes, and can be done in small spaces without any equipment.

The Move + Thrive leadership team includes Dr. Kaja, Dr. Kathleen K. Miller at Children’s Minnesota, and Dr. Laura Hooper at Indiana University School of Medicine. In addition to creating high quality videos for youth, our team researches what young people want and need to enjoy physical activity.

Learn more on the Health Promotion Practice podcast.

There is a need for effective interventions to synergistically promote transgender and gender diverse (TGD) adolescents’ mental health and physical activity: TGD adolescents bear disproportionate health burdens in both areas. We have created a unique partnership—between our lab and Children’s Minnesota’s Gender Health Program—to develop and assess the feasibility, acceptability, and appropriateness of a physical activity-based positive youth development program for TGD adolescents. The program will focus on increasing physical activity skills and behaviors, as well as social support, to improve mental health. As first steps, we are gathering input on the program from TGD adolescents, their parents, and healthcare professionals, whose insights on physical activity and mental health are missing from research.

Co-Principal Investigators: Sarah M. Kaja, PhD & Kathleen K. Miller, MD

Research shows that participating in sport and physical activity has positive effects on young people’s mental health. However, this research has relied on mostly cisgender samples of youth; the impacts of sport and physical activity in the lives of transgender and gender diverse (TGD) adolescents, specifically, are understudied. Descriptive research has not tracked TGD youths’ participation in sport over time, and it is unclear whether participating in sport and PA has the same benefits for TGD teens as for teens in general. We are closing these research gaps by 1) evaluating trends in TGD adolescents’ sport and PA participation from 2016 to 2019 to 2022, 2) exploring relationships between sport, PA, and mental health concerns among TGD youth, and 3) studying how team sport participation impacts the lives and mental health of TGD adolescents.

Principal Investigator: Sarah M. Kaja, PhD
Co-Investigator: Jenifer K. McGuire, PhD

Related publications:
https://www.jahonline.org/article/S1054-139X(22)00692-9/fulltext
https://www.jahonline.org/article/S1054-139X(24)00065-X/fulltext

Atypical weather conditions impact Nordic (cross country) skiing. In the 2023-2024 ski season, temperatures were warm and snowfall totals were low in the Upper Midwest. We are studying how weather-related challenges affected youth Nordic ski teams, as well as strategies coaches used to help youth learn to ski, train, and compete despite disruptions. We are especially interested in how Nordic teams with fewer resources experience atypical conditions: poor weather may be especially limiting for youth who already have unequal access to Nordic. Results will include methods coaches can use to facilitate successful seasons in low-snow winters. Results will also inform how organizations and funders can better support coaches and teams, making sure that every young person who wants to ski has the chance.