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Background The World Health Organization (WHO) recommends that adolescents engage in at least 60 min of moderate-to-vigorous physical activity (MVPA) daily across the week to support healthy growth and development. Despite this guideline, physical inactivity is prevalent among adolescents in South Africa. This is concerning given the increasing burden of overweight and obesity. While nutrition is a critical driver of these conditions, physical activity represents a complementary and scalable strategy to improve overall adolescent health. This study aims to assess the effect of providing a skipping rope and an informational pamphlet to adolescents aged 10–14 years in South Africa on their physical activity intentions and behaviors. Methods This study is a two-arm parallel-group, individual 1:1, unblinded randomized trial, nested within the Design and Evaluation of Adolescent Health Interventions and Policies in Sub-Saharan Africa (DASH) project. The intervention consists of providing adolescents 10–14 years old in a community setting in South Africa with a skipping rope and a pamphlet with general instructions for rope skipping and messages emphasizing the importance of regular physical activity. About 700 adolescent boys and girls are enrolled as part of this study. The intervention was administered during the first wave of data collection for the DASH study, or baseline, and outcomes will be assessed at both baseline and endline (12 months), during the second wave of data collection for DASH. As a primary outcome, the trial will test whether providing skipping ropes and pamphlets to intervention participants will increase their amount of weekly MVPA over 12 months, compared to participants in the control group, who will receive no materials. Secondary outcomes will be intention to do physical activity, assessed toward the end of the baseline interview, and meeting the WHO recommendations for physical activity, assessed at endline. The physical activity questionnaire was developed from the Physical Activity Questionnaires for Adolescents. Discussion Improving physical activity behaviors and reducing sedentary time among adolescents are critical for fostering healthy lifestyles into adulthood. Assessing the effectiveness of this intervention to enhance physical activity intention and behaviors in South Africa is particularly important given the increasing burden of overweight and obesity. Trial registration ClinicalTrials.gov NCT06516549. Registered on July 17th 2024. https://clinicaltrials.gov/study/NCT06516549 .

The functions of the US Office of War Information (OWI) established by President Franklin D. Roosevelt in Jun 1942 are analyzed subsequent to a brief background on previous agencies which had dealt with diff aspects of domestic information & an outline of the pol'al developments surrounding the establishment & operations of this office. Since the task of the agency was to explain administration policy, the OWI had to rely mainly on the obvious argument of self-defense to explain America's participation in the war & even its future role in making peace. Because the US was in little danger of attack, this approach evidently failed to stimulate Amer's to make the sacrifices demanded by total war mobilization. The Office of Facts & Figures & the OWI had convinced many people of the need to fight fascism, but had 'not kindled their imaginations, nor moved them to the heroic action which can be born only of profound emotion as well as conviction.' The President's 'wait-&-see' policy placed a great burden on the OWI, which drew criticism for failing to guide PO on policy questions where no policy existed. The President's vague definition of the OWI's purpose & the office's reluctance to insist on clarification also fostered misconceptions about its legitimate functions. Eventually a shake-up occurred which brought the writers & graphics people in the OWI, who had enjoyed virtual autonomy, under control. The writers resigned in protest & this marked the real end of the OWI as an information agency. Congress drastically reduced the OWI's appropriation & consequently the domestic branch of the OWI ceased functioning. Much of the difficulty could have been avoided had the purpose of the writers' bur been clarified at the outset. The animosity between the admin'ive staff & the writers group was reinforced by their conflicting ideas about the function of an information agency. M. Maxfield.