ABSTRACT
Exercise is important for improving children’s health. However, exercise media, in particular aerobic exercise videos, are still aimed only at adults. The purpose of this study was to produce a moderate intensity aerobic exercise video CD suitable for 9-10 years old Thai children, and compare heart rates and blood pressure levels between the genders taking the program. The study procedure is divided into two parts - creating the video CD and testing the intensity level of the exercises program. The 29-minute aerobic exercise program was composed of 3 phases: a 4-minute warm-up, 20 minutes of aerobics, and 5-minutes of recovery. The exercise program was tested on 24 subjects (12 boys and 12 girls) aged between 9-10 years old with standard height and weight for Thai children. Heart rate and blood pressure were monitored and recorded at the 4th, 9th, 14th, 19th, 24th and 29th minute, including the 1st, 5th and 10th minutes during the resting periods. The average heart rate at a steady stage was reached at moderate exercise intensity (65.55 ± 6.29% of predicted maximum heart rate). The number of persons classified as exercising at low, moderate, and high intensity was 41.67%, 50.00% and 8.33% respectively. Normal blood pressure response was found among subjects. There were no statistically significant differences in heart rate and blood pressure responses between genders. All subjects could complete the exercise program satisfactorily without any difficulties. Therefore, using this video CD could produce a moderate intensity of exercise in normal children aged 9-10 years old. However there was no heart rate and blood pressure response differences between boys and girls.
ABSTRACT
The motor assessment tool in children is very limited in Thai. The purpose of this study was to determine the reliability in Thai Physical Therapy students, using the Modified Gross Motor Function Measurement-66. The Modified GMFM-66 was developed from the GMFM-66 \& GMFM-88 and the Modified GMFM-88 in Thai version. Two cerebral palsied children were assessed by using the Modified GMFM-66 Thai version, taping with VCD and scoring the evaluation according to Modified GMFM-66 scoring system. Then the third year Physical Therapy students who have never use GMFM, were instructed the Modified GMFM-66 Thai version and evaluated both children through VCD. The over 70 percent agreement was signified for the reliability of using the Modified GMFM-66 Thai version. The data was analyzed by using descriptive statistic in percentage, mean and standard deviation. The results from 113 students who scored both children demonstrated the over 70 % agreement in all dimensions at 79.87 ± 7.79 and 87.16 ± 6.18 %. The number of students who was unable to pass the agreement of using the Modified GMFM-66 Thai version in the two CP were 11.50 % and 3.9 % respectively. Therefore, the Modified GMFM-66 Thai version was proved as a reliable tool and suitable for clinical teaching in Thai physical therapy students. It is believed that if the students practice this tool regularly, the Modified GMFM-66 Thai version will be more accountable in movement assessment in pediatric Physical Therapy clinic.
ABSTRACT
Early identification of excessive weight is needed for preventing obesity. The aim of this study was to determine the interrelationships among simple anthropometry variables for measuring body fatness, and formulate the prediction equations for body mass index (BMI) and fat mass (FM) in children. The body composition of 664 children aged 6-8 years old was assessed by the following methods: BMI, waist circumference (WC), triceps skinfold thickness (TST) and conicity index (CI). Fat mass, fat free mass (FFM) and percentage of body fat (%BF) were derived from Dezenberg’s equation. Pearson correlations showed that in boys, BMI had a high correlation with WC, TST, FM, FFM and %BF. Correlation between WC and CI, TST, FM, FFM and %BF were also high. In contrast, the correlation between CI and other anthropometric variables was low, except for WC. Similar outcomes were observed in girls. The three BMI prediction equations based body weight and/or TST and/or WC (R2 = 0.83-0.87, CV 6-7%), and the FM prediction equations based on body weight and TST (R2 = 0.99-1.0, CV 0.4-6%) were developed with high coefficient of determination. Thus, BMI, WC and TST were useful tools for evaluating childhood adiposity, whereas CI was the poorest index.