Recording daily routines with guidance on healthy lifestyle to improve health parameters in children and their families

This study investigated the efficacy of using a diary to record daily routines, combined with guidance on healthy lifestyle (GHL) by a physical educator, on promoting changes in health parameters in children. Sixty-three children (10 ± 0.8 years) were allocated to one of the three following groups: a control group (CON, n = 18); a group that did not use the diary, but received GHL (G, n = 23); or a group that both used the diary and received GHL (DG, n = 22). Blood pressure, body composition, physical fitness tests (PF), physical activity levels (PAL), and dietary intake profiles were assessed in children and their parents before and after 2 months of intervention. The DG group improved their performance in PF, increased PAL, and reduced body fat (p < 0.05). Additionally, 56% of families from both DG and G reduced their consumption of unhealthy foods and 70,6% increased their consumption of healthy foods. Overall, it was concluded that 2 months of using a diary to record daily routines combined with GHL by a physical educator improved PAL, PF, body composition, and dietary intake profiles of children and their families

Reprodutibilidade e validade de um questionário de avaliação do nível de atividade física e comportamento sedentário de escolares de 10 a 13 anos de idade, Distrito Federal, Brasil, 2012 / Reproducibility and validity of a physical activity level and sedentary behavior evaluation questionnaire for school students aged 10 to 13 years, Federal District, Brazil, 2012

Objetivo: investigar a reprodutibilidade e validade de um questionário para avaliação do nível de atividade física em escolares de 10 a 13 anos de idade. Método: foi realizado estudo de avaliação e validação do questionário, aplicado a 112 escolares matriculados em uma escola pública do Distrito Federal, Brasil, em 2012; a reprodutibilidade foi determinada por procedimento de medidas repetidas – teste-reteste –; e a validade, por concordância do nível da atividade física do questionário com o volume máximo de oxigênio obtido por meio do teste Shuttle Run. Resultados: o coeficiente alfa de Cronbach apresentou valores entre 0,75 e 1,0 e o coeficiente de correlação intraclasse, entre 0,61 a 0,84; a correlação de Spearman, entre nível de atividade física e volume máximo de oxigênio, foi aceitável (r = 0,37; p<0,05). Conclusão: o questionário apresenta reprodutibilidade e validade satisfatórias para aferição do nível de atividade física entre escolares de 10 a 13 anos de idade.

Objective: to evaluate reproducibility and validity of a physical activity frequency and sedentary behavior questionnaire for students aged 10 to 13 years. Method: a test-retest reliability study was used to evaluate reproducibility of the questionnaire applied to 112 students from a state school in Brazil’s Federal District in 2012. Its validity was evaluated based on agreement between physical activity level stated in answer to the questionnaire and maximum volume oxygen uptake using the Shuttle Run test. Results: Good reproducibility: Cronbach’s alpha coefficient between 0.75 and 1.0 and intraclass correlation coefficient between 0.61 and 0.84. Validity: Spearman correlations between physical activity level and maximum oxygen uptake was acceptable (r=0.37, p<0.05). Conclusion: the instrument showed good reproducibility and satisfactory validity for measuring physical activity level in students aged 10 to 13 years old.