Relationship between outdoor playing time and moderate-to-vigorous physical activity for Japanese young children and correlates of physical activity / 体力科学

This study aimed to examine the relationship between daily outdoor playing time assessed using questionnaires for parents and daily moderate-to-vigorous physical activity (MVPA) using triaxial accelerometers for young children (213 boys: 5.8±0.6years and 193 girls: 5.9±0.6years). The study also examined the potential relationships between daily MVPA and exercise habits or familial and preschool factors which were assessed using questionnaires for parents. Daily MVPA was assessed using a triaxial accelerometer (ActivTracer, GMS) for 6 consecutive days, including weekdays and weekends. Outdoor playing time and percentage of outdoor playing time more than 60 min/day were 81±62 min/day and 64% for boys and 78±61 min/day and 62% for girls, respectively. Outdoor playing time was not significantly correlated with MVPA. The study found that no factors for MVPA, including exercise habits, were correlated with MVPA when adjusted for age, body height and log-body weight, except that MVPA for girls in kindergartens was higher than that in nursery schools. These findings suggest that the percentage of outdoor playing time more than 60 min/day was about 2/3 in young children. The questionnaire didn't reflect their MVPA. The factors used in the present study except for the preschool type for girls may not contribute to the time spent in MVPA in preschool children.

Morbidities from Lack of Exercise and the Socioeconomic Effects

Lack of exercise may be one of the main causes of obesity in the recent modernized society. With the rapid increase of obese population worldwide, the economic costs of overweight have become a great burden in many countries. The costs of obesity may be divided into the direct costs to the health system and the indirect or social costs to the individuals and the community (for example, sick days and individuals' expenditure on weight loss). The direct costs depend on the main part of the diseases caused by obesity and the cost of these diseases. Some diseases thathave been included in the calculation are Type 2 diabetes, heart disease, hypertension, endometrial cancer, arthritis and colorectal cancer. One of the problems in this assessment is the relative risk of the diseases in different communities and ethnic groups. Several methods have been used to calculate these costs and produceda wide range of results from different countries. One of the latest estimates ofcosts of obesity is from the United States and was 10.2% of the total health care cost. Little data is yet available in Asian countries; however, the Korean Obesity Society reported a total cost of obesity estimated at about 0.11 % of GDP or about 2.13% of the total health care cost. It is now necessary to develop a strategy for life style modifications at the nationwide level.

EFFECTS OF HABITUAL EXERCISE ON SLEEP HABITS AND SLEEP HEALTH IN MIDDLE-AGED AND OLDER JAPANESE WOMEN / 体力科学

The present study performed a cross-sectional survey to investigate sleep habits and sleep health in Japanese women aged 40 to 69 years with and without a habit of exercise. A standardized questionnaire evaluating sleep was administered to two subject groups. One was the “exercise group” who habitually performed aerobic exercise at mild to moderate intensity with a frequency of ≥2 times/week and duration of ≥30 minutes/one session (n=207) . The other was the age-matched “non-exercise group” who had no exercise habit (n=567) . Two-way ANOVA was employed for com paring the two subject groups and examining the effects of exercise on aging. Regarding sleep habits, as bed time significantly advanced with advancing age, sleep habits (bed time, waking time and sleep duration) were significantly more regular in the exercise group than in the non-exercise group. Concerning independent sleep health risk factors consisting of sleep initiation, sleep maintenance, sleep apnea, parasomnia, and waking-up, the factor score for sleep maintenance significantly deteriorated with advancing age; and was significantly better in the exercise group than in the non-exercise group. These results suggest that an exercise habit may improve sleep health in middle-aged and older Japanese women among which a higher prevalence of sleep problems has been reported.

The changind of physique and physical fitness with age and its sex-difference in elderly people / 体力科学

A study was performed to examine sex and age differences in physique and physical fitness and the sex differences in the change of these parameters with age, and to clarify the relationship between the amount of exercise and fundamental physical fitness in 326 healthy elderly individuals over 60 years of age.<BR>A total of 22 variables consisting of 9 items concerning body linearity, quantitative growth, circumference growth and posture, and 13 items representing 4 domains (muscular, joint, neural, and cardiorespiratory functions) were selected. The exercise performance index (EPI) was calculated as the product of frequency and duration (yr) of exercise. The sex and age differences in physique and physical fitness were examined using two-way ANOVA (sex × age group) . Post hoc tests using Ryan's procedure were carried out when the main effect of these factors proved significant. To examine the characteristics of changes in physique and physical fitness with age, Pearson's correlation coefficient was calculated, and linear regression analysis [test item was the dependent variable (X) and age was the independent variable (Y) ] was applied. Then significant differences in the regression coefficient and intercept between males and females were examined. Furthermore, curved-line regression analysis was executed for the above variables. Applying principal component analysis for 13 physical fitness items, the first principal component was interpreted as fundamental physical fitness for performance, and the above analysis was applied to the fundamental physical fitness score (FPS) . To examine the relationship between EPI and FPS, the difference in FPS among the three EPI groups was examined using analysis of co-variance (ANCOVA) with age as the co-variable.<BR>The main findings of this study can be summarized as follows.<BR>1. With regard to physique, males showed greater body linearity, and females had more skinfold. Sex differences in circumference growth were not as significant as those in body linearity and quantitative growth. Changes in physique with age were greater in females than in males, the change becoming obvious in individuals over 80 years of age.<BR>2. With regard to physical fitness, males had superior muscular function and vital capacity, while females outperformed males in standing-reach. However, there was little sex difference in neural function. The trend for deterioration in physical fitness with age differed between the sexes among 4 domains of physical fitness. For example, in males muscular, neural, and joint functions deterioration significantly with age, while in females, all physical fitness variable did so. In addition, the age-related trends of deterioration in muscular function (grip strength and vertical jump), cardiorespiratory function (duration of breath-holding and vital capacity), and neural function (stepping) were differed between the sexes.<BR>3. The FPS was higher in males than in females. However, FPS decreased significantly with age in both sexes.<BR>4. It was inferred that among active and healthy elderly males and females who exercised regularly, FPS was not influenced by EPI.

Exercise habits and physical performance in aged city dwellers / 体力科学

The relationship between exercise habit and physical fitness in aged individuals was studied in 179 urban residents aged 60-89 years (82 males and 97 females) by a battery of physical performance tests. Eighty-seven point eight percent of the males and 88, 5% of the females were regularly engaged in some kind of exercise, most frequently walking (45.8% of the males and 37.7% of the females), followed by tending plants, croquet, and light exercise (about 30% each) . More strenuous exercise such as swimming, tennis, and jogging was done by 2-3%. The results of the tests were better in individuals who exercised regularly than those who did not, and the differences were significant in grip strength, breath holding, and total score in the males and in all items except grip strength in the females. Physical performance also differed among those who exercised according to the frequency, duration, and intensity of the exercise, but the differences were smaller than between those who exercised and those who did not. From these findings, relatively mild exercise is considered to be effective for preventing (or delaying) the decline of physical fitness in aged individuals.