Relation between cardiovascular risk factors at adult age, and physical activity during youth and adulthood: the Leuven Longitudinal Study on Lifestyle, Fitness and Health.

This study investigated the relationship between sports participation/physical activity during youth (13 - 18 years of age) and adulthood (30 - 40 years of age), and cardiovascular risk factors (body fat and fat distribution, blood pressure, lipoprotein levels and cardiorespiratory fitness) at 40 years of age. Subjects were 166 Flemish males from "The Leuven Longitudinal Study on Lifestyle, Fitness and Health". Physical activity was assessed by means of a sports participation inventory and the Tecumseh community Health Study Questionnaire. In addition to correlation and multiple stepwise regression analyses, different groups (at risk, not at risk) were contrasted on sports participation/physical activity parameters using ANOVA. Long-term exposure during adulthood to daily physical activity was slightly related to a low/high risk profile for waist circumference, percent body fatness, triglycerides and peak VO(2). Sports participation during adolescence was not related to levels of cardiovascular risk factors at 40 years of age.

Bone mass and lifetime physical activity in Flemish males: a 27-year follow-up study.

PURPOSE: The present population study is conducted to examine the extent to which lifetime physical activity and lifestyle parameters contribute to bone mass. METHODS: The design of the project is a 27-yr prospective follow-up study. Subjects are 126 males gathered from the Leuven Longitudinal Study on Lifestyle, Physical Fitness and Health, and aged 13 yr at the onset of the study and 40 at the end of the follow-up. Physical activity and lifestyle parameters are obtained with questionnaires. Bone mass is measured by means of dual-energy x-ray absorptiometry (DXA). RESULTS: Results from correlation and regression analyses show that the body mass index (BMI) is the most important parameter in relation to cortical and trabecular bone mass at every examination period. Longitudinally, static arm strength, running speed, and upper muscular endurance contribute significantly to the prediction of adult bone mass. The parameter "change in motor fitness" between 18 and 13 yr old was used to control for hereditary influences. The score for static arm strength and trunk muscle strength demonstrates a significant correlation with adult total bone mineral content (BMC) and lumbar bone mineral density (BMD), respectively. At the age of 40, the Baecke sports index is almost equally important as BMI in explaining the variance in BMD, and static arm strength is the most important parameter (after BMI) for BMC. CONCLUSION: Lifetime physical activity, physical fitness, and BMI all contribute to adult bone mass. The clinical relevance of these findings is emphasized by the fact that the observed patterns of physical activity and motor fitness pertain to customary lifestyle and are thus feasible targets.

Adolescent physical performance and adult physical activity in Flemish males.

Limited information is available about the associations between adolescent fitness levels and adult physical activity. In the present study, these associations are investigated using different indicators of physical activity. It is hypothesized that both health- and performance-related fitness characteristics, observed during the adolescent period, contribute equally to the explained variance in adult physical activity levels. Subjects were 109 Flemish males followed over a period of 27 years from 13 to 40 years of age in the Leuven Longitudinal Study on Lifestyle Fitness and Health. Performance and health-related fitness characteristics were observed during the growth period and at 40 years of age. The Work Index, Leisure Time Index, and Sport Index of the Baecke questionnaire were used as indicators of physical activity together with triaxial accelerometry. Multiple regression and discriminant analyses contrasting extreme quintiles of activity groupings were used to analyse the associations. Only the Baecke Sport Index showed consistent significant associations (R2 = 0.03 to R2 = 0.23) with adolescent fitness levels observed at 13, 15, and 18 years. When upper and lower quintiles were contrasted, fitness characteristics observed at the three age levels during adolescence were significantly different for each of the three indices of the Baecke questionnaire at 40 years of age. Lowest associations (R2 = 0.09 to R2 = 0.17) were found for the Work Index, followed by the Leisure Time Index (R2 = 0.12 to R2 = 0.28) and Sport Index (R2 = 0.25 to R2 = 0.43). Highest associations were evident for the 18- to 40-year interval. Performance- and health-related fitness characteristics explain equally well the variance in physical activity indicators.

Lumbosacral pain in an athlete.

This report presents a case of a stress fracture in the sacrum. The diagnosis of a stress fracture in the sacrum is an uncommon localization and has been reported infrequently in the English literature. Association of this type of stress fracture with a pneumatocyst has not previously been reported.

Evaluation of the influence of cardiorespiratory fitness on diverse health risk factors, independent of waist circumference, in 40-year-old Flemish males.

OBJECTIVE: To examine whether cardiorespiratory fitness is associated with health risk factors, independent of abdominal obesity (waist circumference). RESEARCH METHODS AND PROCEDURES: Data from 141 40-year-old Flemish male subjects were used in a cross-sectional design. The main outcome measure in this study was the health risk profile, composed of lipid parameters, blood pressure, and body composition parameters. Data were analyzed by regression analysis and by means of analysis of covariance with waist circumference (WC) as covariate and cardiorespiratory fitness as source of variance. RESULTS: The data demonstrated that cardiorespiratory fitness was significantly associated with triglycerides, with the ratio of total cholesterol/serum high density lipoprotein cholesterol, and with percent body fat, independent of an association with WC. DISCUSSION: Major findings of the present cross-sectional study indicate that a high WC is associated with adverse health-related lipid profile and body composition characteristics and that relatively high levels of aerobic fitness attenuate the health risk associated with a large WC.

Associations between physical activity, nutritional practices and health-related anthropometry in Flemish males: a 5-year follow-up study.

OBJECTIVE: To examine the extent to which extent health-related anthropometric characteristics such as body mass index, waist-hip ratio, waist girth, percentage of body fat and weight gain are associated with physical activity and nutritional habits in a prospective follow-up study. DESIGN: A 5-y prospective follow-up study. SUBJECTS: 132 healthy men from The Leuven Longitudinal Study on Lifestyle, Physical Fitness, and Health. MEASUREMENTS: The main outcome measures in this study were body mass index, waist-hip ratio, waist girth, percentage of body fat and significant weight gain at the ages of 35 and 40y. An unhealthy body composition was defined as a body mass index above 26, a waist-hip ratio above 0.95, a waist girth and body fat percentage above percentile 75 at the end of the 5-y follow-up period and a significant weight gain of 5 kg or more between the two examination periods. Anthropometric characteristics were derived from clinical examination. Physical activity at the age of 35 and 40 and nutritional habits at the age of 40 were determined from questionnaires. RESULTS: Physical activity was the most important predictor for the waist-hip ratio in this sample. In contrast, nutritional habits show a stronger relationship with body mass index. The absolute amount of energy intake is not as important as the dietary factors in predicting subjects with overweight or an unhealthy body composition. The index of occupational activities appears to be the most important physical activity variable. CONCLUSION: The relative contribution of physical activity and nutritional habits in health-related anthropometry varies with the characteristic considered. It is important to include all components of physical activity, and occupational activities in particular, in determining these relationships in a general population sample.