Changes in and the mediating role of physical activity in relation to active school transport, fitness and adiposity among Spanish youth: the UP&DOWN longitudinal study.

BACKGROUND: Longitudinal changes in child and adolescent active school transport (AST), and the mediating role of different intensities of daily physical activity (PA) levels in relation to AST and physical fitness and adiposity indicators is unclear. This study aimed to: 1) describe longitudinal changes in AST, light PA (LPA), moderate- to vigorous-intensity PA (MVPA), physical fitness and adiposity indicators over three time-points; and 2) investigate the mediating role of LPA and MVPA levels on associations between AST and physical fitness and adiposity indicators over three time-points among children and adolescents. METHODS: This longitudinal study comprised 1646 Spanish children and adolescents (48.8% girls, mean age 12.5 years ±2.5) at baseline, recruited from schools in Cádiz and Madrid. Mode of commuting to school was self-reported at baseline (T0, 2011-12), 1-year (T1) and 2-year follow-up (T2). PA was assessed using accelerometers. Handgrip strength, standing long jump and cardiorespiratory fitness (CRF) assessed physical fitness. Height, weight, body mass index, waist circumference, and triceps and subscapular skinfold thickness were measured. Multilevel linear regression analyses assessed changes in AST, PA levels, physical fitness and adiposity indicators over three time-points (T0-T1-T2). Additionally, longitudinal path analysis (n = 453; mean age [years] 12.6 ± 2.4) was used to test the mediating effects of LPA and MVPA levels on the association between AST and physical fitness and adiposity indicators. RESULTS: Multilevel analyses observed decreases in LPA between T0-T1 (ß = - 11.27; p < 0.001) and T0-T2 (ß = - 16.27; p < 0.001) and decreases in MVPA between T0-T2 (ß = - 4.51; p = 0.011). Moreover, changes over time showed increases in handgrip between T0-T1 (ß = 0.78; p = 0.028) and T0-T2 (ß = 0.81; p = 0.046). Path analyses showed that AST was directly positively associated with MVPA at T1 (all, ß ≈ 0.33; p < 0.001). MVPA at T1 mediated associations between AST and CRF at T2 (ß = 0.20; p = 0.040), but not the other outcomes. LPA did not mediate any associations. CONCLUSIONS: Results from longitudinal path analysis suggest that participation in more AST may help attenuate declines in MVPA that typically occur with age and improve CRF. Therefore, we encourage health authorities to promote AST, as a way to increase MVPA levels and CRF among youth.

Physical fitness reference standards for preschool children: The PREFIT project.

OBJECTIVES: Reference values are necessary for classifying children, for health screening, and for early prevention as many non-communicable diseases aggravate during growth and development. While physical fitness reference standards are available in children aged 6 and older, such information is lacking in preschool children. Therefore, the purposes of this study were (1) to provide sex-and age-specific physical fitness reference standards for Spanish preschool children; and (2) to study sex differences across this age period and to characterise fitness performance throughout the preschool period. DESIGN: Cross-sectional. METHODS: A total of 3179 preschool children (1678 boys) aged 2.8-6.4 years old from Spain were included in the present study. Physical fitness was measured using the PREFIT battery. RESULTS: Age- and sex-specific percentiles for the physical fitness components are provided. Boys performed better than girls in the cardiorespiratory fitness, muscular strength, and speed-agility tests over the whole preschool period studied and for the different percentiles. In contrast, girls performed slightly better than boys in the balance test. Older children had better performance in all fitness tests than their younger counterparts. CONCLUSIONS: Our study provides age- and sex-specific physical fitness reference standards in preschool children allowing interpretation of fitness assessment. Sexual dimorphism in fitness tests exists already at preschool age, and these differences become larger with age. These findings will help health, sport, and school professionals to identify preschool children with a high/very low fitness level, to examine changes in fitness over time, and to analyse those changes obtained due to intervention effects.

The Role of Adiposity in the Association between Muscular Fitness and Cardiovascular Disease.

OBJECTIVES: To test the associations of muscular fitness and body mass index (BMI), individually and combined, with clustered cardiovascular disease risk factors in children and adolescents and to analyze the mediator role of BMI in the association between muscular fitness and clustered cardiovascular disease risk factors. STUDY DESIGN: In total, 239 children (113 girls) and 270 adolescents (128 girls) participated in this cross-sectional study. Height and weight were assessed, and BMI was calculated. A cardiovascular disease risk factors index (CVDRF-I) was created from the combination of the following variables: waist circumference, systolic blood pressure, triglycerides, high-density lipoprotein cholesterol, and glucose. Handgrip strength/weight and standing long jump tests were used to assess muscular fitness. A muscular fitness index was computed from the combination of both tests. RESULTS: Muscular fitness index was associated with CVDRF-I in children of both sexes and adolescent boys; however, these associations disappeared after accounting for BMI. BMI was associated with CVDRF-I in both children and adolescents, even after adjusting for muscular fitness (all P < .001). In male and female children and in adolescent boys, the association between muscular fitness and CVDRF-I was mediated by BMI (all P < .001). Because there was no association between muscular fitness and CVDRF-I in adolescent girls, the mediation hypothesis was discarded. CONCLUSIONS: BMI is an independent predictor of CVDRF-I in children and adolescents of both sexes. Conversely, the effect of muscular fitness on CVDRF-I seems to be fully mediated by BMI levels in male and female children and in adolescent boys.

[Not Available].

Introducción y objetivos: un dispositivo llamado FeelBreathe ® (FB) se ha diseñado, desarrollado y patentado para el entrenamiento de la musculatura inspiratoria (IMT). Para examinar los efectos de FB en la ventilación pulmonar y el intercambio gaseoso durante el ejercicio, se tomaron medidas de 27 voluntarios varones sanos entrenados (edad: 32,5 ± 7,2 años). Métodos: al inicio del estudio se midieron tanto la presión inspiratoria máxima estática (PIM) y la capacidad pulmonar mediante espirometría. Seguidamente, se realizó un test incremental en cicloergómetro para determinar el VO 2 pico. Cada sujeto, tres días más tarde, realizó aleatoriamente tres pruebas idénticas submáximas en cicloergómetro a una intensidad comprendida al 50% entre los umbrales ventilatorios bajo tres condiciones de respiración diferentes: a) respiración oronasal (ONB), b) respiración nasal (NB) y c) la respiración nasal a través del FB. Resultados: la prueba con FB mostró una ventilación minuto (VE) y una frecuencia respiratoria (BF) inferior que en las pruebas de NB, la cual a su vez tenía menor BF, pero similar VE que ONB (p < 0,001). A pesar de esto, FB obtuvo valores similares de VO 2 , cociente respiratorio (RER), frecuencia cardiaca (HR) y saturación de oxígeno capilar periférica (SpO2) en comparación con NB y ONB. Esto último puede ocurrir debido en parte al aumento del volumen tidal (VT) y el tiempo de expiración (Tex) en FB hasta el mismo nivel que en la prueba de NB, los cuales fueron un 15% y 14% en ambas pruebas, respectivamente, superiores a ONB (p < 0,001). El porcentaje de tiempo de inspiración (Ti/Tot) fue 7% mayor en la prueba de FB en comparación con NB y ONB (p < 0,001). Solamente en la prueba de FB se encontró un aumento de la presión final de la espiración de CO 2 (P ET CO 2 ) y la reducción de la presión final de la espiración de O 2 (P ET O 2 ) y la fracción de expiración de O 2 (FEO 2 ). Conclusiones: FeelBreathe es un nuevo dispositivo de restricción nasal que estimula los músculos inspiratorios para producir un patrón de respiración más eficiente durante el ejercicio en los seres humanos bien entrenados.