Physical Fitness and Metabolic Syndrome in Brazilian Adolescents: Validity of Diagnostic Health Criteria.

We tested health criteria cutoff points from physical fitness variables proposed by the Fitnessgram program for detecting metabolic syndrome ( MetS) in a representative sample of 1,035 Brazilian adolescents (565 girls and 470 boys) aged 12-20 years. We studied five fitness tests: (a) back-saver sit and reach, (b) trunk lift, (c) curl-up, (d) push-up, and (e) progressive aerobic cardiovascular endurance run ( PACER), and we defined MetS through the criteria of the International Diabetes Federation. We described the predictive performance of each fitness test in terms of sensitivity, specificity, and area under the curve ( AUC) estimates of the receiver operating characteristic method. The AUCs for four tests ( back-saver sit and reach, trunk lift, curl-up, and push-up) revealed low accuracy for identifying MetS in both sexes (0.50 ≥ AUC ≤ 0.60), but AUCs for the PACER test demonstrated good accuracy values between 0.72 (0.68-0.76) and 0.83 (0.78-0.89). Thus, cutoff points proposed in the Fitnessgram program for the PACER test offer an effective means of screening adolescents at higher cardiometabolic risk, which, for the age-group used in this study, should be from 40.3-44.3 ml/kg/min for boys and 38.6-40.1 ml/kg/min for girls.

Energy Expenditure and Intensity of Active Video Games in Children and Adolescents.

PURPOSE: This study aimed to compare the energy expenditure and intensity of active video games to that of treadmill walking in children and adolescents. METHOD: Seventy-two boys and girls (aged 8-13 years) were recruited from local public schools. Energy expenditure and heart rate were measured during rest, during 3-km/hr, 4-km/hr, and 5-km/hr walks, and during active games (Adventure, Boxing I, Boxing II, and Dance). During walking and active games, we also assessed physical activity using an accelerometer. RESULTS: The energy expenditure of the active games Adventure, Boxing I, Boxing II, and Dance was similar to that of treadmill walking at 5 km/hr in boys and girls. Heart rate was significantly higher for the game Adventure compared with walking at 3 km/hr, 4 km/hr, and 5 km/hr and the game Dance in both genders. The heart rate of girls during the games Adventure and Dance was significantly higher compared with boys. There was a statistically significant difference (p < .05, with an effect size ranging from 0.40 to 3.54) in the counts·min-1, measured through accelerometry, between activities. CONCLUSION: XBOX 360 Kinect games provide energy expenditure and physical activity of moderate intensity for both genders. The use of active video games can be an interesting alternative to increase physical activity levels.

Physical Activity and Sitting Time Are Specifically Associated With Multiple Chronic Diseases and Medicine Intake in Brazilian Older Adults.

The purpose of the study was to clarify the independent association between sedentary behavior and physical activity with multiple chronic diseases and medicine intake in older individuals. Sedentary behavior and physical activity were measured by questionnaires. Diseases and medication use were self-reported. Poisson's regression was adopted for main analysis, through crude and adjusted prevalence ratio and confidence interval of 95%. For men, sedentary time >4 hr/day presented a 76% higher prevalence of ≥2 chronic diseases, while physical inactivity increases the likelihood of using ≥2 medicines in 95%. For women, sedentary behavior >4 hr/day presented an 82% and 43% greater prevalence for ≥2 chronic diseases and the intake of ≥2 medicines, respectively. Sedentary behavior represents an independent associated factor of multiple chronic diseases in older men and women. In addition, inactivity for men and sedentarism for women are associated with the amount of medicine intake.

Sport participation motives of young Brazilian athletes.

The objective of this study was to identify the motives for sport participation in a sample of young Brazilian athletes according to sex, age, and training history. A total of 1,517 participants (714 girls, 803 boys) ages 12 to 18 years were included in the study. The Portuguese version of the Participation Motivation Questionnaire was used to identify motives for sport participation. The most important motives were Skill Development and Fitness, whereas the least important were Fun and Achievement/Status. Sex, age, type of sport, onset of training, duration of training, training volume, and competitive experience significantly influenced the motives for sport participation reported by the athletes. These results will contribute to establish intervention programs designed to reduce sport dropout rates among young athletes.

Physical activity and determinants of sedentary behavior in Brazilian adolescents from an underdeveloped region.

The purpose of the study was to analyze the physical activity and the determinants of sedentary behavior in 1,268 Brazilian adolescents (638 girls, 630 boys) between the ages of 15 and 18 years, randomly selected from a relatively underdeveloped region. Data were collected from a community-based survey in the city of João Pessoa, Paraiba, Brazil. Information related to physical activity was derived on the short version of the International Physical Activity Questionnaire. The prevalence of sedentary behavior was 28.2% for girls and 19.1% for boys, whilst 28.9% of the girls and 36.7% of the boys showed high physical activity. The sedentary behavior varied by sociodemographic and environmental determinants studied. Parents' education, socioeconomic status, school's characteristics, transport to school, paid work, smoking, alcohol use, and BMI scores were significantly related to sedentary behavior for boys and girls.

Health-related physical fitness is associated with selected sociodemographic and behavioral factors in Brazilian school children.

BACKGROUND: This study investigated the association between sociodemographic and behavioral factors and health standards based on physical fitness component scores in a sample of Brazilian schoolchildren. METHODS: A sample of 1457 girls and 1392 boys aged 6 to 18 years performed a test battery of 5 items: 1) sit-and-reach, 2) curl-up, 3) trunk-lift, 4) push-up, and 5) progressive endurance run (PACER). The cut-off scores for gender and age suggested by the FitnessGram were adopted. RESULTS: The findings showed that the sociodemographic and behavioral factors significantly associated with the ability of schoolchildren of meeting the health standards varied according to the fitness test. In the 5 tests used girls presented lower chance of meeting the health standards. Age and socioeconomic class were negatively associated with the performance in all physical tests. Schoolchildren aged ≤ 9 years or from families of lowest socioeconomic class presented approximately twice the chance of meeting the health standards than those aged ≥ 15 years and from more privileged families, specifically in the push-up (OR = 2.40; 95% CI 2.01-2.82) and PACER (OR = 2.18; 95% CI 1.84-2.54) tests. CONCLUSIONS: Interventions to promote health-related physical fitness should not only consider gender and age of schoolchildren, but also selected sociodemographic and behavioral factors, especially socioeconomic class and leisure activities.

Quality of life and physical activity in a sample of Brazilian older adults.

OBJECTIVE: To investigate the association between physical activity and quality of life in a sample of Brazilian older adults. METHOD: The Portuguese version of the World Health Organization Quality of Life Instrument-Older Adults Module and International Physical Activity Questionnaire was administered to 1,204 subjects (645 women and 559 men) aged ≥ 60 years. RESULTS: Older adults of both genders who reported to be more physically active attributed higher scores to the sensory ability, autonomy, and intimacy domains, in addition to presenting significantly higher overall quality of life, irrespectively of age, marital status, educational level, and socioeconomic status. Specifically in women, the scores obtained for the social participation domain were significantly higher in the strata of active and very active subjects when compared to sedentary subjects. DISCUSSION: The results indicate that increases in the levels of physical activity can contribute to improvements in quality of life of older adults.

Crescimento e desempenho motor em escolares do município de Londrina, Paraná, Brasil / Growth and motor performance of schoolchildren from the city of Londrina, Paraná, Brazil

Desenvolve uma análise sobre o comportamento de variáveis que procuram evidenciar as características de crescimento e de desempenho motor em relaçao à idade cronológica e ao sexo, na tentativa de se estabelecer o nível de participaçao dos aspectos morfológicos na variaçao do desempenho funcional-motor em integrantes da populaçao de escolares pertencentes ao município de Londrina, Paraná. A amostra utilizada constituiu-se de 1.180 sujeitos com idades entre 7 e 17 anos, selecionados aleatoriamente. As características de crescimento foram determinadas através das medidas de estatura e massa corporal. Quanto ao desempenho motor, foram administrados os testes de preensao manual, sentar-e-alcançar, flexoes abdominais, salto em extensao parado e corridas de 50 e 1000 metros. Foi possível concluir que, enquanto as variáveis relacionadas com o crescimento só começaram a apresentar diferenças entre os sexos a partir dos 15 anos de idade, com relaçao ao desempenho motor foram constatadas diferenças favorecendo os rapazes em quase todos os testes motores desde os 7 anos, elevando-se o dimorfismo sexual à medida que as crianças e adolescentes aumentavam de idade. Apesar de estatisticamente significativos, os baixos valores de correlaçao observados entre as medidas de estatura e massa corporal e os resultados dos testes motores permitiram concluir que padroes de crescimento elevados nao asseguram, necessariamente, índices satisfatórios de desempenho motor