Familial and peer influences on sport participation among adolescents in rural South African secondary schools

This study was designed to investigate the influences of family and peers on sport participation amongst adolescents in secondary schools at Hlanganani rural area of Limpopo Province, South Africa. A total of 172 learners (108 females and 64 males) attending three public secondary schools in Hlanganani rural area volunteered to participate in the study. Results indicated that adolescents preferred peers to family for support in sport participation. In terms of gender, no significant differences (p>0.05) were noted between mean values for school boys and girls with regard to family influence. Boys reported more tangible support, whereas girls indicated a preference for emotional support. Sport participation among learners is likely to increase when they receive informational, tangible, emotional and appraisal support from their parents and peers

The relationship between psychological skills and specialized role in cricket.

Psychological skills related to positional play are evident in sport. It is believed that specific demands associated with playing position or role within a team sport require a unique set of psychological skills. This study examined the relationship between psychological skills and specialised role amongst 127 South African cricket players. The subjects were divided into 4 primary role groupings namely batsman (n=30), bowler (n=32), all-rounder (n=61) and wicket keeper (n=4). The wicket keeper group's results were excluded from the analysis due to an under-representation of wicketkeepers in the sample. Psychological skills were assessed by means of the Athletic Coping Skills Inventory-28 (Smith et al., 1995) and Bull's Mental Skills Questionnaire (Bull et al., 1996). One-way analysis of variance (one-way ANOVA) indicated no significant differences between the psychological skills of the various role groupings. However, there were tendencies for all-rounders to be more psychologically skilled than bowlers and batsmen. It was concluded that there is no distinctive psychological profile for classifying cricket players into performing specialised roles in the sport

Relationship between self-evaluative components and moderating contextual factors among university student gymnasium exercisers

Regular physical activity (PA) is known to improve psychological traits such as self-esteem (SE), body image (BI) and body satisfaction (BS). However, there are apparent mixed reports about the role of PA in promoting psychosocial wellbeing and moderating factors. This study investigated the relationship between SE, BI and BS of gym exercisers at a university and contextual factors of exercise principles; frequency, duration and types of activity, and participants’ demographics variables. Rosenberg self-esteem scale, Body image questionnaire and Body satisfaction Scale were administered among randomly selected gym exercisers (n = 92); 60(65.2%) males and 32(34.8 %.) females, aged between 15 and 30 years. Self-esteem showed significant correlations with BS (r = 0.237, p = .023) and with BI (r = 0.287, p = .006). Body satisfaction mean scores were significantly different across duration of exercise sessions (F=3.672, p=.008) in favour of 1.5-hour gym sessions compared to longer or shorter ones. Substantial differences were also observed in BI across favourite physical activities (F = 3.224, p = .026) with post hoc showing Zumba scoring highest. Regression analyses showed significant influence of exercise type (Adjusted R Squared = .040, Beta = .239, p = .023) and gender (Adjusted R Squared = .054, Beta = .239, p = .023) on BI scores. Type and duration of exercise and gender have moderating effects on self-evaluative components. Gym instructors and stakeholders should consider duration for each type of exercise in fitness programmes to optimise participants’ wellbeing. Exercise counselling regarding participants’ self-evaluative components and how these could affect their mental health and overall quality of life in different social-cultural settings need to be explored in future studies

Anthropometrically determined nutritional status of urban primary schoolchildren in Makurdi, Nigeria

<p>Abstract</p> <p>Background</p> <p>No information exists on the nutritional status of primary school children residing in Makurdi, Nigeria. It is envisaged that the data could serve as baseline data for future studies, as well as inform public health policy. The aim of this study was to assess the prevalence of malnutrition among urban school children in Makurdi, Nigeria.</p> <p>Methods</p> <p>Height and weight of 2015 (979 boys and 1036 girls), aged 9-12 years, attending public primary school in Makurdi were measured and the body mass index (BMI) calculated. Anthropometric indices of weight-for-age (WA) and height-for-age (HA) were used to estimate the children's nutritional status. The BMI thinness classification was also calculated.</p> <p>Results</p> <p>Underweight (WAZ < -2) and stunting (HAZ < -2) occurred in 43.4% and 52.7%, respectively. WAZ and HAZ mean scores of the children were -0.91(SD = 0.43) and -0.83 (SD = 0.54), respectively. Boys were more underweight (48.8%) than girls (38.5%), and the difference was statistically significant (p = 0.024; p < 0.05). Conversely, girls tend to be more stunted (56.8%) compared to boys (48.4%) (p = 0.004; p < 0.05). Normal WAZ and HAZ occurred in 54.6% and 44.2% of the children, respectively. Using the 2007 World Health Organisation BMI thinness classification, majority of the children exhibited Grade 1 thinness (77.3%), which was predominant at all ages (9-12 years) in both boys and girls. Gender wise, 79.8% boys and 75.0% girls fall within the Grade I thinness category. Based on the WHO classification, severe malnutrition occurred in 31.3% of the children.</p> <p>Conclusions</p> <p>There is severe malnutrition among the school children living in Makurdi. Most of the children are underweight, stunted and thinned. As such, providing community education on environmental sanitation and personal hygienic practices, proper child rearing, breast-feeding and weaning practices would possibly reverse the trends.</p

The relationship between psychological skills and specialised role in cricket

Psychological skills related to positional play are evident in sport. It is believed that specific demands associated with playing position or role within a team sport require a unique set of psychological skills. This study examined the relationship between psychological skills and specialised role amongst 127 South African cricket players. The subjects were divided into 4 primary role groupings namely batsman (n=30), bowler (n=32), all-rounder (n=61) and wicket keeper (n=4). The wicket keeper group’s results were excluded from the analysis due to an underrepresentation of wicketkeepers in the sample. Psychological skills were assessed by means of the Athletic Coping Skills Inventory-28 (Smith et al., 1995) and Bull’s Mental Skills Questionnaire (Bull et al., 1996). One-way analysis of variance (one-way ANOVA) indicated no significant differences between the psychological skills of the various role groupings. However, there were tendencies for all-rounders to be more psychologically skilled than bowlers and batsmen. It was concluded that there is no distinctive psychological profile for classifying cricket players into performing specialised roles in the sport.http://www.ajol.info/journal_index.php?jid=153&ab=ajpherd2016-03-30am201

Relationship between body composition and musculoskeletal fitness in Nigerian children

Background and Objective: Substantial evidence indicates that high level of obesity assessed by body mass index (BMI) could affect the motor performance, musculoskeletal fitness and wellbeing of the youths. This study investigated the relationship between the BMI and musculoskeletal fitness in a cross-sectional sample of school children in Ado-Ekiti, Southwest Nigeria. Materials and Methods: Body weight, height and three components of musculoskeletal fitness (sit and reach, sit-ups and standing broad jump) were measured in 1229 school children (boys = 483, girls = 746, ages: 9-13 years). Body mass index was computed to classify participants into underweight, normal weight, overweight and obese categories. Results: Significantly low inverse correlation was observed between BMI and standing broad jump (SBJ) (r = -0.196, p<0.01), while underweight individuals were likely to perform poorly in sit and reach (OR = 0.98, CI = 0.97, 1.00), but had greater likelihood of performing well in sit-ups (OR = 1.01, CI = 0.99, 1.03) and standing broad jump (OR = 1.03, CI = 1.01, 1.06) test. Being overweight was associated with a poor sit and reach (OR = 0.99, CI = 0.92, 1.06) and standing broad jump (OR = 0.96, CI = 0.94, 0.98) performances, but greater propensity of sit-up (OR = 1.00, CI = 0.93, 1.08) performance. Obese participants were significantly associated with poor sit and reach (OR = 0.83, CI = 0.74, 0.91) and standing broad jump (OR = 0.94, CI = 0.92, 0.96), but greater likelihood of significant sit-ups (OR = 1.22, CI = 1.12, 1.33) compared to normal individuals’ performance. Conclusion: There was a significant negative relationship between the BMI and standing broad jump in Nigerian children and adolescents. Both underweight, overweight and obese participants performed poorly in either flexibility, sit-ups or SBJ test, obese individuals being mostly affected. Musculoskeletal fitness could serve as a pointer of possible health risks for both malnourished and excessively weighty youths

Comparison of the prevalence of overweight and obesity in 9-13 year-old children from two countries using CDC and IOTF reference charts

Background and Objectives: The epidemic of obesity is frequently prevailing, certainly among pediatric inhabitants and could be influenced by environmental and heritable factors. So, the aim of this study was to compare the prevalence of overweight and obesity in 9-13 year old children from Nigeria and South Africa using the criteria of the Centres for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) and International Obesity Task Force (IOTF) for obesity classification chart based on age and gender-specific BMI cut-off points. Materials and Methods: Anthropometric measurements were taken using standardised protocol and used to estimate body mass index (BMI) and waist-to-height ratio (WHtR) in 1361 South African and 1229 Nigeria school children aged 9-13 year old. Height, body weight, BMI and WHtR were examined for Nigerian and South African school children according to sample size and age category. The BMI for age was used to classify the children according to weight categories and by gender, after which the obesity prevalence using the BMI Category for cut-off points chart was performed by age and countries. Results: The results showed that 1.1% (IOTF) and 9.9% (CDC) of Nigerian children were overweight. Corresponding data for South African children were 1.8% (IOTF) and 10.0% (CDC). Obesity estimates for Nigerian and South African children slightly varied for IOTF classification (1.1, 0.7%), but were similar when CDC classification was used (5.1%). In contrast, the CDC standard indicated strikingly lower incidence of underweight among the South African (4.9%) and Nigerian (4.8%) children. Conclusion: The lack of consistency in body weight classification using CDC and IOTF chart raises the question as to the right classification to use to evaluate weight abnormalities in children and adolescents. The choice of cut-off point in assessing overweight and obesity in childhood and adolescence should be based on reliable judgment as this could undermine the integrity of epidemiological research data

Growth status and menarcheal age among adolescent school girls in Wannune, Benue State, Nigeria

<p>Abstract</p> <p>Background</p> <p>Menarcheal age is a sensitive indicator of environmental conditions during childhood. The aim of study is to determine the age at menarche and growth status in adolescents in a rural area of Tarka, Wannune, Nigeria.</p> <p>Methods</p> <p>Data on 722 female students (aged 12-18 years) were collected in February 2009. Height and weight were measured. Body mass index (BMI; kg m^-2) was used as an index of relative weight.</p> <p>Results</p> <p>Mean and median menarcheal age calculated by probit analysis were 13.02 (SD 3.0) (95% CI: 13.02-13.07), and age 13.00 (SD 2.8) (95% CI: 12.98-13.04), respectively. Girls who reach menarche are significantly heavier and taller with higher BMIs than those of their pre-menarcheal peers.</p> <p>Conclusion</p> <p>The age of menarche is probably still declining in Nigeria. Although BMI is an important factor in the onset of menstruation, some other unmeasured environmental variables may be implicated in this population.</p

Global burden of 288 causes of death and life expectancy decomposition in 204 countries and territories and 811 subnational locations, 1990–2021: a systematic analysis for the Global Burden of Disease Study 2021

BACKGROUND Regular, detailed reporting on population health by underlying cause of death is fundamental for public health decision making. Cause-specific estimates of mortality and the subsequent effects on life expectancy worldwide are valuable metrics to gauge progress in reducing mortality rates. These estimates are particularly important following large-scale mortality spikes, such as the COVID-19 pandemic. When systematically analysed, mortality rates and life expectancy allow comparisons of the consequences of causes of death globally and over time, providing a nuanced understanding of the effect of these causes on global populations. METHODS The Global Burden of Diseases, Injuries, and Risk Factors Study (GBD) 2021 cause-of-death analysis estimated mortality and years of life lost (YLLs) from 288 causes of death by age-sex-location-year in 204 countries and territories and 811 subnational locations for each year from 1990 until 2021. The analysis used 56 604 data sources, including data from vital registration and verbal autopsy as well as surveys, censuses, surveillance systems, and cancer registries, among others. As with previous GBD rounds, cause-specific death rates for most causes were estimated using the Cause of Death Ensemble model-a modelling tool developed for GBD to assess the out-of-sample predictive validity of different statistical models and covariate permutations and combine those results to produce cause-specific mortality estimates-with alternative strategies adapted to model causes with insufficient data, substantial changes in reporting over the study period, or unusual epidemiology. YLLs were computed as the product of the number of deaths for each cause-age-sex-location-year and the standard life expectancy at each age. As part of the modelling process, uncertainty intervals (UIs) were generated using the 2·5th and 97·5th percentiles from a 1000-draw distribution for each metric. We decomposed life expectancy by cause of death, location, and year to show cause-specific effects on life expectancy from 1990 to 2021. We also used the coefficient of variation and the fraction of population affected by 90% of deaths to highlight concentrations of mortality. Findings are reported in counts and age-standardised rates. Methodological improvements for cause-of-death estimates in GBD 2021 include the expansion of under-5-years age group to include four new age groups, enhanced methods to account for stochastic variation of sparse data, and the inclusion of COVID-19 and other pandemic-related mortality-which includes excess mortality associated with the pandemic, excluding COVID-19, lower respiratory infections, measles, malaria, and pertussis. For this analysis, 199 new country-years of vital registration cause-of-death data, 5 country-years of surveillance data, 21 country-years of verbal autopsy data, and 94 country-years of other data types were added to those used in previous GBD rounds. FINDINGS The leading causes of age-standardised deaths globally were the same in 2019 as they were in 1990; in descending order, these were, ischaemic heart disease, stroke, chronic obstructive pulmonary disease, and lower respiratory infections. In 2021, however, COVID-19 replaced stroke as the second-leading age-standardised cause of death, with 94·0 deaths (95% UI 89·2-100·0) per 100 000 population. The COVID-19 pandemic shifted the rankings of the leading five causes, lowering stroke to the third-leading and chronic obstructive pulmonary disease to the fourth-leading position. In 2021, the highest age-standardised death rates from COVID-19 occurred in sub-Saharan Africa (271·0 deaths [250·1-290·7] per 100 000 population) and Latin America and the Caribbean (195·4 deaths [182·1-211·4] per 100 000 population). The lowest age-standardised death rates from COVID-19 were in the high-income super-region (48·1 deaths [47·4-48·8] per 100 000 population) and southeast Asia, east Asia, and Oceania (23·2 deaths [16·3-37·2] per 100 000 population). Globally, life expectancy steadily improved between 1990 and 2019 for 18 of the 22 investigated causes. Decomposition of global and regional life expectancy showed the positive effect that reductions in deaths from enteric infections, lower respiratory infections, stroke, and neonatal deaths, among others have contributed to improved survival over the study period. However, a net reduction of 1·6 years occurred in global life expectancy between 2019 and 2021, primarily due to increased death rates from COVID-19 and other pandemic-related mortality. Life expectancy was highly variable between super-regions over the study period, with southeast Asia, east Asia, and Oceania gaining 8·3 years (6·7-9·9) overall, while having the smallest reduction in life expectancy due to COVID-19 (0·4 years). The largest reduction in life expectancy due to COVID-19 occurred in Latin America and the Caribbean (3·6 years). Additionally, 53 of the 288 causes of death were highly concentrated in locations with less than 50% of the global population as of 2021, and these causes of death became progressively more concentrated since 1990, when only 44 causes showed this pattern. The concentration phenomenon is discussed heuristically with respect to enteric and lower respiratory infections, malaria, HIV/AIDS, neonatal disorders, tuberculosis, and measles. INTERPRETATION Long-standing gains in life expectancy and reductions in many of the leading causes of death have been disrupted by the COVID-19 pandemic, the adverse effects of which were spread unevenly among populations. Despite the pandemic, there has been continued progress in combatting several notable causes of death, leading to improved global life expectancy over the study period. Each of the seven GBD super-regions showed an overall improvement from 1990 and 2021, obscuring the negative effect in the years of the pandemic. Additionally, our findings regarding regional variation in causes of death driving increases in life expectancy hold clear policy utility. Analyses of shifting mortality trends reveal that several causes, once widespread globally, are now increasingly concentrated geographically. These changes in mortality concentration, alongside further investigation of changing risks, interventions, and relevant policy, present an important opportunity to deepen our understanding of mortality-reduction strategies. Examining patterns in mortality concentration might reveal areas where successful public health interventions have been implemented. Translating these successes to locations where certain causes of death remain entrenched can inform policies that work to improve life expectancy for people everywhere. FUNDING Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation

Editorial

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