Association of physical activity levels and prevalence of major degenerative diseases: Evidence from the national health and nutrition examination survey (NHANES) 1999–2018

Objectives: Degenerative diseases are associated with lower healthy life expectancy and higher mortality. Physical activity (PA) has demonstrated a fundamental role in the prevention and control of several pathologies associated to the aging process. The aim of this study was to analyze the association of PA with the prevalence of sarcopenia, osteoporosis and osteoarthritis in non-institutionalized American population. Methods: Cross-sectional study carried out in participants aged ≥50 years from the 1999–2018 National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey (NHANES). Sarcopenia was defined using appendicular lean mass adjusted for body mass index (ALM:BMI; men 1800 MET-min/week was associated with reduced odds for osteoporosis; and performing 150–1800 MET-min/week of PA was associated with reduced odds for osteoarthritis after adjust the results by several confounders. Conclusions: The benefits of PA in sarcopenia, osteoporosis, and osteoarthritis prevention are evident among Americans aged ≥50 years

Swimming training repercussion on metabolic and structural bone development; benefits of the incorporation of whole body vibration or pilometric training; the RENACIMIENTO project

Introduction: Enviromental factors such as exercise participation and nutrition have often been linked to bone improvements. However, not all sports have the same effects, being non-osteogenic sports such as swimming defined as negative or neutral sports to practice regarding bone mass by some authors, similarly exercise-diet interaction in especific groups is still not clear. Objective: To present the methodology of the RENACIMENTO project that aims to evaluate body composition and more specifically bone mass by several techniques in adolescent swimmers and to observe the effects and perdurability of whole body vibration (WBV) and jumping intervention (JIN) on body composition and fitness on this population and explore posible diet interactions. Design: Randomized controlled trial. Methods: 78 swimmers (12-17 y) and 26 sex- and age-matched controls will participate in this study. Dual energy X-ray, peripheral Quantitative Computed Tomography, Quantitative Ultrasound, Bioelectrical Impedance Analysis, and anthropometry measurements will be performed in order to evaluate body composition. Physical activity, nutrition, pubertal development and socio-economical status may act as confounders of body composition and therefore will also be registered. Several fitness factors regarding strength, endurance, performance and others will also be registered to evaluate differences with controls and act as confounders. A 7-month WBV therapy will be performed by 26 swimmers consisting of a training of 15 minutes 3 times per week. An 8 month JIM will also be performed by 26 swimmers 3 times per week. The remaining 26 swimmers will continue their normal swimming training. Four evaluations will be performed, the first one in order to describe differences between swimmers and controls. The second one to describe the effects of the interventions and the third and fourth evaluations to describe the perdurability of the effects of the WBV and JIN. Conclusion: The RENACIMIENTO project will allow to answer several questions regarding body composition, fitness, bone mass and interaction with diet of adolescent swimmers, describe swimming as a positive, negative or neutral sport to practice regarding these parameters and elucidate the effects and perdurability of WBV and JIM on body composition

Some Reflections on Age Discrimination, Referees’ Retirement Ages and European Sports (Law)

Introduction: This paper is the first in a series of reflections on the relationship between discrimination, sport and the law, a body of work that has been motivated in part by the potential impact of the 2000 Equalities Directive upon European sports law, but also by developments in human rights jurisprudence and in the domestic laws of several jurisdictions. The phenomenon of age discrimination in sport, and the social and economic impact thereof, has been far less widely considered than is the case with other forms of sports discrimination (although the literature would miraculously emerge if the subject-matter were more directly concerned with men’s professional football). In contrast, free movement and competition law have impacted significantly upon sports provisions that discriminate on the basis of nationality; it is equally evident that age discrimination in the context of sports employment has not been considered with anything approaching the degree of sophistication that pervades our understanding of discrimination in occupation or employment on the grounds of disability, sexual orientation and religion/belief (the other discriminatory forms that are covered by the 2000 Directive); and our poor understanding of age-related sports discrimination generally stands in marked contrast to our appreciation of how challenges to discrimination on the grounds of sex and race have precipitated far-reaching changes to sports practices. Throughout the EU, with the possible exception of the Irish Republic, age discrimination law is far less advanced than is the case with discrimination which takes any of those other forms, the remedies are weaker and fewer people are aware of them. However, this state of affairs will undoubtedly change under the impact of the Equalities Directive, and even though the provisions themselves (and member states’ transposing of them) attract legitimate criticism, some longstanding practices of sports bodies are now open to challenge

Effects of active video games on health-related physical fitness and motor competence in children and adolescents with overweight or obesity: Systematic review and meta-Analysis

Background: Childhood obesity is one of the most important public health problems. Active video games (AVGs) have been proposed as an attractive alternative to increase energy expenditure and are being investigated to determine their effectiveness against childhood obesity. Objective: The aim of this study is to summarize the existing research and draw conclusions about the effects of AVGs on health-related physical fitness and motor competence in children and adolescents with overweight and obesity. Methods: The search strategy was applied to PubMed, MEDLINE, Web of Science, and SPORTDiscus, including randomized and nonrandomized controlled trials investigating the effects of AVG programs on health-related physical fitness and motor competence in children and adolescents with overweight and obesity. To measure the risk of bias in randomized and nonrandomized controlled trials, 2 different quality assessment tools were used. In total, 15 articles met the inclusion criteria, and the variables of interest were BMI, body fat percentage, cardiorespiratory fitness (CRF), waist circumference, fat-free mass, muscular fitness, and motor competence. A meta-Analysis was performed. Results: Positive effects were found for BMI and body fat percentage, favoring the AVG group compared with a control group with no intervention (mean difference-0.209; 95% CI-0.388 to-0.031 vs mean difference-0.879; 95% CI-1.138 to-0.602). Positive effects seem to be observed for CRF. The effects of AVG interventions on muscular fitness, fat-free mass, waist circumference, and motor competence are unclear. Conclusions: AVG programs showed positive effects on BMI, body fat percentage, and CRF. AVG could be a good strategy to combat childhood obesity. © 2021. KJMIR Publications Inc.. All right reserved

Effects Of Playing Surfaces On Volumetric Bone Mineral Density In Adolescent Male Soccer Players

It has been well recognized that impact loading in sporting activity is highly associated with bone accretion. Recently, Carmona et al. showed that bone mass accretion was similar bone in prepubescent soccer players independently of the playing surface (artificial turf vs. non-grass ground surface). However, the osteogenic effects on volumetric bone mineral density (vBMD) generated by four different playing surfaces of the same sport are unknown. PURPOSE: to investigate the effects over a soccer season in vBMD of male soccer players by playing surface. METHODS: A total of 71 male soccer players (12.7±0.6 y) volunteered to participate in the study. 26 participants were training and playing on 2nd generation artificial turf, 16 on a 3rd generation artificial turf, 10 on a non-grass ground surface and 19 on natural grass (NG). vBMD, at 4 and 38% of the non-dominant tibia, was measured before and after season by peripheral quantitative computed tomography (Stratec XCT-2000 L pQCT scanner). Analysis of variance for repeated measures×2 (time) were performed to determine the effects of playing surface on vBMD controlling for pubertal status. Effect size were calculated according to the methods proposed by Cohen (small (f=0.1), medium (f=0.2), or large (f=0.4)). RESULTS: A group by time interaction was found for vBMD at 38% of the distal tibia (p=0.029 and f=0.38). When pairwise comparisons were carried out, NG showed group by time interactions compared to 2nd generation artificial turf (782 to 804 mg/cm3 vs. 790 to 798 mg/cm3; p=0.007 and f=0.50), and to 3rd generation artificial turf (782 to 804 mg/cm3 vs. 784 to 788 mg/cm3; p=0.027 and f=0.35). CONCLUSION: Soccer players training and playing in NG pitch showed better values in vBMD acquisition than those on 2nd and 3rd generation artificial turf. Despite previous studies presented no differences on bone mass accretion independently of the playing surface. Our results suggest that NG is the most recommended playing surface to improve vBMD in the non-dominant tibia

Does acute caffeine supplementation improve physical performance in female team-sport athletes? Evidence from a systematic review and meta-analysis

Introduction: Recent original research and meta-analyses suggest that acute caffeine supplementation improves exercise performance in team-sport athletes (TSA). Nonetheless, most of the studies testing the effects of caffeine on TSA included samples of male athletes, and there is no meta-analysis of the performance-enhancing effects of caffeine on female TSA. The aim of the present study was to synthesize the existing literature regarding the effect of caffeine supplementation on physical performance in adult female TSA. Methods: A search was performed in Pubmed/Medline, SPORTDiscus and Scopus. The search was performed from the inception of indexing until 1 Sep-tember 2021. Crossover randomized controlled trials (RCT) assessing the effects of oral caffeine intake on several aspects of performance in female TSA were selected. The methodological quality and risk of bias were assessed for individual studies using the Physiotherapy Evidence Database scale (PEDro) and the RoB 2 tool. A random-effects meta-analysis of standardized mean differences (SMD) was performed for several performance variables. Results: The search retrieved 18 articles that fulfilled the inclusion/exclusion criteria. Overall, most of the studies were of excellent quality with a low risk of bias. The meta-analysis results showed that caffeine increased performance in specific team-sport skills (SMD: 0.384, 95% confidence interval (CI): 0.077–0.691), countermovement jump (SMD: 0.208, CI: 0.079–0.337), total body impacts (SMD: 0.488; 95% CI: 0.050, 0.927) and hand-grip strength (SMD: 0.395, CI: 0.126–0.665). No effects were found on the ratings of perceived exertion, squat jumps, agility, repeated sprint ability or agility tests performed after fatigue. Conclusions: The results of the meta-analysis revealed that acute caffeine intake was effective in increasing some aspects of team-sports performance in women athletes. Hence, caffeine could be considered as a supplementation strategy for female athletes competing in team sports. © 2021 by the authors. Licensee MDPI, Basel, Switzerland

Do 6 Months Of Whole Body Vibration Training Improve Bone Mass Acquisition Of Adolescent Swimmers?

Whole body vibration (WBV) training has been suggested to be an effective type of training for improving bone mass. PURPOSE: To determine the effects of WBV training on bone mass acquisition in adolescent swimmers. METHODS: Sixty-four swimmers were followed over 8 months. Participants were divided in to two groups: The first group consisted of forty-one swimmers (14.2±1.8 y) who completed a WBV protocol 15 minutes of training 3 days per week during 6 months (WBV training increased each month starting with a peak acceleration of 3.6 g and ending at 11.6 during the last month) while continuing with their habitual water training (VIB). The second group consisted of twenty-three swimmers (15.0±2.2 y) who continued with their regular swimming training (SWI) (both groups performed an average of 10 hours per week of water training). Bone mineral density (BMD) and content (BMC) were measured longitudinally (8 months) by Dual Energy X-ray Absorptiometry at the whole body, lumbar spine and non-dominant hip. Analysis of covariance (ANCOVA) for repeated measures x2 (time) were performed to check differences within groups between pre and post intervention and to determine the effects of the intervention on BMD and BMC values adjusting by change in height and subtotal lean, initial age and final Tanner stage and calcium intake. RESULTS: Six months of WBV training had little effect on bone mass, as no differences were found between VIB and SWI for absolute change or percentage change for BMD values. For BMC, VIB presented higher absolute and percentage changes in both trochanter (7% increase in VIB vs. 3% in SWI) and total hip (6% increase in VIB vs. 3% in SWI) than SWI, although there was no group by time interaction. CONCLUSION: WBV training might entail minor benefits to BMC acquisition in adolescent swimmers. A minimum compliance of sixty percent was needed to improve BMC, which in the present study consisted of attending at least 2 of the 3 weekly days of training. Future studies using WBV should try to perform more sessions per week at higher intensities to determine if this type of training could be highly beneficial to bone or if other high-impact trainings might be more suitable to improve bone mass in this population

How to Improve the Functional Capacity of Frail and Pre-Frail Elderly People? Health, Nutritional Status and Exercise Intervention. The EXERNET-Elder 3.0 Project

Aging is associated with the impairment of health and functional capacity, and physical exercise seems to be an effective tool in frailty prevention and treatment. The purpose of this study was to present the methodology used in the EXERNET-Elder 3.0 project that aims to evaluate the immediate and residual effects and of a multicomponent exercise training program called Elder-fit on frailty, fitness, body composition and quality of life, and also to analyse a possible dietary intake interaction according to health and metabolic status. A total of 110 frail and pre-frail elders participated in this study and were divided into a control group (CG = 52) and an intervention group (IG = 58). The IG performed a supervised multicomponent exercise training program of 6 months and 3 days per week, which included strength, endurance, balance, coordination and flexibility exercises, while the CG continued with their usual daily activities. Both groups received four speeches about healthy habits along the project. Four evaluations were performed: at baseline, after 3 months of training, at the end of the training program (6 months) and 4 months after the program had ended to examine the effects of detraining. Evaluating the efficacy, safety and feasibility of this program will help to develop efficacious physical interventions against frailty. Further, protocols should be described accurately to allow exercise programs to be successfully replicated

Gravity Field of Ganymede After the Juno Extended Mission

The Juno Extended Mission presented the first opportunity to acquire gravity measurements of Ganymede since the end of the Galileo mission. These new Juno data offered the chance to carry out a joint analysis with the Galileo data set, improving our knowledge of Ganymede's gravity field and shedding new light upon its interior structure. Through reconstruction of Juno's and Galileo's orbit during the Ganymede flybys, the gravity field of the moon was estimated. The results indicate that Ganymede's degree-2 field is compatible with a body in hydrostatic equilibrium within 1−σ and hint at regional gravity anomalies with amplitudes exceeding those inferred by Cassini for Titan. Our explicit treatment of non-hydrostatic effects leads to wider confidence intervals for the derived moment of inertia with respect previous analyses. The higher central value of the derived moment of inertia indicates a lesser degree of Ganymede's differentiation