Psychosocial Correlates of Physical Activity in Children and Adolescents in a Rural Community Setting

The purpose of this study was to evaluate the relationships between selected psychosocial factors and the physical activity behaviors of children (grade 4-8) and adolescents (grades 9-12) in a rural community setting. The Children’s Physical Activity Scale (CPAC)was used to measure the psychosocial factors of physical activity, The Physical Activity Questionnaire-Children (PAQ-C), and Physical Activity Questionnaire-Adolescents (PAQ-A) were used to measure the physical activity behaviors of the 167 participants. Results indicated that male and female physical activity behaviors were not significantly different. However, physical activity declined with age [F(8,147) = 5.44, p \u3c 0.05, ES = 0.23]. All psychosocial factors were significantly correlated with physical activity in youth with the single highest correlation for males being “liking of exercise” (r = .61) and the highest correlation for females was “liking of games and sports”(r = .44). Stepwise regression analyses identified three subscales (liking of games and sport, liking of exercise, and parental support) in a significant prediction model of physical activity in both genders. The results indicate that children\u27s physical activity is associated with a variety of psychosocial variables that represent import predisposing and reinforcing factors

Systemic and local eosinophil inflammation during the birch pollen season in allergic patients with predominant rhinitis or asthma

<p>Abstract</p> <p>Background</p> <p>The aim of the study was to investigate inflammation during the birch pollen season in patients with rhinitis or asthma.</p> <p>Methods</p> <p>Subjects with birch pollen asthma (n = 7) or rhinitis (n = 9) and controls (n = 5) were studied before and during pollen seasons. Eosinophils (Eos), eosinophil cationic protein (ECP) and human neutrophil lipocalin were analysed.</p> <p>Results</p> <p>Allergic asthmatics had a larger decline in FEV1 after inhaling hypertonic saline than patients with rhinitis (median) (-7.0 vs.-0.4%, p = 0.02). The asthmatics had a lower sesonal PEFR than the rhinitis group. The seasonal increase in B-Eos was higher among patients with asthma (+0.17 × 109/L) and rhinitis (+0.27 × 109/L) than among controls (+0.01 × 109/L, p = 0.01). Allergic asthmatics and patients with rhinitis had a larger increase in sputum ECP (+2180 and +310 μg/L) than the controls (-146 μg/L, p = 0.02). No significant differences in inflammatory parameters were found between the two groups of allergic patients.</p> <p>Conclusion</p> <p>Patients with allergic asthma and rhinitis have the same degree of eosinophil inflammation. Despite this, only the asthmatic group experienced an impairment in lung function during the pollen season.</p

Allergy and the lung

Among the ‘allergic’ conditions involving the lung, asthma is the more frequent and the most extensively investigated, although asthma itself may be caused by different disorders. The triggering event in allergic subjects is the reaction allergen-specific immunoglobulin E (IgE) that activates mast cells and initiates a complex and redundant inflammatory process, where cells, cytokines and adhesion molecules are involved at different stages. In fact, mucosal eosinophilic inflammation is one of the distinctive features of asthma and the particular T helper type 2 (Th2) phenotype of allergic patients favours it. In general, the clinical severity of asthma correlates well with the degree of inflammation. None the less, other phenomena such as non-specific bronchial hyperresponsiveness and remodelling intervene in the pathophysiology of allergic asthma. These phenomena are only partially inflammation-related. In particular, the remodelling of the bronchial wall seems to start very early in life and also seems to be a distinctive histological feature of the asthmatic bronchus. The recent introduction of biological treatments (monoclonal antibodies) has allowed elucidation of some of the pathogenic features of allergic asthma

An update on the asthma-rhinitis link.

none5G. PASSALACQUA; CIPRANDI G; GUERRA L; PASQUALI M; CANONICA GWPassalacqua, Giovanni; Ciprandi, G; Guerra, L; Pasquali, M; Canonica, Giorgi