Assessment of body fat in physically active young people: anthropometry vs bioimpedance

Objective: To assess the level of agreement between the anthropometrical method and several bioimpedance (BIA) devices to estimate the fat mass in a group of physically active young people. Subjects: 55 students of Physical Activity Sciences and Sports of the INEFC of Barcelona; 29 men (age: 24.7 ± 4.7 years; BMI: 23.4 ± 1.8) and 26 women (age: 22.9 ± 3.5; BMI: 21.5 ± 1.9). All of them voluntarily gave their informed consent. Materials and method: Anthropometrical assessment was done according to the International Society for the Advancement Kinanthropometry (ISAK) protocol, the fat % was calculated by the Siri's equation and was compared with that obtained by 4 different BIA devices: Biospace Inbody 720, Tanita BC400, Tanita TBF-521, and Omron BF-300. To assess the level of agreement of the results, the interclass correlation coefficient and the Bland Aldman method were used. Results: The estimated fat mass, in men, by the anthropometrical method was 7 ± 2.2 kg. The results by the BIA systems were: 7.4 ± 3 kg; 5.6 ± 2.2 kg; 5.7 ± 2.5 kg, and 7.4 ± 3 kg for Biospace Inbody 720, Tanita BC400, Tanita TBF521, and Omron BF300, respectively. In women, the results were 10.4 ± 2.7 kg of fat mass by means of the anthropometrical method and 10.3 ± 2.9 kg, 11 ± 3.3 kg, 11.5 ± 3.0 kg, and 10 ± 2.9 kg for Biospace Inbody 720, Tanita BC400, Tanita TBF521, and Omron BF300, respectively. Conclusions: In the male group, the level of agreement between anthropometrics and BIA devices was moderate-poor, whereas in women there was a good correlation between both techniques for estimating the body fat when the Biospace Inbody 720 and Tanita BC400 devices were used. Alternative title (Spanish): Valoración de la grasa corporal en jóvenes físicamente activos: antropometría vs bioimpedancia

The Effects of Eight-Month Physical Activity Intervention on Vigilance Performance in Adult Obese Population

We aim to analyze the effects of an 8-month physical activity intervention on cardiorespiratory fitness, body mass index (BMI), and vigilance performance in an adult obese population. We conducted an 8-month physical activity intervention based on dance and rhythmic activities. The weekly frequency was 2 sessions of 1 hr per day. Training sessions were divided into 3 phases: a 10-min warm-up, 40 min of dance and rhythmic activities, and 10 min to cool-down. To assess cardiorespiratory fitness, participants performed a modified version of the 6-min walk test from the Senior Fitness Test battery (Larsson & Mattsson, 2001; Rikli & Jones, 1999). Vigilance performance was measured by means of the psychomotor vigilance task (PVT). Two measurements were performed immediately before and after the intervention. The results revealed that participants improved their cardiorespiratory fitness, BMI, and vigilance performance after the intervention. All in all, findings contribute new empirical evidence to the field that investigates the benefits of physical activity intervention on cognitive processes in obese population.Ciencias de la Actividad Física y del Deport