Interventions to Promote Positive Affect and Physical Activity in Children, Adolescents and Young Adults—A Systematic Review

Interventions to promote physical activity (PA) in children, adolescents and young adults based on social-cognitive theories often fail to increase PA. In recent years, affect-based approaches have gained interest, but the current state of research is not sufficiently reported. Therefore, a systematic review about the influence of interventions to promote positive affect and PA enjoyment and PA in children, adolescents and young adults was conducted. Literature searches were carried out including studies published between September 2009 and April 2019. Intervention studies targeting healthy children, adolescents or young adults and measuring enjoyment and PA were included. Thirteen studies met the inclusion criteria, including five group-based PA interventions, three multi-component school interventions, two internet-based interventions and three exergaming interventions. Most studies use multiple components in their intervention. Group-based PA programs incorporating task-oriented teaching styles and opportunities for voluntary PA are most consistently associated with positive findings. This review shows moderate evidence of interventions for children, adolescents and young adults being effective in increasing enjoyment and PA. Besides physical education and comprehensive school interventions, heterogenous intervention designs limit the comparability of studies. Future research should focus on theory-based, multi-component interventions with mediator analyses

Combining diaries and accelerometers to explain change in physical activity during a lifestyle intervention for adults with pre-diabetes: A PREVIEW sub-study

Self-report and device-based measures of physical activity (PA) both have unique strengths and limitations; combining these measures should provide complementary and comprehensive insights to PA behaviours. Therefore, we aim to 1) identify PA clusters and clusters of change in PA based on self-reported daily activities and 2) assess differences in device-based PA between clusters in a lifestyle intervention, the PREVIEW diabetes prevention study. In total, 232 participants with overweight and prediabetes (147 women; 55.9 ± 9.5yrs; BMI ≥25 kg·m-2; impaired fasting glucose and/or impaired glucose tolerance) were clustered using a partitioning around medoids algorithm based on self-reported daily activities before a lifestyle intervention and their changes after 6 and 12 months. Device-assessed PA levels (PAL), sedentary time (SED), light PA (LPA), and moderate-to-vigorous PA (MVPA) were assessed using ActiSleep+ accelerometers and compared between clusters using (multivariate) analyses of covariance. At baseline, the self-reported “walking and housework” cluster had significantly higher PAL, MVPA and LPA, and less SED than the “inactive” cluster. LPA was higher only among the “cycling” cluster. There was no difference in the device-based measures between the “social-sports” and “inactive” clusters. Looking at the changes after 6 months, the “increased walking” cluster showed the greatest increase in PAL while the “increased cycling” cluster accumulated the highest amount of LPA. The “increased housework” and “increased supervised sports” reported least favourable changes in device-based PA. After 12 months, there was only minor change in activities between the “increased walking and cycling”, “no change” and “increased supervised sports” clusters, with no significant differences in device-based measures. Combining self-report and device-based measures provides better insights into the behaviours that change during an intervention. Walking and cycling may be suitable activities to increase PA in adults with prediabetes

Walking and non-motorized vehicle use in adolescents: the role of neighborhood environment perceptions across urbanization levels

Promoting active travel is key to achieving the sustainable development goals of sustainable communities, climate action, and health and well-being. Walking and non-motorized vehicle use (e.g., cycling, longboarding) are influenced by the perceptions of the neighborhood environment. However, most evidence is limited to studies conducted in urban areas. This study aims to assess the relationship between perceived environment and walking as well as non-motorized vehicle use stratified across different levels of urbanicity in adolescents in Germany. Cross-sectional data of 3976 adolescents aged 11–17 (51% female) from the nationwide Motorik-Modul Longitudinal Study in Germany were used. Age, gender, socioeconomic status, neighborhood environment perceptions, duration of walking, and non-motorized vehicle use were assessed via questionnaire. Separate cumulative link mixed models were calculated to analyze the relationships between environment perceptions and walking as well as non-motorized vehicle use across rural areas, small towns, medium-sized towns, and cities. The presence of public sports facilities was related to both walking and non-motorized vehicle use across urbanicity levels. Relationships with other aspects of the perceived environment, such as traffic safety concerns and walking or cycling infrastructure, were more context-specific meaning that associations differed based on active travel mode and urbanicity level. Additionally, non-motorized vehicle use differed considerably across sample points. To conclude, when creating active and sustainable environments for active travel, it is crucial to target specific travel modes and take the urbanicity and regional context into account

Overestimation of Maximal Aerobic Speed by the Université de Montréal Track Test and a 1500-m-Time Trial in Soccer

Introduction: Maximal aerobic speed (MAS), usually measured by cardiopulmonary exercise testing (CPET) on a treadmill, is gaining popularity in soccer to determine aerobic performance. Several field tests are used to estimate MAS, although, gold standard methods are still not clarified. Therefore, this work aims 1) to compare two different CPET based methods to assess MAS and 2) to investigate the convergent validity of two common field tests to estimate MAS in soccer. Methods: Thirteen trained male soccer players completed an CPET on a treadmill to determine two VO2-kinetic based definitions of MAS (MASPlateau = speed at onset of VO2-plateau = gold standard; MAS30s = first speed of 30-s-interval of VO2max), the Université de Montreal Track Test (UMTT; VUMTT = speed of the last stage), and a 1500-m-time trial (1500-m-TT; V1500m = average speed). MASPlateau, MAS30s, VUMTT, and V1500m were compared using ANOVA. Additionally, limits of agreement analysis (LoA), Pearson’s r, and ICC were calculated between tests. Results: MAS30s, VUMTT, and V1500m significantly overestimated MASPlateau by 0.99 km/h (ES = 1.61; p < 0.01), 1.61 km/h (ES = 2.03; p < 0.01) and 1.68 km/h (ES = 1.77; p < 0.01), respectively, with large LoA (-0.21 ≤ LoA≤3.55), however with large-to-very large correlations (0.65 ≤ r ≤ 0.87; p ≤ 0.02; 0.51 ≤ ICC≤ 0.85; p ≤ 0.03). Discussion: The overestimation and large LoA of MASPlateau by all estimates indicate that 1) a uniform definition of MAS is needed and 2) the UMTT and a 1500-m-TT seem questionable for estimating MAS for trained soccer players on an individual basis, while regression equations might be suitable on a team level. The results of the present work contribute to the clarification of acquisition of MAS in soccer

Physical Activity and Recurrent Pain in Children and Adolescents in Germany—Results from the MoMo Study

Recurrent pain can be a significant disruption in the activities of daily life, and is not only a health problem in adults but also in children and adolescents. This study analyzed the prevalence of recurrent pain in the current sample (n = 1516; 11–17 years (mean$_{age}$ = 14.4 ± 2.0 years); 50.8% female) of a nationwide study in Germany, evaluated the association of participants’ device-based physical activity (PA) with the prevalence of recurrent pain, and assessed whether children and adolescents who reported pain for the last three months accumulated less PA than those who did not. A higher prevalence was found in girls for recurrent headaches (42.2% vs. 28.7%), abdominal pain (28.2% vs. 20.1%), and back pain (26.9% vs. 19.5%). We found higher odds for recurrent headaches in girls (OR = 1.54) and in participants that did not reach at least 60 min of moderate to vigorous PA (MVPA) per day (OR = 2.06). Girls who reported recurrent headaches accumulated 4.7 min less MVPA per day than those without. The prevalence of pain remains at a high level in the German youth and underscores the need for interventions to improve the health situations of children and adolescents

How specific combinations of epoch length, non-wear time and cut-points influence physical activity – Processing accelerometer data from children and adolescents in the nationwide MoMo study = Einfluss spezifischer Kombinationen von Epochenlänge, Nichttragezeit und Cut-off-Werten auf die körperliche Aktivität – Signalverarbeitung von Akzelerometerdaten bei Kindern und Jugendlichen in der bundesweiten MoMo-Studie

This study assesses three factors that influence the quantification of children’s and adolescents’ physical activity (PA) using accelerometers: selection of (1) non-wear algorithm, (2) epoch length and (3) cut-points. A total of 1525 participants from MoMo wave 3 (2018–2022), aged 6–17 years, wore GT3X accelerometers (ActiGraph, LLC, Pensacola, FL, USA) during waking hours. Acceleration counts were reintegrated into lengths of 1, 5, 15, 30, and 60 s epochs. Two non-wear time algorithms and two sets of cut-points were applied to each epoch length. Differences were found in both the comparison of the non-wear time algorithms and the comparison of the cut-points when the different epoch lengths were considered. This may result in large differences in estimated sedentary behavior and PA values. We propose to pool the data by merging and combining multiple accelerometer datasets from different studies and evaluate them in a harmonized way in the future. In addition to the need for future validation studies using short epoch lengths for young children, we also propose to conduct meta-analyses. This allows the use of data from multiple studies to validate cut-points and to propose a consensual set of cut-points that can be used in different settings and projects. The high discrepancy between results when comparing different epoch lengths has to be considered when interpreting accelerometer data and is regarded a confounding variable when comparing levels of PA between studies

Habitual physical activity in patients born with oesophageal atresia: a multicenter cross-sectional study and comparison to a healthy reference cohort matched for gender and age

Oesophageal atresia (EA) is associated with life-long gastrointestinal and respiratory morbidity and other associated malformations. The aim of this study is to compare physical activity (PA) levels of children and adolescents with and without EA. A validated questionnaire (MoMo-PAQ) was used to evaluate PA in EA patients EA (4–17 years), who were randomly matched for gender and age (1:5) with a representative sample of the Motorik-Modul Longitudinal Study (n = 6233). Sports activity per week (sports index) and minutes of moderate to vigorous physical activity per week (MVPA minutes) were calculated. Correlations between PA and medical factors were analysed. In total, 104 patients and 520 controls were included. Children with EA were significantly less active at higher intensities (mean MPVA minutes 462; 95% confidence interval (CI): 370–554) compared to controls (626; 95% CI: 576–676), although there was no statistically significant difference in the sports index (187; 95% CI: 156–220 versus 220; 95% CI: 203–237). A lower mean weight-for-age and height-for-age, additional urogenital (r =  − 0.20, p = 0.04) or anorectal malformation (r =  − 0.24, p = 0.01) were associated with fewer MVPA minutes. For other medical factors (prematurity, type of repair, congenital heart disease, skeletal malformation or symptom load), no statistically significant association with PA was found. Conclusion: EA patients participated in PA at a similar level but lower intensities compared to the reference cohort. PA in EA patients was largely independent of medical factors

Walking and non-motorized vehicle use in adolescents: the role of neighborhood environment perceptions across urbanization levels

Promoting active travel is key to achieving the sustainable development goals of sustainable communities, climate action, and health and well-being. Walking and non-motorized vehicle use (e.g., cycling, longboarding) are influenced by the perceptions of the neighborhood environment. However, most evidence is limited to studies conducted in urban areas. This study aims to assess the relationship between perceived environment and walking as well as non-motorized vehicle use stratified across different levels of urbanicity in adolescents in Germany. Cross-sectional data of 3976 adolescents aged 11–17 (51% female) from the nationwide Motorik-Modul Longitudinal Study in Germany were used. Age, gender, socioeconomic status, neighborhood environment perceptions, duration of walking, and non-motorized vehicle use were assessed via questionnaire. Separate cumulative link mixed models were calculated to analyze the relationships between environment perceptions and walking as well as non-motorized vehicle use across rural areas, small towns, medium-sized towns, and cities. The presence of public sports facilities was related to both walking and non-motorized vehicle use across urbanicity levels. Relationships with other aspects of the perceived environment, such as traffic safety concerns and walking or cycling infrastructure, were more context-specific meaning that associations differed based on active travel mode and urbanicity level. Additionally, non-motorized vehicle use differed considerably across sample points. To conclude, when creating active and sustainable environments for active travel, it is crucial to target specific travel modes and take the urbanicity and regional context into account