Mensaje del presidente para la edición inaugural del ISAK Journal

oai:ojs2.ijok.org:article/3It is with both pleasure and pride that ISAK announces the first edition of the International Journal of Kinanthropometry which will showcase research in the area of Anthropometry and its applications. Other than in this first issue, where contributions have been by invitation and evaluated for acceptability by the editorial team, the journal will only publish refereed scientific papers plus research reviews and case studies. You will see that we have an interesting selection of papers for you to read and I thank all contributors for both their research and their willingness to share it with us. The journal marks yet another significant milestone in ISAK’s development and will stand or fall on both the quantity and quality of papers submitted. Although we anticipate that the majority of papers submitted will come from ISAK members, it is not a requirement that submitters and/or co-authors be members of ISAK. Our sincere gratitude for this production goes to the Journal’s Editor-in-Chief, Dr Anup Adhikari and the publication team led by Dr Babu Balraj from IOR Press.Es un placer y un orgullo que ISAK anuncia la primera edición de la Revista Internacional de Cineantropometría, que mostrará la investigación en el área de la antropometría y sus aplicaciones. Aparte de este primer número, donde las contribuciones han sido por invitación y evaluadas para su aceptabilidad por parte del equipo editorial, la revista solo publicará artículos científicos arbitrados más revisiones de investigación y estudios de casos. Verá que tenemos una interesante selección de artículos para que los lea y agradezco a todos los colaboradores tanto por su investigación como por su disposición a compartirla con nosotros. La revista marca otro hito importante en el desarrollo de ISAK y se mantendrá o caerá tanto en la cantidad como en la calidad de los artículos presentados. Aunque anticipamos que la mayoría de los trabajos presentados provendrán de miembros de ISAK, no es un requisito que los remitentes y / o coautores sean miembros de ISAK. Nuestro más sincero agradecimiento por esta producción va para el editor en jefe de la revista, el Dr. Anup Adhikari y el equipo de publicación dirigido por el Dr. Babu Balraj de IOR Press

President’s Message for the 2nd Edition of the ISAK Journal

It is with pleasure that ISAK announces the second edition of the International Journal of Kinanthropometry which will showcase research in the area of Anthropometry and its applications.  As with the first issue, significant COVID pressures continue to hamper the production sequence. Thus, contributions have once again been by invitation and evaluated for acceptability by the editorial team. Henceforward, a formal review process will be strictly adhered to and the Journal will only publish refereed scientific papers plus research reviews and case studies. Once again, we have an interesting selection of papers for you to read and I thank all contributors for both their research and their willingness to share it with us. Our sincere gratitude for this production goes to the Journal’s Editor-in-Chief, Dr Anup Adhikari and the publication team led by Dr Babu Balraj from IOR Press all of whom have had to deal with significant challenges posed by the pandemic

Kinanthropometric Comparison between Young Elite Kayakers and Canoeists

The aims of this study were to describe and compare kinanthropometric characteristics of elite young kayakers and canoeists and to compare their proportionality with Olympic paddlers. One hundred and twenty young elite sprint paddlers (66 kayakers and 58 canoeists), aged 13- and 14-years-old, were assessed using a battery of 32 anthropometric dimensions. Somatotypes, Phantom Z-scores and corrected girths were calculated. Comparison between kayakers and canoeists showed that kayakers had greater height, body weight, sitting height, arm span and upper body lengths, breadths and girths than canoeists. Higher proportional humerus breadth and arm girths were also found in kayakers. However, canoeists had higher Z-scores in femur breadth. Olympic paddlers had higher proportional dimensions in upper body girths, and biacromial breadth in both disciplines. Mean somatotypes of kayakers were best described as balanced mesomorphs, while canoeists were ecto-mesomorphs. Differences between kayak and canoe paddlers may be explained by the continual need for physical development in kayakers, in order to remain competitive, compared to the young canoeists’ need to place much greater emphasis on the development of their technical ability. The data provided in this study could be used as a guideline for talent identifi cation in sprint canoeing and kayaking

Heart Rate Responses of Referees During the 2011 Eurobasket Championship.

The purpose of the study was to describe heart rate responses of referees during a major international basketball championship. Heart rate (HR) data was collected from 26 international referees officiating 48 matches (95 matches ‘worth’ of data) at the 2011 Eurobasket Championship. HR was subsequently normalised to percentage of theoretical maximum, and used to calculate time spent in different exercise intensity zones (Light, moderate, heavy, very heavy) across successive phases of the tournament and successive quarters (Q) of matches. Mean HR was 81.89±13.4% of theoretical maximum during match play, and there were no significant differences in HR recorded during different phases of the championship. However, relative HR progressively decreased with each quarter of the matches (Q1; 91.43±7.6%, Q2;90.51±7.1%, Q3; 88.23±7.3%, Q4; 88.21±7.5% HRmax). This decrease in %HRmax recorded relative to Q1 reached statistical significance (P<0.05) in Q3 and Q4. Although percentage of total match time spent in ‘hard’ and ‘light’ exercise intensity categories remained similar across quarters of matches, there was a reduction in time spent in ‘very hard’ activity from 10.93±16.08% in Q1 to 5.73±10.36% in Q3 and 5.55±10.74% in Q4 (both P<0.05). This reduction in ‘very hard’ activity was accompanied by an increase in ‘moderate’ intensity activity from 15.06±14.29% in Q1 to 23.37±17.12% in Q3 and 24.35±20.31% in Q4 (both P<0.01). The data suggests that international basketball referees are unable to maintain initial exercise intensity for four successive quarters of championship play. This is in contrast to available data suggesting elite players are able to maintain or increase exercise intensity as matches progress. This has implications for the physical conditioning requirements of international level match officials

Dietary salt intake assessed by 24 h urinary sodium excretion in Australian schoolchildren aged 5–13 years

Objective To measure total daily salt intake using 24 h urinary Na excretion within a sample of Victorian schoolchildren aged 5&ndash;13 years and to assess discretionary salt use habits of children and parents.Design Cross-sectional study.Setting Completed within a convenience sample of independent primary schools (n 9) located in Victoria, Australia.Subjects Two hundred and sixty children completed a 24 h urine collection over a school (34 %) or non-school day (66 %). Samples deemed incomplete (n 18), an over-collection (n 1) or that were incorrectly processed at the laboratory (n 3) were excluded.Results The sample comprised 120 boys and 118 girls with a mean age of 9&middot;8 (sd 1&middot;7) years. The average 24 h urinary Na excretion (n 238) was 103 (sd 43) mmol/24 h (salt equivalent 6&middot;0 (sd 2&middot;5) g/d). Daily Na excretion did not differ by sex; boys 105 (sd 46) mmol/24 h (salt equivalent 6&middot;1 (sd 2&middot;7) g/d) and girls 100 (sd 41) mmol/24 h (salt equivalent 5&middot;9 (sd 2&middot;4) g/d; P = 0&middot;38). Sixty-nine per cent of children (n 164) exceeded the recommended daily Upper Limit for Na. Reported discretionary salt use was common: two-thirds of parents reported adding salt during cooking and almost half of children reported adding salt at the table.Conclusions The majority of children had salt intakes exceeding the recommended daily Upper Limit. Strategies to lower salt intake in children are urgently required, and should include product reformulation of lower-sodium food products combined with interventions targeting discretionary salt use within the home

Effectiveness of a community football programme on improving physiological markers of health in a hard-to-reach male population: the role of exercise intensity

© 2015 Taylor & Francis. The present study evaluated the effectiveness of participation in recreational football during a community health programme, on physiological markers of health within a hard to reach population. Nine men (Age: 33 ± 9 years, Mass: 75.4 ± 13.7 kg, Height: 1.74 ± 0.07 m and Body Fat: 19 ± 2%) were recruited to participate in the study in collaboration with an English Premier League Football Club. Participants completed the 12-week football-based programme which included two coached football sessions each week. Physiological tests for blood pressure, resting heart rate, cholesterol and an anthropometrical test for body composition were completed at three time points during the study (Weeks – 1, 6 and 12) in an attempt to evaluate the impact of the intervention on health. During each training session, measurements of intensity (%HRmax, identified from the yoyo intermittent level 1 test), duration and rating of perceived exertion were made. The 12-week programme (mean HRmax throughout programme = 75 ± 4% beats min−1; mean RPE throughout programme = 6 ± 1) elicited few changes in physiological markers of health with the only significant change been a decrease in resting heart rate from weeks 6 to 12 (87 ± 22 beats min−1 at week-6, to 72 ± 17 beats min−1; p < 0.05). These data would suggest that the current community football-related health project was not effective in improving physiological markers of health, but was able to maintain their level of health. A lack of improvement may be due to the low intensity of sessions and a lack of coach education for the promotion of sessions that aim to improve health

From Surveillance to Intervention: Overview and Baseline Findings for the Active City of Liverpool Active Schools and SportsLinx (A-CLASS) Project

This paper outlines the implementation of a programme of work that started with the development of a population-level children’s health, fitness and lifestyle study in 1996 (SportsLinx) leading to selected interventions one of which is described in detail: the Active City of Liverpool, Active Schools and SportsLinx (A-CLASS) Project. The A-CLASS Project aimed to quantify the effectiveness of structured and unstructured physical activity (PA) programmes on children’s PA, fitness, body composition, bone health, cardiac and vascular structures, fundamental movement skills, physical self-perception and self-esteem. The study was a four-arm parallel-group school-based cluster randomised controlled trial (clinical trials no. NCT02963805), and compared different exposure groups: a high intensity PA (HIPA) group, a fundamental movement skill (FMS) group, a PA signposting (PASS) group and a control group, in a two-schools-per-condition design. Baseline findings indicate that children’s fundamental movement skill competence levels are low-to-moderate, yet these skills are inversely associated with percentage body fat. Outcomes of this project will make an important contribution to the design and implementation of children’s PA promotion initiatives

Waist Circumference and Abdominal Volume Index Can Predict Metabolic Syndrome in Adolescents, but only When the Criteria of the International Diabetes Federation are Employed for the Diagnosis

The authors are grateful to schools, parents, and guardians as well as to participant students for their collaboration in the development of this study. This work was supported by funds from Grant CEI2015-MP-BS23 from Campus of International Excellence CEIBioTic Granada and by funds from Ministry of Economy and Competitiveness (AGL2011-23810).Supplementary Materials The following are available online at https://www.mdpi.com/2072-6643/11/6/1370/s1, Table S1: Optimal cutoff points in receiver-operator curves (ROC) analysis of different anthropometric indexes for predicting MetS in boys according to diagnostic criteria, Table S2: Optimal cutoff points in receiver-operator curves (ROC) analysis of different anthropometric indexes for predicting MetS in girls according to diagnostic criteria.We previously reported, using the diagnostic criteria of the International Diabetes Federation (IDF), that waist circumference (WC) and abdominal volume index (AVI) were capable of predicting metabolic syndrome (MetS) in adolescents. This study was aimed at confirming this finding when other diagnostic criteria are used. A cross-sectional study was performed on 981 Spanish adolescents (13.2 ± 1.2 years). MetS was diagnosed by eight different criteria. Ten anthropometric indexes were calculated and receiver-operator curves (ROC) were created to determine their discriminatory capacity for MetS. Of all diagnostic criteria, the ones proposed by the IDF showed the highest mean values for weight, WC and systolic blood pressure in boys and girls with MetS, and the lowest for glucose and triglycerides in boys. ROC analysis showed that only WC, AVI and body roundness index (BRI) achieved area under the curve (AUC) values above 0.8 in boys, and that fat content, body mass index (BMI), WC, AVI, BRI and pediatric body adiposity index (BAIp) showed AUC values above 0.8 in girls. Importantly, this occurred only when diagnosis was carried out using the IDF criteria. We confirm that WC and AVI can predict MetS in adolescents but only when the IDF’s diagnostic criteria are employed.This work was supported by funds from Grant CEI2015-MP-BS23 from Campus of International Excellence CEIBioTic Granada and by funds from Ministry of Economy and Competitiveness (AGL2011-23810)

Calcium Intake in Elderly Australian Women Is Inadequate

The role of calcium in the prevention of bone loss in later life has been well established but little data exist on the adequacy of calcium intakes in elderly Australian women. The aim of this study was to compare the dietary intake including calcium of elderly Australian women with the Australian dietary recommendation, and to investigate the prevalence of calcium supplement use in this population. Community-dwelling women aged 70–80 years were randomly recruited using the Electoral Roll for a 2-year protein intervention study in Western Australia. Dietary intake was assessed at baseline by a 3-day weighed food record and analysed for energy, calcium and other nutrients. A total of 218 women were included in the analysis. Mean energy intake was 7,140 ± 1,518 kJ/day and protein provided 19 ± 4% of energy. Mean dietary calcium intake was 852 ± 298 mg/day, which is below Australian recommendations. Less than one quarter of women reported taking calcium supplements and only 3% reported taking vitamin D supplements. Calcium supplements by average provided calcium 122 ± 427 mg/day and when this was taken into account, total calcium intake increased to 955 ± 504 mg/day, which remained 13% lower than the Estimated Average Requirement (EAR, 1,100 mg/day) for women of this age group. The women taking calcium supplements had a higher calcium intake (1501 ± 573 mg) compared with the women on diet alone (813 ± 347 mg). The results of this study indicate that the majority of elderly women were not meeting their calcium requirements from diet alone. In order to achieve the recommended dietary calcium intake, better strategies for promoting increased calcium, from both diet and calcium supplements appears to be needed

Estimating body composition in adolescent sprint athletes : comparison of different methods in a 3 years longitudinal design

A recommended field method to assess body composition in adolescent sprint athletes is currently lacking. Existing methods developed for non-athletic adolescents were not longitudinally validated and do not take maturation status into account. This longitudinal study compared two field methods, i.e., a Bio Impedance Analysis (BIA) and a skinfold based equation, with underwater densitometry to track body fat percentage relative to years from age at peak height velocity in adolescent sprint athletes. In this study, adolescent sprint athletes (34 girls, 35 boys) were measured every 6 months during 3 years (age at start = 14.8 +/- 1.5yrs in girls and 14.7 +/- 1.9yrs in boys). Body fat percentage was estimated in 3 different ways: 1) using BIA with the TANITA TBF 410; 2) using a skinfold based equation; 3) using underwater densitometry which was considered as the reference method. Height for age since birth was used to estimate age at peak height velocity. Cross-sectional analyses were performed using repeated measures ANOVA and Pearson correlations between measurement methods at each occasion. Data were analyzed longitudinally using a multilevel cross-classified model with the PROC Mixed procedure. In boys, compared to underwater densitometry, the skinfold based formula revealed comparable values for body fatness during the study period whereas BIA showed a different pattern leading to an overestimation of body fatness starting from 4 years after age at peak height velocity. In girls, both the skinfold based formula and BIA overestimated body fatness across the whole range of years from peak height velocity. The skinfold based method appears to give an acceptable estimation of body composition during growth as compared to underwater densitometry in male adolescent sprinters. In girls, caution is warranted when interpreting estimations of body fatness by both BIA and a skinfold based formula since both methods tend to give an overestimation