Effectiveness of an active commuting school-based intervention at 6-month follow-up

Active commuting to school may provide a significant source of physical activity in youth. Previous school-based intervention studies have shown a positive effect on increasing the frequency of active commuting to school in the short-term. However, how the observed effects are after the intervention remains to be investigated. The objective of the present study was to investigate the effects of a school-based intervention on active commuting to school at 6-month follow-up

Anti-aging therapy through fitness enhancement

Physical exercise is proposed as a highly effective means of treating and preventing the main causes of morbidity and mortality – most of which are associated with aging – in industrialized countries. Low physical fitness is an important risk factor for cardiovascular and all-causes morbidity and mortality; indeed, it is even a predictor of these problems. When properly measured, the assessment of physical fitness can be a highly valuable indicator of health and life expectancy and, therefore, should be performed routinely in the clinical setting. Individually adapted training programs could be prescribed based on fitness assessment results and an adequate knowledge of patient lifestyle and daily physical activity. Such training programs would allow people to develop their maximum physical potential, improve their physical and mental health, and attenuate the negative consequences of aging

Review of criterion-referenced standards for cardiorespiratory fitness: what percentage of 1 142 026 international children and youth are apparently healthy?

Purpose To identify criterion-referenced standards for cardiorespiratory fitness (CRF); to estimate the percentage of children and youth that met each standard; and to discuss strategies to help improve the utility of criterion-referenced standards for population health research. Methods A search of four databases was undertaken to identify papers that reported criterion-referenced CRF standards for children and youth generated using the receiver operating characteristic curve technique. A pseudo-dataset representing the 20-m shuttle run test performance of 1 142 026 children and youth aged 9–17 years from 50 countries was generated using Monte Carlo simulation. Pseudo-data were used to estimate the international percentage of children and youth that met published criterion-referenced standards for CRF. Results Ten studies reported criterion-referenced standards for healthy CRF in children and youth. The mean percentage (±95% CI) of children and youth that met the standards varied substantially across age groups from 36%±13% to 95%±4% among girls, and from 51%±7% to 96%±16% among boys. There was an age gradient across all criterion-referenced standards where younger children were more likely to meet the standards compared with older children, regardless of sex. Within age groups, mean percentages were more precise (smaller CI) for younger girls and older boys. Conclusion There are several CRF criterion-referenced standards for children and youth producing widely varying results. This study encourages using the interim international criterion-referenced standards of 35 and 42 mL/kg/min for girls and boys, respectively, to identify children and youth at risk of poor health—raising a clinical red flag

Environmental Influences on Children's Physical Activity: Quantitative Estimates Using a Twin Design

Twin studies offer a 'natural experiment' that can estimate the magnitude of environmental and genetic effects on a target phenotype. We hypothesised that fidgetiness and enjoyment of activity would be heritable but that objectively-measured daily activity would show a strong shared environmental effect.In a sample of 9-12 year-old same-sex twin pairs (234 individuals; 57 MZ, 60 DZ pairs) we assessed three dimensions of physical activity: i) objectively-measured physical activity using accelerometry, ii) 'fidgetiness' using a standard psychometric scale, and iii) enjoyment of physical activity from both parent ratings and children's self-reports. Shared environment effects explained the majority (73%) of the variance in objectively-measured total physical activity (95% confidence intervals (CI): 0.63-0.81) with a smaller unshared environmental effect (27%; CI: 0.19-0.37) and no significant genetic effect. In contrast, fidgetiness was primarily under genetic control, with additive genetic effects explaining 75% (CI: 62-84%) of the variance, as was parent's report of children's enjoyment of low 74% (CI: 61-82%), medium 80% (CI: 71-86%), and high impact activity (85%; CI: 78-90%), and children's expressed activity preferences (60%, CI: 42-72%).Consistent with our hypothesis, the shared environment was the dominant influence on children's day-to-day activity levels. This finding gives a strong impetus to research into the specific environmental characteristics influencing children's activity, and supports the value of interventions focused on home or school environments

Impact of cow's milk intake on exercise performance and recovery of muscle function: a systematic review

Dairy products are thought to improve recovery after both resistance and endurance exercises due to their nutritional proprieties. We systematically reviewed the effects of dairy product intake on exercise performance and recovery of muscle function in humans. A literature search was conducted in the MEDLINE (via PubMed) and Web of Science databases from their inception to 15th April 2018. The initial search retrieved 7708 articles, and a total of 11 studies were finally included after applying inclusion and exclusion criteria. All the selected studies were conducted with cow's milk. Whereas some studies found significant positive effect of cow's milk on exercise performance and recovery of muscle function, others did not find any effect. These controversies could be due to the heterogeneity of cow's milk ingestion (e.g., amount of cow's milk, timing of consuming the cow's milk), to the type of intervention, and to the large heterogeneity of outcomes measured. Limited studies exist examining the effects of cow's milk consumption and its influence on exercise performance and recovery of muscle function, therefore further studies are needed to draw more definitive conclusions.The study was supported by the Spanish Ministry of Education (FPU 13/04365 and 15/04059), by the Redes temáticas de investigación cooperativa RETIC (Red SAMID RD16/0022), and by the University of Granada Plan Propio de Investigacion 2016 -Excellence actions: Unit of Excellence on Exercise and Health (UCEES) - and Plan Propio de Investigación 2018 - Programa Contratos-Puente, and the Junta de Andalucía, Consejería de Conocimiento, Investigación y Universidades (ERDF: ref. SOMM17/6107/UGR), and by the Interprofessional Dairy Organization (INLAC) of Spain

Factores personales y ambientales asociados con el desplazamiento activo al colegio de los escolares españoles

The purpose of this study was to analyse the associations of personal and environmental factors with mode of commuting to school in children. A total of 745 schoolchildren (363 girls) aged 6-12 years from the province of Granada (Spain) participated in the study. Participants completed a questionnaire about mode of commuting to school, personal factors (i.e. barriers to walking to school, enjoyment on the way to school, who they go to school with) and environmental factors (i.e. time from house to school, distance to school, and safety on the way). A total of 57.2% children walked to school, 40.3% used the car, 1.2% motorcycled, .7% used the bus and .6% bicycled. Travelling alone to school [Odds ratio (OR), 10.049; 95% confidence interval (CI), 3.950 - 25.567], living close to the school (OR, 16.439; 95%CI, 5.717- 47.271) and perceiving a safe way to school (OR, 2.365; 95%CI, 1.665- 3.360) were associated with active commuting to school

Cardiorespiratory Fitness and Fatness Are Associated With Health Complaints and Health Risk Behaviors in Youth

We examined the association of cardiorespiratory fitness and fatness with health complaints and health risk behaviors in 691 (323 girls) Spanish children aged 6 to 17.9. Methods: Health complaints and health risk behaviors were self-reported using items of the Health Behavior in School-aged Children questionnaire. Weight and height were measured and body mass index was computed. Cardiorespiratory fitness was measured by the 20-m shuttle-run test, and youth categorized as fit/unfit. Results: Unfit youth were more likely to report health complaints sometime (OR: 2.556, 95% CI: 1.299–5.031; and OR: 1.997, 95% CI: 1.162–3.433, respectively) and health risk behaviors such as drinking alcohol sometime (OR: 5.142, 95% CI: 1.214–21.783; and OR: 2.413, 95% CI: 1.484–3.923) than their fit counterparts. Overweight-obese youth were more likely to report health complaints (OR: 1.732, 95% CI: 1.019–2.945; and OR: 1.983, 95% CI: 1.083–3.629, respectively). The analysis of the combined influence of fitness and fatness revealed that fit youth had lower health complaints index than the fat-unfit and unfat-unfit groups (all P < .05). Conclusions: Low fitness and overweight-obesity increased the risk of having health complaints in youth, yet high levels of cardiorespiratory fitness might overcome deleterious effects of overweight-obesity on health complaints

Association between muscular strength and mortality in men: prospective cohort study

Objective: To examine prospectively the association between muscular strength and mortality from all causes, cardiovascular disease, and cancer in men. Design: Prospective cohort study. Setting: Aerobics center longitudinal study. Participants: 8762 men aged 20-80. Main outcome measures: All cause mortality up to 31 December 2003; muscular strength, quantified by combining one repetition maximal measures for leg and bench presses and further categorised as age specific thirds of the combined strength variable; and cardiorespiratory fitness assessed by a maximal exercise test on a treadmill. Results: During an average follow-up of 18.9 years, 503 deaths occurred (145 cardiovascular disease, 199 cancer). Age adjusted death rates per 10,000 person years across incremental thirds of muscular strength were 38.9, 25.9, and 26.6 for all causes; 12.1, 7.6, and 6.6 for cardiovascular disease; and 6.1, 4.9, and 4.2 for cancer (all P Conclusion: Muscular strength is inversely and independently associated with death from all causes and cancer in men, even after adjusting for cardiorespiratory fitness and other potential confounders

Effectiveness of a Tai-Chi Training and Detraining on Functional Capacity, Symptomatology and Psychological Outcomes in Women with Fibromyalgia

Background. The purpose was to analyze the effects of Tai-Chi training in women with fibromyalgia (FM). Methods. Thirty-two women with FM (mean age, 51.4 ± 6.8 years) attended to Tai-Chi intervention 3 sessions weekly for 28 weeks. The outcome measures were: tenderness, body composition, functional capacity and psychological outcomes (Fibromyalgia impact questionnaire (FIQ), Short Form Health Survey 36 (SF-36)). Results. Patients showed improvements on pain threshold, total number of tender points and algometer score (all P < 0.001). The intervention was effective on 6-min walk (P = 0.006), back scratch (P = 0.002), handgrip strength (P = 0.006), chair stand, chair sit & reach, 8 feet up & go and blind flamingo tests (all P < 0.001). Tai-Chi group improved the FIQ total score (P < 0.001) and six subscales: stiffness (P = 0.005), pain, fatigue, morning tiredness, anxiety, and depression (all P < 0.001). The intervention was also effective in six SF-36 subscales: bodily pain (P = 0.003), vitality (P = 0.018), physical functioning, physical role, general health, and mental health (all P < 0.001). Conclusions. A 28-week Tai-Chi intervention showed improvements on pain, functional capacity, symptomatology and psychological outcomes in female FM patients