Christine Voss

Associations between habitual school-day breakfast consumption, body mass index, physical activity and cardiorespiratory fitness in English schoolchildren

Objectives:The aim of this study was to assess associations between habitual school-day breakfast consumption, body mass index (BMI), physical activity (PA) and cardiorespiratory fitness (CRF).Methods:BMI, PA and CRF were measured in 4326 schoolchildren aged 10–16 years. Participants were classified as obese or non-obese, as having low or high PA and CRF. Habitual school-day breakfast consumption was assessed by a questionnaire and classified as never, sometimes or always.Results:Participants who sometimes ate breakfast were more likely to be obese than those who always did (P<0.05). Boys who never ate breakfast were more likely to have low PA odds ratio (OR) 2.17, 95% CI 1.48–3.18) and low CRF (OR 2.02, 95% CI 1.40–2.93) than those who always did. Compared with those who always did so, girls were more likely to have low PA if they sometimes (OR 1.39, 95% CI 1.13–1.70) or never (1.48 95% CI 1.06–2.05) ate breakfast, but the likelihood of low CRF was not different between groups.Conclusions:Habitual breakfast consumption is associated with healthy BMI and higher PA levels in schoolchildren. In boys, regularly eating breakfast is also associated with higher levels of CRF. The higher PA observed in habitual breakfast eaters may explain the higher CRF values observed. These positive health behaviours and outcomes support the encouragement of regular breakfast eating in this age group.

Ten-year secular changes in muscular fitness in English children

1.Faculty of Life Sciences, London Metropolitan University, London, UK2.Department of Biological Sciences, University of Essex, Colchester, UK3.Centre for Research in Human Development, Concordia University, Montreal, QC, CanadaCorrespondenceDD Cohen, Faculty of Life Sciences, London Metro-politan University, London, UK.Tel: +44 207 133 4687 |Fax: +44 0207 133 4149 |Email: d.cohen@londonmet.ac.ukReceived8 October 2010; revised 25 February 2011;accepted 8 April 2011.DOI:10.1111/j.1651-2227.2011.02318.x

Handgrip strength in English schoolchildren

Aims:  The aims of this study were to evaluate patterns of handgrip (HG) strength in relation to gender and age in English schoolchildren and to compare this with existing data and produce reference data for this population.

Vertical jumping and leg power normative data for English school children aged 10-15 years.

Abstract Although vertical jumping is often incorporated into physical activity tests for both adults and children, normative data for children and adolescents are lacking in the literature. The objectives of this study were to provide normative data of jump height and predicted peak leg power for males and females aged 10.0–15.9 years. Altogether, 1845 children from 12 state primary and secondary schools in the East of England participated in the study. Each child performed two countermovement jumps, and jump height was calculated using a NewTest jump mat. The highest jump was used for analysis and in the calculation of predicted peak power. Jump height and predicted peak leg power were significantly higher for males than females from the age of 11 years. Jump height and peak power increased significantly year on year for males. For females, jump height and predicted peak leg power reached a plateau after age 12 and 13 years respectively. This study provides normative data that can be used as a tool to classify jumping performance in children aged 10–15 years.

Ten year secular declines in the cardiorespiratory fitness of affluent English children are largely independent of changes in body mass index

Secular changes in body mass index (BMI) and cardiorespiratory fitness (20 m shuttle-run test performance) were assessed in 10-year-old children from an affluent area of England in 1998 (n = 303; 158 boys and 145 girls) and 2008 (n = 315; 158 boys and 157 girls). Girls’ BMI did not change over the 10 year period. There was a significant increase in boys’ BMI (p = 0.02). Cardiorespiratory fitness declined significantly (p<0.001) in both boys (7%) and girls (9%). This study shows a large and worrying decline in cardiorespiratory fitness in children from an affluent area of England.

Physical Activity Questionnaire for children and adolescents: English norms and cut-off points

The Physical Activity Questionnaire for Children and Adolescents (PAQ‐C/‐A) provides general estimates of physical activity levels. Following recent expert recommendations for using the PAQ for population surveillance, the aim of this paper was twofold: first, to describe normative PAQ data for English youth; and second, to determine a criterion‐referenced PAQ‐score cut‐off point.

Temporal relationships between screen-time and physical activity with cardiorespiratory fitness in English schoolchildren: a 2-year longitudinal study.

OBJECTIVE To determine the temporal relationships screen-time and physical activity have with cardiorespiratory fitness. METHOD Measures were made over two years (2008-2010) in 1500 participants aged 11.5 (SD 0.5) years at baseline. RESULTS Tracking coefficients were low-to-moderate for all measures. At follow-up, 25% of participants moved from having low (<2h) to high (≥ 2 h) daily screen-time and 6% became unfit according to FITNESSGRAM standards. Baseline screen-time was the strongest univariate predictor of becoming unfit. Multivariate analysis controlling for decimal age, BMI and deprivation confirmed baseline screen-time as the strongest independent predictor of becoming unfit over the 2-year study period (OR 2.4; 95%CI:1.4-4.0). Current (OR 2.3; 95%CI:1.3-4.0) and previous (OR 1.7; 95%CI:1.0-2.9) physical activity levels also independently predicted becoming unfit. CONCLUSION There is currently no guidance for limiting screen-time in UK children. These longitudinal data add to the cross-sectional evidence of lower physical activity and fitness in children reporting ≥ 2 h daily screen-time. More importantly, these data demonstrate that high screen-time during childhood is an independent predictor of lower cardiorespiratory fitness in adolescence.

Centile curves and normative values for the twenty metre shuttle-run test in English schoolchildren

Abstract The aim of this study was to provide normative data for performance on the 20 m shuttle-run test of cardiorespiratory fitness in English schoolchildren. A total of 7366 10–16 year olds completed the 20 m shuttle-run test. We expressed performance as the number of shuttles completed, test score (shuttles and levels) and estimated peak oxygen consumption ([Vdot]O2peak). We calculated descriptive statistics for each age-sex group to construct percentile curves and tables. To assess the cardiorespiratory fitness of our sample, we calculated the number of participants who fell below proposed cut-offs for low cardiorespiratory fitness based on either completed shuttles or [Vdot]O2peak. These cut-offs did not agree in terms of frequency of classification. The classification based on estimated [Vdot]O2peak suggested low fitness was more prevalent in males and that the incidence of low fitness increased with age in both sexes. These are the first normative data for shuttle-run performance in English youth and can now be used to interpret data from this cardiorespiratory fitness test. The two cut-offs used for low fitness did not agree and future research should establish a cut-off for test performance which can predict present or future ill-health

School-travel by public transit: rethinking active transportation

Background Walking and cycling to school is a source of physical activity (PA). Little is known about public transit use for travel to school and whether it is a physically active alternative to car use for those who live too far to walk. Purpose To describe school-trip characteristics, including PA, across travel modes and to assess the association between PA with walk distance. Methods High school students (13.3 ± 0.7 years, 37% female) from Downtown Vancouver wore accelerometers (GT3X +) and global positioning systems (GPS) (QStarz BT-Q1000XT) for 7 days in October 2012. We included students with valid school-trip data (n = 100 trips made by n = 42 students). We manually identified school-trips and mode from GPS and calculated trip duration, distance, speed, and trip-based moderate-to-vigorous PA (MVPA; min). We assessed between-mode differences and associations using multilevel regression analyses (spring 2014). Results Students accrued 9.1 min (± 5.1) of trip-based MVPA, which was no different between walk and transit trips (p = 0.961). Walking portions of transit trips were similar to walking trips in terms of distance (p = 0.265) and duration (p = 0.493). Walk distance was associated with MVPA in a dose–response manner. Conclusions Public transit use can contribute meaningfully toward daily PA. Thus, school policies that promote active school-travel should consider including public transit.

Cardiovascular control, autonomic function, and elite endurance performance in spinal cord injury

We aimed to determine the relationship between level of injury, completeness of injury, resting as well as exercise hemodynamics, and endurance performance in athletes with spinal cord injury (SCI). Twenty‐three elite male paracycling athletes (C3‐T8) were assessed for neurological level/completeness of injury, autonomic completeness of injury, resting cardiovascular function, and time to complete a 17.3‐km World Championship time‐trial test. A subset were also fitted with heart rate (HR) monitors and their cycles were fitted with a global positioning systems device (n = 15). Thoracic SCI exhibited higher seated systolic blood pressure along with superior time‐trial performance compared with cervical SCI (all P < 0.01). When further stratified by autonomic completeness of injury, the four athletes with cervical autonomic incomplete SCI exhibited a faster time‐trial time and a higher average speed compared with cervical autonomic complete SCI (all P < 0.042). Maximum and average HR also tended to be higher in cervical autonomic incomplete vs autonomic complete. There were no differences in time‐trial time, HR, or speed between thoracic autonomic complete vs incomplete SCI. In conclusion, autonomic completeness of injury and the consequent ability of the cardiovascular system to respond to exercise appear to be a critical determinant of endurance performance in elite athletes with cervical SCI.