Javier Zaragoza

Effect of weather, school transport, and perceived neighborhood characteristics on moderate to vigorous physical activity levels of adolescents from two European cities

The main goal of this study is to analyze the influence of several environmental factors (temperature, precipitation, mode and duration of school transport, perception of physical activity [PA] opportunities, and perceived neighborhood walkability) on adolescent’s daily moderate to vigorous physical activity (MVPA) levels of two European mid-sized cities. Data were collected from a sample of 829 adolescents (49.7% Spanish; 55.2% females; 14.33 ± 0.73 years). Daily meteorological data were collected for the valid days for each subject and MVPA levels were assessed with Actigraph GT3X accelerometer during seven consecutive days. Data were analyzed using multilevel modeling. Warmer weather (p < .01), lower levels of precipitation (p < .05), and use of active school transport (p < .05) were significantly associated with higher MVPA levels. Environmental neighborhood perception did not show significant influence. Further efforts should be carried out to increase PA opportunities during colder periods, rainy days, and to promote the use of active transport

Cumplimiento de las recomendaciones de práctica de actividad física en función de los cutoffs points y el género en estudiantes universitarios españoles

The main objectives of this study were: a) study the levels of physical activity (PA), according to the different cutoffs points used and gender; b) analyze the compliance of different international recommendations for physical activity by gender and cutoff points. 95 university students, 33 men and 62 women (21, 96 years) wore accelerometers to assess their levels of PA using uniaxial and triaxial cutoffs points. Results indicated higher PA levels in men in vigorous intensity, not in moderate. A high percentage of the sample fulfills the recommendations for moderate PA, nevertheless, for vigorous PA, it is low. Analyzes of PA with triaxial cutoffs points are higher than the uniaxial ones, besides a greatest compliance of PA recommendations of Physical Activity Guidelines Advisory (2008) and World Health Organization (2010) recommendations are used.

Validation of three short physical activity questionnaires with accelerometers among university students in Spain.

BACKGROUND Physical activity (PA) in university students has not been analyzed with specific questionnaires tailored to this population. Therefore, the purpose of this study was to analyze the validity of three PA questionnaires developed on other populations comparing with accelerometer values: counts and moderate to vigorous PA (MVPA) calculated with uniaxial and triaxial cut points. METHODS One hundred and forty-five university students (of whom, 92 women) from Spain wore an accelerometer GT3X or GTX+ to collect PA data of 7 full days. Three questionnaires, Physical Activity Questionnaire for Adults (PAQ-AD), Assessment of Physical Activity Questionnaire (APALQ), and the International Physical Activity Questionnaire Short Form (IPAQ-SF) were administrated jointly with the collection of accelerometer values. Finally, after the application of inclusion criteria, data from 95 participants (62 women) with a mean age of 21.96±2.33 years were analyzed to compare the instruments measures. RESULTS The correlational analysis showed that PAQ-AD (0.44-0.56) and IPAQ-SF (0.26-0.69) questionnaires were significantly related to accelerometers scores: counts, uniaxial MVPA and triaxial MVPA. Conversely, APALQ displayed no significant relations for males with accelerometers scores for MVPA created with both cut points. CONCLUSIONS PAQ-AD and IPAQ-SF questionnaires have shown adequate validity to use with Spanish university students. The use of counts to validate self-report data in order to reduce the variability display by MVPA created with different cut points is discussed. Finally, validated instruments to measure PA in university students will allow implementation of strategies for PA promotion based on reliable data.