Javier Zaragoza Casterad

A cross-cultural study of adolescents' physical activity levels in France and Spain

Abstract The goals of this study were (1) to describe and compare levels of physical activity (PA), assessed by accelerometry, of adolescents in two close Spanish and French cities according to gender and period of the week and (2) to assess, with reference to country and gender, the extent to which international PA guidelines were fulfilled. The PA of 401 adolescents (53.37% females) from France and Spain (55.72% French) aged 14.45±0.67 years was assessed with GT3X accelerometers for seven consecutive days to evaluate their habitual levels of moderate to vigorous physical activity (MVPA). Data collection took place from September to December 2010 in six public and state schools in France and Spain. There were significant differences in MVPA in terms of country, gender and period of the week. Spanish adolescents were more active than French adolescents, boys were more active than girls and MVPA was higher on weekdays than at weekends. French girls showed the lowest level of PA. Only 35.9% of the whole sample met the guidelines for PA in both countries. Governments of relevant countries, especially France, should adopt PA promotion policies targeted at adolescents in order to enhance their compliance with PA guidelines.

Validation of a short physical activity recall questionnaire completed by Spanish adolescents

Abstract Self-report recall questionnaires are commonly used to measure physical activity in children and adolescents. However, they have been shown to have low to moderate validity, mainly due to inaccuracies in recall activity. The purpose of the present study was to determine the reliability and validity of an adapted version of the Assessment of Physical Activity Levels Questionnaire (APALQ) among a sample of Spanish adolescents. Test–retest reliability of the APALQ was assessed using a sample of 150 adolescents (72 males, 78 females), aged 13.6±1.1 years, who answered the APALQ twice within 7 days. Criterion validity was assessed using a sample of 77 adolescents (50 males, 27 females), aged 13.6±1.1 years, by comparing the APALQ against the Computer Science and Application (CSA) monitor. All participants were volunteers recruited from local schools in the Aragon region of Spain. Test–retest reliability for all items was high with intra-class coefficients of 0.77 for boys and 0.74 for girls. The APALQ demonstrated modest criterion validity with Pearson correlation coefficients (r) ranging from 0.53 between Physical Activity Index (PAI) and CSA minutes of moderate and vigorous physical activity, and 0.47 between PAI and CSA steps per day. When the data were analysed by gender, girls had higher correlations than boys (P < 0.01). The Spanish APALQ seems to be a valid and reliable short self-report physical activity questionnaire.

Relación entre las dimensiones de la condición física saludable y el gasto energético derivado de lapráctica de actividad física en tiempo libre

Resumen Introduccion Diferentes estudios sobre condicion fisica, senalan, a esta como un factor relevante para reducir el riesgo de mortalidad y favorecer la salud. Su mejora, ademas de estar influenciada por factores geneticos, puede ser consecuencia de la realizacion de actividad fisica. Metodo El estudio se realizo en 447 sujetos de edades comprendidas entre 20 y 64 anos. Para registrar el gasto energetico en tiempo libre hemos utilizado un cuestionario validado en poblacion espanola, Minnesota Leisure Time Physical Activity Questionnaire, (MLTPAQ). Para medir la condicion fisica utilizamos la bateria Eurofit para adultos, (Consejo de Europa, 1995). Resultados y discusion: No existen diferencias significativas en el gasto energetico en tiempo libre entre hombres (210,0 ± 399,51 kcal-dia’1) y mujeres (235,6 ± 258,71 kcal-dia ’). La involucion que sufren los resultados de las diferentes pruebas de condicion fisica con la edad (de 20 a 64 anos), es mayor en el caso del hombre en todas las pruebas excepto en la prueba de abdominales. El hombre presenta mejores resultados en todas las pruebas de condicion fisica a excepcion de la prueba de flexibilidad. Conclusiones Encontramos una relacion significativa, debil y positiva entre el gasto energetico en tiempo libre y los diferentes resultados obtenidos en las diferentes pruebas de condicion fisica.