Jorge Mota

Prevalence of the Portuguese Population Attaining Sufficient Physical Activity

PURPOSE Physical activity has many health benefits, and to implement strategies, mainly in those groups with insufficient levels of practice, it is important to evaluate physical activity. The main purpose of this study was to describe the prevalence of physical activity in the Portuguese population aged 10 yr and older using accelerometry. METHODS The accelerometers were worn for four consecutive days, and a valid record was defined as at least 3 d with 10 h of wear time, including one weekend day. Considering these conditions, 4696 participants were included. RESULTS According to the recommendations of 60 min·d(-1) of physical activity, 36% of participants age 10-11 yr (boys = 51.6%, girls = 22.5%) and 4% age 16-17 yr (boys = 7.9%, girls = 1.2%) were considered sufficiently active. In adulthood, ∼70% of participants age 18-64 yr (men = 76.6%, women = 65.2%) and 35% age older than 64 yr (men = 46%, women = 29%) reached the recommendation of 30 min·d(-1) of physical activity, when counting every minute of moderate or greater intensity. Considering bouts of 10 min or more of moderate or greater intensity in participants older than 17 yr, the prevalence was 4%-6% at 18-39 yr, 7%-9% at 40-64 yr, and ∼3% in persons age 65 yr or older. CONCLUSIONS The design and implementation of strategies to promote physical activity for health among children and adolescents and older adults, particularly girls/women, should be encouraged.

Leisure-time physical activity behavior: Structured and unstructured choices according to sex, age, and level of physical activity

The main goals of this cross-sectional survey were (a) to describe the associations between sex, age, and physical activity behavior and (b) to describe the age and sex-related associations with the choice of structured (formal) and unstructured (nonformal) physical activity programs. At baseline, data were selected randomly from 1,013 students, from the 7th to the 12th grades. A response rate of 73% (n = 739) was obtained. Accordingly, the sample of this study consisted of 594 adolescents (304 females and 290 males) with mean age of 15.9 years (range 13-20). Physical activity was assessed by means of a questionnaire. A questionnaire about leisure activities was applied to the sample to define the nominal variable “nature of physical activity.” The data showed that significantly more girls than boys (p ≤ .001) belonged to the sedentary group (80.7% girls) and low activity group (64.5% girls). Boys more frequently belonged to the more active groups (92.1%; p ≥ .001). The older participants were more engaged in formal physical activities, whereas the younger mostly chose informal ones whatever their level of physical activity. There were more significant differences in girls’ physical activity groups (X2 = 20.663, p≤ .001) than in boys’ (X2 = 7.662, p≤ .05). Furthermore, active girls chose more structured physical activities than their sedentary counterparts (18.8% vs. 83.3%). However, boys preferred unstructured activities regardless of physical activity group (83.7% vs. 58.5%; p ≤ .05). It can be concluded that as age increased, organized sports activities became a relatively more important component of total weekly activity for both male and female participants.

Aptidão física relacionada à saúde de idosos: influência da hidroginástica

RESUMENAptitud fisica relacionada con la salud de los anosos: in-fluencia de la hidrogimnasiaFundamentos y objetivos: La practica del ejercicio fisi-co, ademas de combatir el sedentarismo, contribuye demanera significativa para el mantenimiento de la aptitudfisica. El objetivo de este estudio fue el verificar el efectode la practica de la hidrogimnasia sobre la aptitud fisicadel anoso asociada a la salud. Metodologia: Fue realiza-do un ensayo controlado en 74 mujeres anosas, sin activi-dad fisica regular. Un grupo de 37 mujeres recibio dos cla-ses semanales de hidrogimnasia durante 3 meses y otras37 mujeres sirvieron como control. La aptitud fisica eva-luada a traves de la bateria de tests de Rikli & Jones (1999),con evaluaciones de fuerza y resistencia de miembros infe-riores (levantar y sentar la cadera), fuerza y resistencia demiembros superiores (flexion del antebrazo), flexion demiembros inferiores (sentado, alcanzar los miembros infe-riores con las manos), mobilidad fisica – velocidad, agili-dad y equilibrio (levanta, camina 2,44 m y vuelta a sentar-se), flexibilidad de los miembros superiores (alcanzar atrasde las costas con las manos) e resistencia aerobica (cami-nar 6 minutos). La bateria de tests fue aplicada antes delinicio de las clases y al final del programa despues de los3 meses. Los grupos fueron semejantes en relacion a edad,

Physical activity and school recess time: differences between the sexes and the relationship between children's playground physical activity and habitual physical activity.

The aims of this study were: (1) to observe participation in moderate-to-vigorous physical activity (MVPA) during school recess periods; (2) to determine the relative importance of physical activity during recesses to overall daily physical activity; and (3) to examine differences in physical activity between the sexes during unstructured recess periods. The participants were 22 school children (10 boys, 12 girls) aged 8 – 10 years (mean  =  8.9, s  =  0.7) in the third and fourth grades. Daily totals for the physical activity variables were calculated by summing the values for each hour of 14 h of physical activity measurements (08:00 to 22:00 h). Recess times (minutes) were as follows: morning 10:30 to 11:00 h and afternoon 15:30 to 16:00 h. We did not differences between boys and girls in daily total accelerometer counts or the overall time spent in MVPA. However, girls were significantly (P  < 0.05) more involved (38%) in MVPA during recess time than boys (31%). Participation in MVPA during recess contributes significantly more (P  < 0.05) for girls (19%) than boys (15%) to the total amount of physical activity suggested by international health-related physical activity guidelines, while the percentage of time engaged in MVPA during recess time at school accounts for a small amount of the daily MVPA (6% for boys and 8% for girls). The results of this study suggest that school recess time is an important setting to promote MVPA and contributes to daily physical activity in young children, especially in girls.

Relationships between physical activity, obesity and meal frequency in adolescents.

Objective: The purpose of this study was to assess the associations and impact of increased meal frequency, physical activity and ‘skipping’ breakfast on obesity levels in a sample of urban adolescents, aged 13–17 years old, from Porto, Portugal. Methods: Overweight and obesity were defined according to age- and sex-specific BMI cut-points. Daily meal frequency was assessed by questionnaire. Self-reported physical activity was recalled. Results: The proportion of overweight/obese girls (p ≤ 0.05) and boys (p ≤ 0.001) that consumed fewer than three meals was significantly higher than those reported from normal-weight counterparts. While no statistically significant differences were reported in girls, obese boys skipped breakfast significantly more (13% vs 5.6%; p ≤ 0.05) than normal-weight counterparts did. Normal-weight boys but not girls were significantly more active (p ≤ 0.01) than obese peers. An additional meal in boys (OR: 2.75; p ≤ 0.05) and girls (OR: 1.97; p ≤ 0.05) reduced the risk of being overweight/obese. Regardless of gender, breakfast skipping is not seen as a predictor of being overweight/obese. However, boys (OR: 2.10; p < 0.003), but not girls, who were moderately active were more likely to be of normal weight. Conclusion: The data indicate that increased meal frequency may have a beneficial effect on a reduced BMI. Physical activity and breakfast skipping may be candidate targets for prevention programmes aimed at reducing overweight/obesity among adolescents.

Prevalence of overweight and obesity among Portuguese youth: A study in a representative sample of 10–18-year-old children and adolescents

PURPOSE The aim of this research was to report the prevalence of overweight and obesity in a representative sample of Portuguese youth. METHODS This was a school-based study performed in Portugal. A total of 22 048 children and adolescents aged 10-18 years were included in the study. The World Health Organization (WHO) and the International Obesity Task Force (IOTF) cut-offs were used to categorise overweight and obese participants. RESULTS Using IOTF cut-offs the prevalence of overweight and obesity was 17.0 and 4.6% in girls, and 17.7 and 5.8% in boys, respectively (p < 0.001 for overweight and p > 0.05 for obesity), whereas WHO cut-offs resulted in overweight and obesity prevalence scores of 23.1 and 9.6% in girls, and 20.4 and 10.3% in boys, respectively (p < 0.001 for overweight and p >0.05 for obesity). With IOTF cut-offs, a lower prevalence of obesity and overweight was observed at higher ages, in both genders. With the WHO cut-offs, a lower prevalence of obesity and overweight was observed at higher ages, in boys. In girls, the prevalence of overweight and obesity increases from 10 to 12 years of age and decreases from the age of 13 to 18 years. CONCLUSION The prevalence for overweight/obesity among Portuguese children and adolescents vary according to the cut-off points used and are also of concern requiring strategies to promote healthy weight gain among children and adolescents.

Compliance with physical activity guidelines in preschool children.

Abstract The aims of this study were (1) to document differences in physical activity (both total and moderate-to-vigorous physical activity) between the sexes on weekdays and weekend days in preschoolers, and (2) to assess compliance with recommendations for total physical activity (National Association for Sport and Physical Education guidelines) and moderate-to-vigorous physical activity on weekdays and weekend days in the same children. The sample comprised 245 preschoolers (105 girls, 140 boys) aged 3.5–6.0 years old. Physical activity was assessed using an Actigraph accelerometer. Data were analysed with specific software and activity was measured as counts per minute. An independent t-test and general linear model with repeated-measures were used to assess differences between the sexes and differences between days (weekdays and weekend days) within each sex, respectively. A chi-square test was used to determine differences between the sexes in the proportion of children complying with physical activity guidelines. In both sexes, sedentary behaviour accounted for the majority of the time on weekdays and weekend days (weekdays: 83%; weekend days: 83.9%). Boys engaged in significantly more (P < 0.05) total physical activity and moderate-to-vigorous physical activity than girls (weekdays: boys 155.4 min vs. girls 128.22 min; weekend days: boys 111.2 min vs. girls 90.5 min). On average, preschool children engaged in significantly more (P < 0.05) total physical activity and moderate-to-vigorous physical activity on weekdays than weekend days. Altogether, 74.3% and 93.5% of the children met the National Association for Sport and Physical Education guidelines and moderate-to-vigorous physical activity recommendations respectively on weekdays, whereas compliance with both recommendations was substantially less in both sexes on weekend days. The results of this study suggest that despite 83% of time during the day being spent in sedentary behaviour, most preschool children met the daily physical activity and moderate-to-vigorous physical activity recommendations on weekdays. Future research should consider the two constructs of physical activity and sedentary behaviour independently, as they might not necessarily counteract each other.

Sedentary behavior and physical activity are independently related to functional fitness in older adults.

The last decades of life have been traditionally viewed as a time of inevitable disease and frailty. Sedentary living and physical activity may influence capacity to perform activities that are needed to maintain physical independence in daily living. A total of 117 males and 195 females, aged 65-103years, were assessed for physical activity and sedentary time with accelerometers and for functional fitness with the Senior Fitness Test battery. Based on the individual scores for each fitness item, a Z-score was created. Associations between functional fitness with sedentary time and moderate-to-vigorous physical activity (MVPA) were analyzed. A negative association was found between the composite Z-score for functional fitness and the sedentary time, even adjusting for MVPA and other confounders. On the other hand, MVPA was positively associated with the composite Z-score for functional fitness, independently of the sedentary time. In conclusion elderly who spend more time in physical activity or less time in sedentary behaviors exhibit improved functional fitness and other confounders. The results reinforce the importance of promoting both the reduction of sedentary behaviors and the increase of MVPA in this age group, as it may interfere at older ages in order to preserve functional fitness and performance of daily functioning tasks.

Active versus passive transportation to school - differences in screen time, socio-economic position and perceived environmental characteristics in adolescent girls

Objective: The aims of this study were (1) to assess the relationships between transport to and from school (active vs. passive), sedentary behaviours, measures of socio-economic position and perceived environmental variables, and (2) to determine which, if any, variables were predictors of active transportation. Methods: The sample comprised 705 girls with mean age of 14.7 (SD = 1.6) years old. Questionnaires were used to describe travel mode to school and to estimate weekly television and computer use (screen time). Girls were assigned to active transportation (AT) or passive transportation (PT) groups depending on whether they walked or bicycled (AT) to and from school or travelled by car or bus (PT). Screen time was determined by the number of hours they reported watching television and using computers in the week preceding the examination, including weekends. Socio-economic position was established by parental occupation and educational level. A questionnaire assessed Perceived Neighbourhood Environments. Results: No statistically significant differences were seen for screen time between travel groups. Occupational status of both mother (r = −0.17) and father (r = −0.15) and fathers educational level (r = −0.10) were significantly and negatively associated with AT, while street connectivity (r = 0.10) was positively and significantly associated with AT. Logistic regression analysis showed that the likelihood of active commuting decreased by around 50% with increasing fathers occupation (odds ratio (OR) = 0.51; p ≤ 0.05) and fathers education (OR = 0.52; p ≤ 0.05) from low to middle socio-economic position groups. Further, the data showed that girls who agreed that ‘there are many four-way intersections in my neighbourhood’ were more likely to be active (OR = 1.63; p ≤ 0.05). Conclusion: The data of this study showed that lower socio-economic position is associated with active commuting to school and that street connectivity is a predictor of active transportation in adolescent girls.

Adolescent's Physical Activity: Association with Socio‐Economic Status and Parental Participation Among a Portuguese Sample

ABSTRACT Although the health effects of physical activity during adolescence have been studied less frequently, physical activity seems to have a positive influence on some health concerns in adolescence. Moreover, few studies have reported consistently the relationship between parents’ socio‐economic status (SES) and physical activity habits and adolescents’ activities. Significant physical activity gender differences were reported (p ≤ 0.001). No evidence was found regarding the influence of socio‐economic status on adolescents’ self‐reported physical activity. Mothers (r= 0.23; p ≤ 0.0001) and fathers (r= 0.16; p ≤ 0.05) seem to have a significant influence on adolescents’ physical activity.