Journal of Physical Activity & Health

BACKGROUND: Neutrophil gelatinase-associated lipocalin (NGAL) is a glycoprotein released during early phases of a postischemic kidney in response to kidney injury, inflammation, and oxidative stress. It can be detected in urine after 2 hours of an ischemic event. The aim was to measure and to correlate the level of urine NGAL (uNGAL) with urea, creatinine, and glomerular filtration rate (GFR) of endurance cycling athletes (n = 19) and physically active individuals (control, n = 17)...

BACKGROUND: The investigation sought to (1) establish the extent of injuries, (2) determine the odds of sustaining an injury, and (3) calculate the injury incidence rate in nonprofessional salsa dance. METHODS: Salsa dancers completed an anonymous web-based survey containing 11 demographic background and 10 (1 y retrospective) injury history questions. RESULTS: The response rate was 77%. The final sample of respondents included 303 women and 147 men, of which 22% and 14%, respectively, sustained ≥1 injury during salsa dance in the past year...

BACKGROUND: School physical education (PE) is one of the most effective public health tools to increase youth physical activity, yet compliance with PE mandates is low. In an effort to ensure adherence to state PE law, a 2013 lawsuit was filed against 37 California school districts that were found to be noncompliant. This study sought to assess school personnel's perceptions of the lawsuit's impact on PE mandate compliance, understand barriers and facilitators to lawsuit compliance, and identify potential unintended consequences of the lawsuit...

BACKGROUND: The Physical Activity Research Center developed a research agenda that addresses youth physical activity (PA) and healthy weight, and aligns with the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation's Culture of Health. This paper summarizes prioritized research studies with a focus on youth at higher risk for inactive lifestyles and childhood obesity in urban and rural communities. METHODS: Systematic literature reviews, a survey, and discussions with practitioners and researchers provided guidance on research questions to build evidence and inform effective strategies to promote healthy weight and PA in youth across race, cultural, and economic groups...

BACKGROUND: Open streets initiatives provide an opportunity to engage in physical activity (PA) freely by temporarily closing streets to motorized traffic. METHODS: Route counting estimation and event intercept surveys (n = 682) were conducted across 4 CycloBia events in Brownsville, TX, in 2015 to determine sociodemographics, PA engagement at the event, event awareness, and past CycloBia attendance. RESULTS: Cycling was the most commonly observed activity along the route (73...

BACKGROUND: Protected natural areas provide a promising opportunity for improving healthy life habits through engagement in a variety of physical activities (PAs). As visitors to protected natural areas do not behave as a homogenous group, it is necessary to better understand the association between their characteristics and the level of activities engaged in. Using Alt Pirineu Natural Park (Spain) as a case study, the purpose of this work is to examine the influence of visitors' sociodemographic and trip characteristics on the likelihood of the visitors engaging in distinct PA intensities...

BACKGROUND: Intergenerational transmission, which refers to the similarity between parent and their children, is a possible explanation of adolescent physical activity (PA). However, only a few existing studies explore the relationship of parent-adolescent PA in East Asian countries. Therefore, this study aimed to investigate the association of parent-adolescent PA using a nationally representative data in Korea with a large sample size. METHODS: Data were collected from the Korean National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey conducted from 2010 to 2014...

BACKGROUND: Residents of more socioeconomically disadvantaged neighborhoods are more likely to report poorer physical function, although the reasons for this remain unknown. It is possible that neighborhood-level perceptions of safety from crime contribute to this relationship through its association with walking for recreation. METHODS: Data were obtained from the fourth wave (collected in 2013) of the HABITAT (How Areas in Brisbane Influence HealTh and AcTivity) multilevel longitudinal study of middle- to older-aged adults (46-74 y) residing in 200 neighborhoods in Brisbane, Australia...

BACKGROUND: Chronic kidney disease is common and brings significant health burden. The purpose of this study was to investigate the relationship between physical activity and kidney function. METHODS: This was a cross-sectional study set in the Nanjing Community Cardiovascular Risk Survey, using random cluster sampling. Questionnaires were completed, wherever possible, through face-to-face interviews. Data on age, sex, body mass index, weekly physical activity, and kidney function were collected...

BACKGROUND: Nerve growth factor (NGF) and brain-derived neural factor (BDNF) are important for brain function and detectable in the blood. This study explored the longitudinal associations of physical activity and body fat with serum NGF and BDNF in children. METHODS: Two waves of measurements were performed 2 years apart in 8- to 11-year-old children, including physical activity using the ActiGraph model 7164, body composition by dual-energy X-ray absorptiometry, and serum NGF and BDNF determined by multiplex immunoassay...

BACKGROUND: Public parks are an important resource for the promotion of physical activity (PA). This is the first study in Colombia and the fourth in Latin America to describe the characteristics of park users and their levels of PA using objective measures. METHODS: A systematic observation assessed sex, age, and the level of PA of users of 10 parks in an intermediate-size city in Colombia, classified in low (5 parks) and high (5 parks) socioeconomic status (SES)...

BACKGROUND: This study evaluated the effect of increased physical activity on annual medical expenditures among people with disability, as well as people without disability. METHODS: We performed a cross-sectional study with linked national survey data from 2004 to 2013 Medical Expenditure Panel Survey and from 2002 to 2012 National Health Interview Study. We investigated the effect of physical activity on the annual medical expenditures in 2013 US dollars, among people with and without disability who were 18- to 64-year-old adults...

BACKGROUND: Water-based resistance training (WRT) has been indicated to promote strength gains in elderly population. However, no study has compared different training strategies to identify the most efficient one. The aim of this study was to compare the effects of 3 WRT strategies on the strength and functional capacity of older women. METHODS: In total, 36 women were randomly allocated to training groups: simple set of 30 seconds [1 × 30s; 66.41 (1.36) y; n = 12], multiple sets of 10 seconds [3 × 10s; 66...

Physical activity can reduce the risk of at least 20 chronic diseases and conditions and provide effective treatment for many of these conditions. Yet, physical activity levels of Americans remain low, with only small improvements over 20 years. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) considered what would accelerate progress and, as a result, developed Active People, Healthy NationSM , an aspirational initiative to improve physical activity in 2.5 million high school youth and 25 million adults, doubling the 10-year improvement targets of Healthy People 2020...

BACKGROUND: Concurrent use of accelerometers and global positioning system (GPS) data can be used to quantify physical activity (PA) occurring on trails. This study examined associations of trail use with PA and sedentary behavior (SB) and quantified on trail PA using a combination of accelerometer and GPS data. METHODS: Adults (N = 142) wore accelerometer and GPS units for 1-4 days. Trail use was defined as a minimum of 2 consecutive minutes occurring on a trail, based on GPS data...

BACKGROUND: The aim of the study was to provide an isotemporal substitution model to predict how changes in physical behavior may affect the cardiovascular parameters (CVPs) of older adults. METHODS: Participants wore a thigh-mounted accelerometer for 7 days. Phenotype of the carotid, brachial, and popliteal artery was conducted using ultrasound. Isotemporal substitution was used to simulate the degree to which replacing 1 hour of physical behavior with another would affect CVP...

BACKGROUND: The National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey physical activity questionnaire (PAQ) is used to estimate activity energy expenditure (AEE) and moderate to vigorous physical activity (MVPA). Bias and variance in estimates of AEE and MVPA from the PAQ have not been described, nor the impact of measurement error when utilizing the PAQ to predict biomarkers and categorize individuals. METHODS: The PAQ was administered to 385 adults to estimate AEE (AEE:PAQ) and MVPA (MVPA:PAQ), while simultaneously measuring AEE with doubly labeled water (DLW; AEE:DLW) and MVPA with an accelerometer (MVPA:A)...

BACKGROUND: Physically active learning that combines physical activity with core curriculum areas is emerging in school-based health interventions. This study investigates the effectiveness of learning an important numeracy skill of times tables (TT) while concurrently engaging in aerobic activity compared with a seated classroom approach. METHODS: Grade-4 primary school students were randomly allocated to physical activity (P) or classroom (C) groups and received the alternate condition in the following term...

BACKGROUND: Social relationships are among the strongest predictors of health. The extent to which one is embedded in social networks, also referred to as social integration, has been associated with physical activity in short-term longitudinal and cross-sectional studies. How changes in social integration impact physical activity over longer periods of time is not well understood. METHODS: Longitudinal data from 5 waves of the Americans' Changing Lives study were used (wave 1: n = 3617; wave 5: n = 1427)...

BACKGROUND: Extensive research demonstrates the benefits of fitness on children's health and academic performance. Although decreases in health-related fitness may increase school absenteeism, multiple years of prospective, child-level data are needed to examine whether fitness changes predict subsequent chronic absenteeism status. METHODS: Six cohorts of New York City public school students were followed from grades 5-8 (2006/2007-2012/2013; N = 349,381). A longitudinal 3-level logistic generalized linear mixed model with random intercepts was used to test the association of individual children's changes in fitness and 1-year lagged chronic absenteeism...