Journal of Physical Activity & Health

BACKGROUND: We investigated the effects of adolescent sport practice on the training, performance, and health outcomes of adult amateur endurance cyclists and compared health outcomes of 3 adult groups: amateur endurance cyclists who practiced sports during adolescence, amateur endurance cyclists who did not practice sports during adolescence, and inactive individuals. METHODS: In 859 (751 men, 108 women) adult cyclists and 718 inactive subjects (307 men, 411 women), we examined adolescent sport practice, current training status, quality of life, quality of sleep, anxiety and depression and cardiometabolic risk: body mass index, physical activity, physical fitness, adherence to Mediterranean diet, and alcohol and tobacco consumption...

BACKGROUND: The purpose was to evaluate the relationship between adherence to pediatric 24-hour movement guidelines (moderate-to-vigorous physical activity (MVPA), sedentary behavior and sleep) and cardiometabolic risk factors. METHODS: The sample included 357 white and African American children aged 5-18 years. Physical activity, TV viewing and sleep duration were measured using questionnaires, and the 24-hour guidelines were defined as: ≥60 min/day of MVPA on ≥5 days/week, ≤2 h/day of TV, and sleeping 9-11 h/night (ages 5-13 y) or 8-10 h/night (ages 14-18 y)...

BACKGROUND: Increasing access and opportunity for physical activity (PA) in schools are effective; however, not everyone experiences the same effects. Prompting and reinforcement may encourage more frequent participation in recreational PA during the school day. The purpose of this study was to investigate a lunchtime PA intervention on whole-school PA participation, and if behavioral support enhanced these effects. METHODS: A modified reversal design compared an environmental and an environmental plus behavioral support intervention on lunchtime PA participation versus baseline levels in a suburban junior high school in the western US (N = 1452)...

BACKGROUND: The use of social networking sites to deliver behavioural interventions is becoming more prevalent. The purpose of this review was to systematically evaluate the published research to determine the effectiveness Facebook delivered interventions for promoting physical activity behaviour change. METHODS: A search of interventions delivered via Facebook (as the primary delivery method or part of a multi-faceted intervention) in which physical activity was the primary or secondary outcome resulted in eight studies for review...

BACKGROUND: The study purposes were to examine: (1) differences in postpartum exercise and related personal/psychological correlates in women according to pre-pregnancy weight and pregnancy gestational weight gain (GWG) status; and (2) predictors of exercise at 2-weeks, 2-months, and 6-months postpartum. METHODS: Participants (N=891) were recruited at maternity hospitalization and completed interviews to assess exercise (Leisure-Time Exercise Questionnaire) and personal correlates (demographics, anxiety/depressive symptoms) before/during pregnancy...

BACKGROUND: A limitation of accelerometer measures of moderate-to-vigorous physical activity (MVPA) is non-wear time. Non-wear time data is typically deleted prior to estimating MVPA. In this study we used an approach that used socio-demographic, health, and time data to guide the imputation of non-wear time data. We determined if imputing non-wear time data influences estimates of MVPA and the association between MVPA, body mass index, and blood pressure. METHODS: Seven days of accelerometer data were collected on 332 children aged 10-13 years...

OBJECTIVE: To examine the volume of television toy advertising targeting Canadian children, to determine if it promoted active or sedentary play, targeted males or females more frequently, and has changed over time. METHODS: Data for toy/game advertising on 27 television stations in Toronto for the month of May in 2006 and 2013 was purchased from Nielsen Media Research. A content analysis was performed on all ads to determine what age group and gender was targeted and whether physical or sedentary activity was being promoted...

BACKGROUND: To measure the level of physical activity (PA) of the users of an urban park before and after the installation of two Fitness Zones (FZ) and to assess the impact of that intervention on the users' level of PA. METHODS: The SOPARC method was applied in the urban plaza Liber Seregni in Montevideo, fourteen different areas were mapped and then re-categorized as fitness (for physical activities, including sports), green and paved zones. Observations were made in the spring (September-October) of 2011 and 2014, before and after placing two FZ...

BACKGROUND: As there is not a gold standard methodology to classify older people in relation to physical activity (PA) and sedentary behavior (SB), this paper aimed to propose a classification combining PA and SB. METHODS: Within a broader study, 433 subjects, aged over 55 years (57% females) from Madrid and Majorca, were evaluated for PA and SB by means of validated questionnaires. Physical fitness was analyzed objectively using the EXERNET test battery. Cluster analyses were used to establish behavioral patterns, combining PA and SB...

BACKGROUND: Many mothers and young children are not meeting physical activity guidelines. Parent-child co-participation in physical activity (i.e., shared physical activity) provides opportunities for social modeling and might be associated with child physical activity. There is very little information about shared physical activity using objective measures. METHODS: Participants (N=17 mother-young child dyads) completed a demographic survey, height/weight measurements, and wore a Bluetooth® accelerometer for one week...

BACKGROUND: The Global Observatory for Physical Activity-GoPA! was launched in response to the physical inactivity pandemic. The aim of this article is to present current information about surveillance, policy, and research on physical activity (PA) and health worldwide. METHODS: Information was collected for 217 countries. For 139 of these nations we identified a contact who confirmed information's accuracy and completeness. Associations were calculated among surveillance, policy and research categories...

BACKGROUND: Active travel to school (ATS) is positively associated with various health indicators. The rapid social, economic and environmental changes in China provide a unique setting to study changes and predictors of ATS over time. METHODS: Using logistic regression modeling, we analyzed data from the China Health and Nutrition Survey during 1997-2011 (N=9487, ages 6-17 years) to estimate the change over time in ATS and to identify associated factors. RESULTS: The prevalence of reported ATS among children dropped from 95...

BACKGROUND: The role of neighborhood type in active commuting to school (ACS) has not been extensively studied in children. The purpose of this study was to analyze the association between neighborhood built environment (walkability) and neighborhood socio-economic status (SES) with ACS among children. METHODS: A cross-sectional study of 310 Spanish children (aged 10-12 years; 51% male) was conducted in 2015. Walkability was defined as an index of three built environment characteristics (i...

BACKGROUND: There are many purported benefits to recess including engaging in physical activity, forming positive peer relationships, and taking a break from the classroom. Current research, however, is inconclusive regarding the presence of gender and developmental differences in physical activity that takes place during recess. The purpose of this study was to examine differences in the amount of physical activity that occurs during recess across gender and grade level. METHOD: Students from first and sixth grade classrooms participated in the study, and physical activity was measured using accelerometers to record the number of steps taken during recess...

BACKGROUND: Regular physical activity is a key way to prevent disease. However, we have a limited understanding of the socioeconomic precursors and glucoregulatory sequelae of engaging in physical activity in different domains. METHODS: We examined the associations among lifecourse socioeconomic disadvantage, meeting the physical activity guidelines with leisure-time physical activity (LTPA), occupational physical activity (OPA), or household physical activity (HPA), and prediabetes and diabetes in the MIDUS (Midlife in the U...

BACKGROUND: This pilot study investigated links between psychobiological indicators of work productivity, prolonged desk sitting, and conditions whereby office workers were able to interrupt sitting using a sit-stand or treadmill desk. METHODS: Twenty participants visited our laboratory and completed their own desk work in counterbalanced sit-only, sit-stand (Varidesk Pro Plus 48(TM)) and sit-walk conditions (Infiniti TR1200-DTS(TM)). Steady state visually evoked potentials (SSVEPs) calculated from electroencephalography recordings during a set task at the end of the workday assessed attentional resource...

BACKGROUND: patients on hemodialysis (HD) report lower physical activity (PA) levels. We analysed factors associated with low levels of PA in patients with chronic kidney disease (CKD) and compared PA on HD day and non-HD. METHODS: 79 patients wore an accelerometer and were classified according to time spent on moderate-vigorous PA (MVPA). Demographic data, BMI, comorbidities, clinical status and health related quality of life (HRQoL) were checked for association with PA...

BACKGROUND: Sit-stand desks reduce workplace sitting time among healthy office workers; however, their metabolic and behavioural impact in higher risk populations remains unknown. METHODS: Twenty-five office workers with abdominal obesity were randomized to an intervention (sit-stand workstation) or control group (seated desk) for 12 weeks. Physical activity, sedentary behaviour, and cardiometabolic risk factors were assessed before and after the intervention period in both groups...

BACKGROUND: Although the relationship between physical activity and arterial stiffness has been shown in healthy persons, it remains controversial in obese persons. METHODS: From January to September 2014, we evaluated 795 obese subjects from 25 public health centers in Seoul. We compared physical activity and brachial-ankle pulse wave velocity (baPWV) between obese subjects with metabolic syndrome (MetS) (MO) and obese subjects without MetS (NMO). RESULTS: The MO group had more men, higher body mass index (BMI), higher fasting glucose level, lower high-density lipoprotein-cholesterol level, and higher triglyceride level...

BACKGROUND: Valid instruments of parenting practices related to children's physical activity (PA) are essential to understand how parents affect preschoolers' PA. This study developed and validated a questionnaire of PA-related parenting practices for Chinese-speaking parents of preschoolers in Hong Kong. METHODS: Parents (n=394) completed a questionnaire developed using findings from formative qualitative research and literature searches. Test-retest reliability was determined on a sub-sample (n=61)...