The aim of this study was to examine the physical activity during the break-times of primary school children in rural areas, and its relationship with age and sex. 380 children (192 boys and 188 girls; age=9.5±1.1 years) participated in the study. Break-time physical activity in the morning and lunch breaks was measured by accelerometry. An ANOVA was used to determine differences by sex in each age group, together with the respective confidence intervals and effect sizes. The results showed that 8-year-olds performed more physical exercise than 11-year-olds during the two breaks (p=0.005). For the boys, the 8-year-olds did more physical activity than the 10-year-olds, while, for the girls, those aged 8 and 9 years did more PA than girls aged 11 years (p<0.001). The only difference between boys and girls was for the 10-year-olds (p=0.043), with the boys doing more physical activity. Teachers might find it useful to take these findings into account to design physical activity programmes aimed at increasing the playground physical activity of older children.
Rising life expectancy of the populations living in highly developed countries has been observed over recent decades. The number of people worldwide above the age of 60 is increasing at an unprecedented pace. The purpose of the study was to determine the significance of physical activity of older people in the process of successful ageing. Research methods. This article is a review of Polish and foreign studies considering the relationship between physical activity and successful ageing. The elaboration refers to the results of surveys published in the reviewed scientific journals including empirical studies mainly based on diagnostic survey. Study results. A thorough analysis identified three parts: the concept of successful ageing, the relationship between physical activity and health, and physical activity of older persons in Poland compared to their counterparts abroad. A review of the literature and documents has revealed that one of the main factors affecting successful ageing is physical activity. Conclusions. Physical activity and successful ageing are different in the assessed communities. Thus, it is necessary to monitor physical activity of older people in the context of successful ageing – in order to provide conducive circumstances to activating this social group and thus reducing social security cost.
The aim of this study was to determine the extent of asymmetry of spinal segment mobility in canoeists. Moreover, the relationship between this parameter and racing speed was analyzed. The study included 18 canoeists with a mean age of 16.4 years. Mobility of cervical, thoracic and lumbar spine, in sagittal, coronal and transverse planes, was measured with the aid of a tensometric electrogoniometer. The racing speed was based on results achieved during the qualifying competition for the Polish national team. Spinal mobility was measured within two days after the competition. Significant associations were observed between average racing speed and the asymmetry coefficients of the cervical (r=-0.52; p=0.03) and lumbar spinal flexure in the coronal plane (r=0.57; p=0.01). The extent of the asymmetry of the cervical spine flexure in the coronal plane should possibly be reduced, because such asymmetry exerts a negative effect on racing speed. In contrast, canoeist’s training should be oriented towards increasing the asymmetry of the lumbar spine flexure in the coronal plane. However, one should keep in mind that such an approach, although favorable in terms of race performance, could negatively affect the canoeist’s health.
The purpose of this article is to show the need for recreation in the context of foreign leisure trips of administrative staff of selected universities in zachodniopomorskie (West Pomeranian) voivodship. It is an essential element of health behavior of each individual. This work shows the awareness of people in relation to the organization of the rest – taking into account both the destination, means of transport, as well as hotel animations. With regard to the aspect of health, attention should be paid to proper preparation for the trip.
The purpose of this study was to evaluate differences in heart rate recovery (HRr) in trained and untrained adults, while assessing the role of physiological and emotional factors. Eighteen untrained and 21 trained participants completed a maximal exercise test and a 20-min treadmill exercise at 55–70% heart rate reserve, and emotional state was assessed prior to exercise. Multiple regression was used to assess relationships between heart rate recovery and physiological and emotional assessments. The trained group had a higher relative maximal oxygen consumption (p < 0.001), lower resting heart rate (p < 0.001), and faster short- and long-term heart rate recovery (p < 0.05) than the untrained group. Resting heart rate was the most predictive measure with HRr for the trained group (R = 0.551–0.818), whereas resting heart rate, maximal heart rate, and fitness were predictors of recovery in the untrained group (R = 0.764–0.977). The results show the predominant parasympathetic influence on HRr in the trained group, but indicates influence of fitness and exercise intensity on recovery in the untrained group. Thus, fitness appears to influence HRr in those only with low fitness. This notion may help influence the behavior of untrained individuals to improve fitness to reduce risk of mortality and morbidity.
Introduction: General quality of life, health, and sensation of pain caused by cancer are connected with the physical, mental and social state of a human being. Aim of the study: The aim of the study is self-assessment of life quality, general health, and pain sensations in breast cancer patients after adjuvant therapy with chemo- and radiotherapy. Material and methods: The study was carried out in 2016 at the Professor Franciszek Łukaszczyk Oncology Clinic in Bydgoszcz. 56 women with breast cancer were qualified for the study, upon completion of treatment. Socio-demographic and clinical data was used, questions 29 and 30 from the QLQ C30 questionnaire, and the Memorial Pain Assessment Card. Results: Generally, the average self-assessment of health and life quality was 4.98 and 5.18 points, respectively. Age, education, marital status and the place of residence did not have any influence on the self-assessment of health and life quality (p > 0.05). 46 women (82.1%) did not take analgesics. Those patients who did not take analgesics assessed their health and life quality better, with the average scores of 5.3 and 5.63 points, respectively. The average for pain intensity was 2.05 on a 0–11 scale. Most women – 14 (25%) – assessed their mood as very good. The mood average was 2.91 points. Only the administration of analgesics influenced the mood score (p = 0.001). Conclusions: Women with breast cancer after radical treatment assess their health and life quality as good. Those not taking analgesics assess their health and life quality better and are decidedly in a better mood than those taking such medications. Socio-demographic factors do not influence self-assessment of health, life quality, or pain intensity.
One of the manifestations of physical activity are martial arts. Modern research also concerns the problem of treating martial arts not only as a means of self defence, sport or how one spends their free time, but also as a therapy. Therapy throu gh traditional martial arts can help treat many medical disorders. It was acclaimed that participation in the traditional martial arts promotes mental health. It was noted that the sense of self - worth and self - esteem of competence is directly related to th e time spent doing training. Current studies show that the traditional martial arts are largely effective, complementary strategy of medical care and rehabilitation of chronic diseases. By watching yet another MMA event on the TV, seeing players’ faces bei ng hit and blood flowing on their bodies, it is worth to be aware that it’s just a spectacular event. The everyday life of people concerned with martial arts is different. Often times they undertake these exercises to improve their physical fitness and the quality of life. It is followed by taking responsibility for their health and not giving it exclusively to the doctor. This results in an active and rational fight agains any disease.
Elaboration of the concept of inclusive education demands the continu ation of the research in order to clarify its effectiveness under various conditions and with different contingent. The research objective was to compare the effect of segregative and integrative physical education classes (PE) upon physical development indicators in the apparently healthy middle secondary school age students and the students with minor health problems. Two separate groups of schoolchildren (N=1417, aged 10 -15) underwent a medical examination. One group of students attended segregative phys ical education classes, for the other group physical education classes were conducted integratively according to the students’ health status. The ratio of the total number of physical development significant growth rates in the sets of segregative and int egrative mode of PE classes indicates a slightly higher efficiency of integrated PE classes as compared to segregative ones, which was confirmed statistically.
The World Health Organisation's rationale for physical activity draws heavily on scientific evidence regarding disease and obesity. Greater philosophical reflection on such concepts, along with a recognition that supposed scientific facts are rarely value-free, allow for a more positive and considered argument for physical activity and its benefits. Olympism, Olympic culture, sports education, pedagogy of sport
The objective of the study was to investigate the career-choice motives for one’s entering the prison service as an operational officer, and the level of physical fitness. The study was conducted in April 2015, and included 100 officers employed in Biała Podlaska prison. The examined group consisted of 93 males; aged 23-52; mean age 37.2, and 7 females aged 3-43; mean age 37.7 (30-43). 61 (61%) of the males were employed as security guards, while 39 persons (39%), including 7 females, as clerks in the administration section. The study methods included: a physical fitness test consisting of 5 physical performance tests, recommended by the regulation of the Minister of Justice, the International Physical Activity Questionnaire(IPAQ) – long-form, questions designed by the author of the paper. Career-choice motives turned out to be conditioned purely be economic incentives and the professions’ stability as opposed to other professional specialties. The respondents were fit and engaged in numerous physical activates. The factors which significantly determined the level of one’s fitness depended on: age, education, a high self-report on physical fitness, total physical activity and the number of done sports. Originality of the study is based on investigating the condition of physical fitness of prison officers with the use of currently recommended assessment methods in Poland.
Aim Smoking among young people is becoming an increasingly serious problem. The solution to the problems related to smoking can be brought about by the constant reconstruction of behavior patterns, a systematic change of customs and cultural patterns, included in the educational anti-smoking programs of Health Promoting Schools. The aim was to evaluate the structure of cigarette smoking, the demographic and environmental factors that determine smoking among young people. Material and methods The study was conducted in five Health Promoting Schools in Tarnow (Junior High School, High School). 663 students from five schools participated in the study, age 13-18. The study has been conducted two Times among the same sample: when the participants started school and in the end of education. The students completed an author`s questionnaire based on the HBSC report. Results Cigarette smoking was declared by 32.0% of the students in the first study (boys – S=1,15; SD=0,36; girls – S=1,12, SD=0,32). In the second study, cigarette smoking was declared by 37.3% (boys – S=1,3, SD=0,36; girls – S=1,18; SD=0,39). Boys have ever smoked significantly more often than girls (1st study – p=0.0131, 2nd study – p=0.0028). There were statistically significantly more people living in rural areas and smoking cigarettes (28.5%) compared to people living in urban areas (19.9%) (p=0.006). During school education, both boys and girls increased the number of cigarettes smoked and the frequency of smoking. Conclusions The health promoting schools surveyed failed to delay and prevent tobacco initiation among adolescents. Effective prophylaxis cannot be implemented also without the support of parents.
Objectives. Post exercise proteinuria (PEP) is found in about 20–40% of sportsmen after intensive exercise. Urinary NGAL is a new marker of tubulointerstitial kidney damage. The relationship between PEP and uNGAL has not been defined yet. In presented study a resting uNGAL as a predictor of PEP was analyzed. The changes of albuminuria after exercise were monitored to estimate a frequency and range of PEP. Methods. 40 amateur healthy runners (mean age 36.65 ±10.61 years) participating in 10-km run took part in the study. Before and after the competition urine was collected. NGAL, albumin and creatinine were subsequently measured in urine. uNGAL to creatinine ratio (NCR) and albumin to creatinine ratio (ACR) were calculated. Results. 28 participants (mean age 37.9 ±11.46, 19 M, 9 F) with uNGAL below 15 ng/ml before competition were analyzed. The increase of ACR was observed in every case. Mean post-exercise ACR was 104.55 ±123.1 mg/g and was significantly higher than pre-exercise ACR 6.33 ±5.86 mg/g (p < 0.0005). The positive correlation was found between resting NCR and post-exercise ACR (r = 0.60, p < 0.05). Conclusions. Resting uNGAL positively correlated with PEP. The possible explanation of these findings is that persons with PEP had some early, occult tubulointersitial kidney damage. It is speculated that those runners have higher risk of chronic kidney disease.
The purpose of this study was to design, validate, and test the reliability of an instrument to evaluate knowledge of nutrition, weight control and its risk. The instrument collects information regarding: socio-demographics and athletic status; basic knowledge of nutrition (the diet they follow, nutrients, supplements, energy balance, myths, hydration and habits); and weight control and risks (weight control, eating behaviors, and weight control habits). The design, validation, and testing of the reliability of the questionnaire were done in four phases: a) design and development of the instrument, b) content validation, c) instrument reliability, and d) concurrent validity. The results show that the instrument is suitable for measuring nutrition, weight control and risk knowledge in athletes. The instrument that was developed and validated in this paper can contribute to assessing how the athletes evolve through their different formation stages.
On 10th October 2020, the German Federal Ministry for the Environment had responded to an inquiry concerning causality, as follows: The nine criteria of Hill [1] are a “central pillar for the determination of causality in epidemiology.” The reason of the inquiry was the dramatic press release: “Air pollution is responsible for more than 400,000 premature deaths/year in Europe.” Among others, the “central pillar” agrees e. g. with reference [2]. Applying to expert discussions, a colleague had commented on this matter: “All our environmental epidemiologists refer to the Bradford Hill criteria”. Is this also the case in publications?Whilst reading through numerous epidemiological publications on sport & health respectively environment & health, the author had never come across these criteria – the reason for this letter to the editor.In 1965, HILL had given detailed considerations to the conditions that would have to be fulfilled in the case of epidemiological associations found before they could be used as a reason to “cry causation”.Extensive annually published reports of the EEA (European Environment Agency) deal with air pollution and human health. In 2019 as key message ([3] p. 63): “Air pollution is the single largest environmental health risk in Europe, with around 400 000 premature deaths attributed to air pollution¼ in 2018” ([3] p. 63) and again in 2020: “Air pollution is a major cause of premature death ¼, responsible for around 400 000 premature deaths per year” ([4] p. 10).The corresponding EEA studies are based on epidemiological surveys, collected in the categories urban – suburban – rural ([4] p. 11). The results, often calculated using the DPSEEAModel ([5] to Healthcare Waste Management), are correctly described from a statistical point of view as: “Deaths attributed to” ([2] p. 63), “associated with” ([1] p. 10), “relationship (between exposure to ambient pollutant concentrations and health outcome” [1] p. 106), “Estimates are produced” or: “the impacts attributable to exposure” ([4] p. 106). But then there is a mind jump to causality by complaining: “Air pollution is a major cause of premature death” ([4] p.10) and implicite with “air pollution is currently the most important environmental risk to human health” ([4] p.9): A typical case of “cry causation”, but without prior examination of the Bradford-Hill-criteria. These are neither mentioned in the text nor in the reference list, nor are alternative criteria (e.g. [6]). However, the published conclusions claiming causality led to serious environmental policy consequences. Yet the question of causality should be decisive for avoiding a so-called stork statistic.Therefore: Let’s discuss the Bradford-Hill-criteria! I am interested to find environmental epidemiological studies in which all of the 9 criteria have been thoroughly discussed rather than having to endure serious environmental policy consequences triggered as “cry causation”. An orienting PubMed analysis did not reveal any reference to environmental epidemiology among 79 hits, but in other research fields associations were often evaluated using all 9 Bradford-Hill-criteria, in two cases even resulting in the rejection of a hypothesis.Therefore, if anyone knows of an environmental health epidemiological study in which the 9 Bradford-Hill criteria were discussed individually prior to “cry causation”: Please provide the author with the bibliographical details: ulmer@uni-mainz.de.The Editor in Chief has agreed to publish a corresponding list of entries in issue 3/2021.
The work aimed at specifying modern features of civilizational factors influence on the health, revealing peculiarities of young age, establishing reflexion of modern factors of health in methodological approaches to health studying. Changes in understanding health are reflected in its studying methodology. The analysis of sociological research data shows, that the social stress became the main reason of medical-demographic situation deterioration in days of reforms. The mechanism of its influence was the loss of effective labor motivation, social envy, and deterioration of spiritual condition of a society. Material well-being decrease was not a determinative factor. The problem of inequalities in health gets the increasing urgency. It is connected with physical and social living environment; availability of qualitative medical aid; specific features of behavior of people. At a medical aid guarantee, and at teenage age, factors of social living environment, which influence behavior in health sphere by means of stigmatization are especially significant.
The aim of this study was to examine the association between sports participation and sedentary behavior during school recess among Brazilian adolescents. This study included 2,243 adolescents aged 13-18 years (16.2 ± 1.1), 62.2% females and 37.8% males, enrolled in public high schools in Aracaju, Northeastern Brazil. Sedentary behavior during school recess and sport participation was self-reported. Several factors were examined, including sex, age, skin color, socioeconomic status, maternal education and physical activity level. Sixty percent of adolescents had sedentary behavior during school recess and 57.7% of adolescents reported that they did not participate in any team sport. Additionally, adolescents who did not practice any team sport were 40% more likely (OR: 1.4, 95% CI: 1.1, 1.8) to be sedentary during school recess compared to those who participated in two or more team sports. It is recommended that schools encourage students to engage in sports activities and promote more physical activity during school recess to reduce the sedentary behavior and increase physical activity levels in youth.
Strong evidence exists that fitness is a physical health resource, which serves to protect one’s health. There is still uncertainty about which fitness level provides the best health outcome and which measurements can be used for analyzing this question. This cross-sectional study analyzed 462 (64.07% female) German middle-aged adults regarding their fitness status, physical activity (Non-Exercise test), body composition (Body Mass Index) and heart-related health status. Motor tests were used to measure the health-related fitness status. The heart-related health status was surveyed by questionnaire and diagnosis was done in part by a physician. Relationships between risk factors and fitness factors are visible during the correlative analysis. They are substantially more visible in the differentiation of people with and without risks. People with low fitness show noticeable risks in activity, Body Mass Index and heart-related health. People with high fitness show health resources for activity, Body Mass Index and heart-related health. This study points out that all fitness dimensions influence one’s heart-related health in a positive way. Fitness is measured objectively and includes all health-related fitness dimensions such as endurance, strength, coordination and flexibility. Apart from this standardization, we ask for more longitudinal studies and more objective health measurements.
Recent studies suggest that students fail to meet the international guidelines for physical activity. Therefore, an increased number of physical activity interventions attempt to change this trend. The current paper reviews the intervention studies which were based on the Self-Determination Theory (SDT). Three databases (PsycINFO, Medline, and SPORTDiscus) were scrutinized in the current review, which yielded 437 potential articles. Employing the recommended selection based on the population, intervention, comparators, and outcome (PICO), 14 articles could be included in the narrative analysis. The results showed that interventions based on the SDT were very heterogeneously operationalized in these studies. Despite different interventions, the results suggest that SDT-based interventions have the potential to increase students' physical activity through both, autonomy and supportive environment. Teachers' professional development in implementing SDT-based physical activity interventions for students is highly recommended.
Obesity has generated a pandemic in relation to public health; however, depending on the type of exercise, intensity, frequency, and time spent exercising, it provides different effects on the human body. The present investigation has the objective of comparing the effect of two modalities of exercise, aquatic and grounded, on the body composition of overweight and obese adults. The present was an experimental study with 26 overweight and obese adults distributed in two exercise groups: aquatic and grounded. Both groups received 12 weeks of moderate intensity aerobic training assessed with a heart rate monitor and determined through the maximum heart rate on each individual grounded and aquatic training. The study variables were Body Mass Index (BMI), fat percentage, and lean mass. After carrying out the exercise program significant differences were observed in the reduction of BMI as well as in the percentage of fat in both sexes ( < 0.01). No differences were observed in relation to BMI reduction, nor the percentage of fat evaluated before and after by different exercise modalities; likewise, there was no difference in either sex. In conclusion, exercise provides favorable changes in body composition variables; however, in this study, it does not rely on the exercise modality.
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