A school-based physical activity intervention in primary school: effects on physical activity, sleep, aerobic fitness, and motor competence.

Objective: The "Super Quinas" project evaluated the effectiveness of an intervention program to improve physical activity, aerobic fitness, sleep, and motor competence on children in primary school.

Methods: The experimental group ( = 19) enrolled in a 12-week intervention program (one more extra-curricular activity class of 60 min per week) compared to the CG ( = 19), all aged 9-10 years. Physical activity (PA) and sleep were measured by accelerometry, and aerobic fitness was measured by Children's Yo-Yo test (YYIR1C) during the 1st week (PRE), the 6th week (DUR), and the 12th week (POST) of the intervention program.

Effects of "Football and Nutrition for Health" program on body composition, physical fitness, eating behaviours, nutritional knowledge, and psychological status among 7 to 10 years school children.

Introduction: Noncommunicable diseases and obesity are between the major health threat due to consumption of unhealthy foods and limited time spent on physical activities, a situation of particular concern among children. Since children spend most of their time at school, this study intends to investigate the effect of a school intervention program, which combines recreational football and nutrition education, on body composition, physical fitness, physical activity, blood pressure and heart rate, eating behaviours, nutritional knowledge, and psychological status in elementary school children.

Methods: A total of 67 children, between 7 and 10 years old, were allocated into three groups: the Football Group (FG) which held 2 weekly sessions of 60 min of recreational football, the Nutrition and Football Group (NFG) which held 2 sessions per week of 60 min of recreational football plus 60 min of nutritional education and the Control Group (CG) which maintained its usual curriculum.

Paths towards a healthier BMI among short and adequate sleepers: A pathway network analysis considering movement behaviors in low-income preschoolers.

Introduction: Short sleep duration has been seen as a predictor of higher body mass index (BMI) in youth. Sleep duration varies substantially along early childhood, and the paths towards a healthier BMI, considering the other movement behaviors (physical activity-PA and screen time) are unexplored in preschoolers.

Aim: To construct a sleep-BMI model to capture the direct and indirect paths to intervening towards a healthier BMI, according to low-income preschoolers' compliance with the other movement behaviors.

Associations Between Motor Competence, Moderate-to-Vigorous Physical Activity, and Body Mass Index Among Preschoolers Over 1 Year.

Background: To examine the associations between motor competence (MC), moderate to vigorous physical activity (MVPA), and body mass index (BMI) changes over 1 year in preschoolers.

Methods: Fifty-four preschoolers (24 girls; 42.4%) aged 4-5 years old from the metropolitan area of Porto, Portugal comprised the sample.

School-based soccer practice is an effective strategy to improve cardiovascular and metabolic risk factors in overweight children.

We examined the effects of a 6-month school-based soccer programme on cardiovascular (CV) and metabolic risk factors in overweight children. Methods: 40 boys [8-12 years; body mass index (BMI) >2 standard deviations of WHO reference values] participated in complementary school-based physical education classes (two sessions per week, 45-90 min each). The participants were divided into a soccer group (SG; n = 20) and a control group (CG; n = 20).

Adherence to 24-hour movement guidelines among Portuguese preschool children: the prestyle study.

Purpose: The 24-Hour Movement Guidelines (24 hMG) provide specific recommendations, including physical activity (PA), screen-time and sleep-duration, which preschoolers should achieve for a healthy day (24 h). The aim of the current study was to analyse preschooler's adherence with the 24-Hour Movement Guidelines.

Methods: The sample comprised 739 preschool children.

Variations in accelerometry measured physical activity and sedentary time across Europe - harmonized analyses of 47,497 children and adolescents.

Background: Levels of physical activity and variation in physical activity and sedentary time by place and person in European children and adolescents are largely unknown. The objective of the study was to assess the variations in objectively measured physical activity and sedentary time in children and adolescents across Europe.

Methods: Six databases were systematically searched to identify pan-European and national data sets on physical activity and sedentary time assessed by the same accelerometer in children (2 to 9.

Relationship Among Changes in Sedentary Time, Physical Activity, and Body Mass Index in Young Schoolchildren: A 3-Year Longitudinal Study.

Purposes: To examine the association between sedentary time (ST) and light physical activity (LPA), moderate- to vigorous-intensity physical activity (MVPA), and body mass index (BMI), and to track these behaviors over a 3-year follow-up in young schoolchildren.

Methods: The final sample was 64 children (female: n = 36 or 56.3%), enrolled in schools in Porto, Portugal.

Motor fitness and preschooler children obesity status.

The aim of this study was to examine the association between motor fitness (MF) and obesity status in preschool children. The sample comprised 467 children aged 3-6 years. Preschool children body mass index was classified according to International Obesity Task Force and categorised into three levels, normal, overweight and obesity.

Association between sedentary behavior time and waist-to-height ratio in preschool children.

Objectives: To explore the association between sedentary behavior time (SB), and waist-to-height ratio (WHtR) in preschool children.

Methods: This study included 646 preschool children (4- to 6-years old). WHtR was calculated as the ratio of waist/height with a cutoff of 0.

Effects of 6-month soccer and traditional physical activity programmes on body composition, cardiometabolic risk factors, inflammatory, oxidative stress markers and cardiorespiratory fitness in obese boys.

Physical activity is important in obesity prevention, but the effectiveness of different physical activity modalities remains to be determined among children. The main purpose of this study was to compare the effects of a 6-month soccer programme and a traditional physical activity programme on changes in body composition, cardiometabolic risk factors, inflammatory and oxidative markers, cardiorespiratory fitness and perceived psychological status in obese boys. Eighty-eight boys (8-12 years; BMI > +2 standard deviations of WHO reference values) participated in one of three groups: soccer, traditional activity and control.

Physical Activity, Obesity Status, and Blood Pressure in Preschool Children.

Objective: To examine the combined effects of physical activity and weight status on blood pressure (BP) in preschool-aged children.

Study Design: The sample included 733 preschool-aged children (49% female). Physical activity was objectively assessed on 7 consecutive days by accelerometry.

Step based physical activity guidelines for preschool-aged children.

Objective: Public health organizations recommend that preschool-aged children accumulate at least 3h of physical activity (PA) daily. Objective monitoring using pedometers offers an opportunity to measure preschooler's PA and assess compliance with this recommendation. The purpose of this study was to derive step-based recommendations consistent with the 3h PA recommendation for preschool-aged children.

Cross validation of ROC generated thresholds for field assessed aerobic fitness related to weight status and cardiovascular disease risk in Portuguese young people.

Objectives: To examine the efficacy of aerobic fitness thresholds in predicting weight status and cardiovascular disease risk (CVD) in young people.

Methods: A cross-sectional school-based study was conducted on 414 Portuguese young people (235 girls and 179 boys) aged 10-16 years (Mean age ± SD = 13.6 ± 1.

Adolescents' perception of environmental features and its association with physical activity: results from de Azorean Physical Activity and Health Study II.

Background: The aim of the current study was to verify if physical activity (PA) behavior (steps/day) was associated with environmental features that may be able to promote PA and walking in a sample of Portuguese adolescents living in the Azorean Archipelago.

Methods: The sample comprised 948 adolescents aged 15-18 years (543 girls) from the Azorean Physical Activity Health Study II. PA was objectively measured with pedometers.

Normative functional fitness standards and trends of Portuguese older adults: cross-cultural comparisons.

This cross-sectional study was designed to develop normative functional fitness standards for the Portuguese older adults, to analyze age and gender patterns of decline, to compare the fitness level of Portuguese older adults with that of older adults in other countries, and to evaluate the fitness level of Portuguese older adults relative to recently published criterion fitness standards associated with maintaining physical independence. A sample of 4,712 independent-living older adults, age 65-103 yr, was evaluated using the Senior Fitness Test battery. Age-group normative fitness scores are reported for the 10th, 25th, 50th, 75th, and 90th percentiles.

The independent associations of sedentary behaviour and physical activity on cardiorespiratory fitness.

Background: During childhood and adolescence, both physical activity (PA) and sedentary behaviour seem to influence cardiorespiratory fitness (CRF); however, the combined association of PA and sedentary behaviour remains to be understood. We analysed the combined association of objectively measured sedentary behaviour and moderate-to-vigorous intensity PA (MVPA) on CRF in Portuguese children and adolescents.

Methods: The sample comprised 2506 Portuguese healthy children and adolescents aged 10-18 years, from a cross-sectional school-based study (2008).

The association between cardiovascular disease risk and parental educational level in Portuguese children.

The aim of this study was to examine any differences in cardiovascular disease (CVD) risk in Portuguese children split by parental educational level. A cross-sectional school-based study was conducted in 2011 on 359 Portuguese children (202 girls and 157 boys) aged 10 to 17 years (mean age ± SD = 13.9 ± 1.

Cardiorespiratory fitness and TV viewing in relation to metabolic risk factors in Portuguese adolescents.

Background: The purpose of this study was to examine whether adolescents who have high levels of cardiorespiratory fitness (CRF) co-existing with low levels of television (TV) viewing present a better metabolic risk profile compared to their low fit and high TV viewing counterparts.

Subjects And Methods: A total of 372 students (aged 12-15 years old) comprised the sample of this study. Anthropometric data (body mass index and waist circumference) was collected.

Associations between body mass index, waist circumference and body shape index with resting blood pressure in Portuguese adolescents.

Background: Elevated blood pressure (BP) in childhood and adolescence is associated with overweight and obesity. Recently a body shape index (ABSI) has been suggested as superior to body mass index (BMI, kg/m(2)) and waist circumference (WC) as a measure of disease risk.

Objective: To examine the association between ABSI, BMI, WC and BP in Portuguese adolescents and to consider the role of ABSI, BMI and WC when examining this issue in adolescents.

Prevalence of overweight, obesity, and abdominal obesity in a representative sample of Portuguese adults.

This study determined the prevalence of overweight, obesity, and abdominal obesity in the Portuguese adults and examined the relationship between above mentioned prevalences and educational level. Body mass, stature, and waist circumference were measured in a representative sample of the Portuguese population aged 18-103 years (n = 9,447; 18-64 years: n = 6,908; ≥ 65 years: n = 2,539). Overweight and obesity corresponded to a body mass index ranging between 25-29.

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.

Comparisons between inverted body mass index and body mass index as proxies for body fatness and risk factors for metabolic risk and cardiorespiratory fitness in Portuguese adolescents.

Objectives: To compare inverted body mass index (iBMI, cm(2) /kg) and body mass index (BMI, kg/m(2) ) as predictors of body fatness, metabolic risk, and cardiovascular fitness in adolescents.

Methods: A cross-sectional school-based study was conducted on 445 Portuguese adolescents (252 girls and 193 boys) aged 10-17 years. Height and body mass were assessed to determine iBMI and BMI, percent body fatness was determined from skinfold measures (tricep, subscapular) using the Slaughter et al.

Influence of body fat and level of physical activity on rate-pressure product at rest in preschool children.

Objective: The rate-pressure product (RPP) has strong correlation with the maximal oxygen consumption and is an indicator of myocardium stress being considered as the best indirect method to measure myocardial oxygen consumption. However, to the best of our knowledge, no studies have addressed in preschool children. The aim of this study was to analyze the influence of percentage of body fat (%BF) and physical activity (PA) patterns on RPP at Rest (RPPrest) as a marker of cardiac load in Preschool children.