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PubMed2006

Determinants of sufficient daily activity in Australian primary school children.

AIMS: Australian guidelines recommend that children participate in at least one hour of physical activity every day. We aimed to measure physical activity participation in a random sample of Australian primary school children and to determine the biological, behavioural, environmental and social influences associated with insufficient daily activity. METHOD: We analysed the following cross-section data from a randomly selected sample of children (N=518) aged 5 to 12 years: age, gender, socioeconmic status (SES) indicators, family size, home play equipment availability, transport method to school, and estimated time per week in physical and sedentary activity. Logistic regression analysis was performed to determine variables that were associated with insufficient (<60 minutes) daily activity. RESULTS: Seventy-six children (15% of the cohort) failed to meet the minimum activity recommendations of 60 minutes of daily activity. These children were significantly less likely to walk or cycle to school (adjusted odds ratio (OR) 0.43; 95% CI=0.24-0.77) or participate in organised sports or activity (OR 0.42; 95% CI=0.28-0.64) and were more likely to spend in excess of 2 hours a day watching television of using a computer for entertainment (OR 2.10 (1.16-3.78). Age, gender, SES and family size were not significantly associated with insufficient activity. CONCLUSION: There exists a significant proportion of the paediatric population who are insufficiently active. Interventions to encourage increased activity in this sub-group may be successful if they seek to alter sedentary behaviour (namely television use) and method of transportation to and from school.

Australia↗

PubMed2006

Sedentary behaviours among Australian adolescents.

OBJECTIVE: To describe the prevalence and distribution (by demographic characteristics and body mass index [BMI] category) of sedentary behaviour among Australian adolescents aged 11-15 years. METHOD: Cross-sectional representative population survey of school students (n = 2,750) in New South Wales, conducted in 2004. Students' self-reported time spent during a usual week in five categories of sedentary behaviour (small screen recreation [SSR], education, cultural, social and non-active travel). Height and weight were measured. RESULTS: Grade 6, 8 and 10 students spent approximately 34 hours, 41 hours and 45 hours/week of their discretionary time, respectively, engaged in sedentary behaviour. Urban students and students from Asian-speaking backgrounds spent significantly more time sedentary than students from rural areas or other cultural backgrounds. SSR accounted for 60% and 54% of sedentary behaviour among primary and high school students, respectively. Overweight and obese students spent more time in SSR than healthy weight students. Out-of-school hours educational activities accounted for approximately 20% of sedentary behaviour and increased with age. Girls spent twice the time in social activities compared with boys. Time spent in cultural activities declined with age. CONCLUSION: Sedentary behaviours among young people differ according to sex, age and cultural background. At least half of all time spent in sedentary behaviours was spent engaged in SSR. BMI was significantly associated with sedentary behaviour among some children, but not consistently across age groups. IMPLICATIONS: A clear understanding of young people's patterns of sedentary behaviour is required to develop effective and sustainable intervention programs to promote healthy living.

Adolescent↗

PubMed2006

The role of action control in implementing intentions during the first weeks of behaviour change.

Prevailing social cognition models consider behavioural intentions as immediate precursors of actions. This view ignores the role of more proximal self-regulatory processes, such as action control. The latter emerges after an intention has been formed and is supposed to maintain the level of intentions over time and to translate them into action. Three facets of action control were examined in terms of their predictive power for changes in intentions and for physical exercise: (a) awareness of standards, (b) self-monitoring, and (c) self-regulatory effort. A parsimonious 6-item instrument was administered to 122 cardiac patients at six weekly measurement points in time following rehabilitation. A distinction was made between the level of action control and the degree of change in action control, applying a latent growth model. While awareness of standards remained stable, the other two facets exhibited a linear change over the six-week period. Level and change were distinct predictors of physical exercise and changes in intentions. These findings emphasize the importance of self-regulatory mechanisms in the first weeks of trying to overcome a sedentary lifestyle. Action control may be a promising construct to narrow the intention-behaviour gap.

Aged↗

PubMed2001

Physical activity profile of adult males in Riyadh City.

OBJECTIVE: To assess the patterns and determinants of physical activity among Saudi adult males living in Riyadh. METHODS: Self-administered questionnaires were filled out by 1333 randomly selected Saudi males 19 years and older, during the Fall of 1996. RESULTS: Over 53% of Saudi males were totally physically inactive, and another 27.5% were irregularly active. Only 19% of the entire sample were active on a regular basis. A curvilinear relationship was found between age and inactivity, with the middle age group the least active. Physical activity was lower among those who were married, work in the private sectors, working 2 shifts, less educated, or who had only one day off during the week. Time constraint seems to be the major contributing factor to inactivity, while maintaining health and losing weight were the most important reason for being physically active among Saudi males. CONCLUSION: The proportion of Saudi males who are at risk for inactivity is very high. Indeed, it is exceedingly higher than those who are at risk for hypertension, hypercholesterolemia, obesity, or cigarette smoking. Public policies are needed to encourage active living and discourage sedentary habits. Health care providers have an important role in promoting physical activity among the population.

Adult↗

PubMed1990

The effects of variations in carbohydrate, protein, and fat content of the diet upon weight loss, blood values, and nutrient intake of adult obese women.

The effects on weight reduction of three different 1,200-kcal diets followed for a 10-week period were examined in adult, sedentary, overweight women. Diet patterns contained 25%, 45%, or 75% carbohydrate, with variations in fat and protein. Parameters evaluated and compared for each diet were body composition, cholesterol, triglycerides, blood urea nitrogen (BUN), uric acid, percent body fat, and nutrient intake. Each diet group contained at least 11 women. Behavioral approaches were used to ensure that subjects complied with the caloric intake and the dietary pattern. No significant differences were found in the parameters except for BUN, which was significantly greater in the 25% carbohydrate group. Each 1,200-kcal diet contributed to weight loss. Selection of a weight reduction diet can be designed around preferred food patterns and nutrition needs of individuals rather than a proportion of the energy provided by carbohydrate in healthy adult women. Practitioners may use this research to demonstrate to clients that body weight can be lost while following a variety of nutritious diets.

Adult↗

PubMed1988

Pawtucket Heart Health Program: the process of stimulating community change.

The Pawtucket Heart Health Program (PHHP) is a community-based research and demonstration project in cardiovascular disease (CVD) prevention located in the United States. Targeted risk factors include high blood pressure, elevated blood cholesterol, cigarette smoking, obesity and sedentary living. Evaluation methods included biennial household risk factor surveys in the education and comparison communities, morbidity and mortality surveillance in hospitals serving each community, and both formative evaluation and process tracking. Intervention methods are theoretically derived from social learning theory and seek to motivate, enable and maintain individual behavior change; modify social networks; and introduce environmental change in organizations and normative shifts in the community in ways that reduce the prevalence of CVD risk factors. The intervention strategy began as an organization-based model, and has evolved into a community-wide effort in which marketing research tools and techniques are employed. In the past 4 years, over 40,000 individual contacts have been made with PHHP programs, including 1,260 persons who have volunteered their time to deliver risk factor programs.

Cardiovascular Diseases↗

PubMed2000

Impact of beverage acceptability on fluid intake during exercise.

These two studies investigated the impact of beverage acceptability on voluntary fluid intake during exercise and the subsequent impact of exercise on the perception and liking of beverages. In Experiment 1, 49 triathletes and runners first tasted an array of 10 commercially available flavors of a 6% carbohydrate-electrolyte drink (CE) and water (W) to determine the most-acceptable flavor (M) and least-acceptable flavor (L) for each subject. Subjects were subsequently given M, L, or W ad libitum during 180 min of exercise. Drink acceptability was again measured after 90 and 180 min of exercise. Drink intake was measured at 15-min intervals. Intake of M was significantly greater than L and W throughout the first 75 min and significantly greater than W throughout the entire exercise period. In Experiment 2, subjects were given M+W, or L+W, in a two-bottle procedure. Voluntary intake of M and L exceeded W by 318% and 233%, respectively. An unexpected finding was a strong interaction between drink acceptability and exercise state. The acceptability of L increased substantially from sedentary to exercise conditions. These data demonstrated that the flavored, sweetened beverages used in this study, substantially increased voluntary fluid intake over W.

Adult↗

PubMed1996

Sedentism and child health among Rendille pastoralists of northern Kenya.

Many nomadic pastoralists of Africa are settling near towns and famine-relief centers in response to drought-induced livestock loss, loss of pasture land, increased involvement in market economies and political turmoil including civil war. The present study uses measurements of child health, particularly morbidity, dietary and growth patterns, to evaluate the consequences of sedentism for three Rendille communities of northern Kenya. A nutritional and health survey utilizing interviews, anthropometric measurements, physical examinations and hemoglobin measurements was conducted for 105 mothers and their 174 children under six years of age in three Rendille communities, one fully nomadic and two sedentary, in July 1990, a year of above average rainfall, and again in June 1992, a drought year. Results indicate that while the nomadic Rendille community of Lewogoso shares similar morbidity patterns with its sedentary counterparts and had similar numbers of malnourished children during the wet year, the sedentary communities had significantly more malnutrition among children under six during the dry year. Moreover, the children in the settled town of Korr had significantly higher levels of anemia. Differences in malnutrition are attributed to distinctive dietary regimes: during the drought, nomadic children consumed three times as much milk as the sedentary children, while settled children's diets concentrated on starches, fat and sugar. This study suggests that the pastoral nomadic diet, particularly one dependent on camels' milk, offers children better resistance to the pressures of drought and supports findings that the subsistence base of mixed-species pastoralism is superior to sedentary alternatives with respect to child health.

Adolescent↗

PubMed2005

Overweight and obesity among schoolchildren in Sana'a City, Yemen.

AIM: To estimate the prevalence of overweight and obesity among schoolchildren in Sana'a City (Yemen) and to examine the association with lifestyle and some socioeconomic factors. METHODS: A cross-sectional study was done in public and private schools in Sana'a City during 2002-2003. We selected 1,253 students by the multistage random sampling technique. Weights and heights were measured to calculate body mass index (BMI = weight/height2). Data about age, sex, education level of the parents, food consumption and lifestyle was also collected. RESULTS: The mean age of the children was 12.6 +/- 2 years. Overweight was 6.2% and obesity was 1.8%. The prevalence of overweight and obesity was higher among private schoolchildren (p<000), females (p = 0.002), children with a sedentary lifestyle (p = 0.001) and children with a family history of obesity (p = 0.013). Also there is a positive association of overweight/obesity with the education level of the parents (p = 0.013 for the father and p = 0.19 for the mother) and consumption of unhealthy foods. CONCLUSION: Prevalence of overweight and obesity is low and positively associated with the education level of the father, private schooling, sedentary lifestyle, and with students who took unhealthy meals.

Adolescent↗

PubMed2005

A single bout of exercise influences natural killer cells in elderly women, especially those who are habitually active.

The purpose of our study was to examine the effects of a single exercise bout on the natural killer (NK) cell count and activity in physically active elderly people, sedentary elderly people, and sedentary young people. Eight elderly women who trained by walking (age, 64 +/- 1 years; Vo(2peak), 32.2 +/- 1.1 ml.kg(-1).min(-1)), 8 age-matched untrained women (63 +/- 1 years, 28.8 +/- 1.0 ml.kg(-1).min(-1)), and 8 young untrained women (25 +/- 1 years, 37.6 +/- 1.6 ml.kg(-1).min(-1)) were studied. Blood samples were taken before, immediately after, and 2 hours after a 30-minute bout of exercise at an intensity equivalent to 70-75% of Vo(2peak). Peripheral blood mononuclear cells were isolated and the NK cell count and activity were analyzed. The NK cell count of the elderly sedentary group immediately after exercise was significantly higher than those of the elderly women who walked and young sedentary women, whereas no significant interaction was detected in NK cell activity and NK cell activity per cell number among the 3 groups. Consequently, an intrinsic defect in the cytotoxic ability of NK cells appeared in sedentary elderly people but not in active elderly people who perform habitual exercise.

Adult↗

PubMed2000

Prevention of coronary heart disease among Indians: focus on primary prevention.

Epidemiological transition with increasing life expectancy and demographic shifts in population age-profile combined with lifestyle related increases in the levels of cardiovascular risk factors is accelerating coronary heart disease (CHD) epidemic in India. As prospective cohort studies for evaluation of coronary risk factors do not exist, urban-rural differences in prevalence of coronary risk factors and case-control studies provide important information regarding coronary risk factors that need prevention to control the CHD epidemic. The risk factors more in urban Indians or associated with increased risk in case-control studies are: Sedentary lifestyle, smoking, truncal obesity, hypertension, hypercholesterolaemia, impaired glucose tolerance, insulin resistance and diabetes. Primordial prevention ie, prevention of risk factors can be achieved by encouragement of positive health behaviour and promotion of the concept of health as a social value. Special target groups are children, adolescents, family unit, under-privileged and high-risk groups. Behavioural and environmental changes relevant to primordial prevention are changes in eating patterns, drinking, smoking, physical activity and stress management. Primary prevention focuses on population and on high-risk groups. Specific high-risk subjects are those with family history of CHD, hypertension or diabetes or those having sedentary lifestyle, obesity, truncal obesity and biochemical coronary risk factors. The interventions are smoking cessation, increased physical activity, weight regulation, blood pressure control, lipid regulation and diabetes management.

Coronary Disease↗

PubMed2002

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 < or = .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 < or = .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 (chi 2 = 20.663, p < or = .001) than in boys' (chi 2 = 7.662, p < or = .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 < or = .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.

Adolescent↗

PubMed1992

Social and behavioral factors associated with episodes of inhibitory breathing.

Previous research has shown that episodes of inhibitory breathing, characterized by low-frequency breathing, occur both in laboratory animals during intervals preceding avoidance tasks and in humans in the natural environment. The present study investigated social and behavioral factors accompanying episodes of inhibitory breathing that occur in the natural environment. Breathing frequency and tidal volume of ambulatory subjects were monitored via inductive plethysmography. Information concerning location, social environment, behavior, and mood was self-recorded in a computerized diary. The percentage of episodes of inhibitory breathing was found to be significantly greater in social situations than when subjects were alone. Additional analyses eliminated talking as an explanation for these effects. Inhibitory breathing was more frequent when subjects were sedentary rather than active, and inhibitory breathing was not associated with changes in mood or appraisal. Additional research is needed to determine the nature of the social interactions that elicit inhibitory breathing, its physiological concomitants, and its long-term health implications.

Adult↗

PubMed2003

Exercise behavior, sleep habits and time management among students of the Medical University of Lublin.

The aim of the study was to depict and assess patterns of daytime behavior and sleeping habits as well as general daytime management among students of Medical University of Lublin. On examination of 167 third-year medical students (107 women and 60 men, 20 to 29 years old) we found out that the third-year students did not exercise enough. Their sedentary lifestyles resulted from sharing their time between university, libraries and studying medical textbooks at homes. Medical students socialize and spend enough time with their families, and in this way they get family and friends' support, which allows them to manage stress and psychological problems. Most of the students neither watch TV nor play with computers longer than 2 hours per day.

Adult↗

PubMed2005

Rural-urban migration and changing physical activity among Papua New Guinea highlanders from the perspective of energy expenditure and time use.

We examined the effects of rural-urban migration on nutritional status, daily activity patterns and physical activity levels for a Papua New Guinea Highland population. A large sample (n = 353) of adult males and females was selected for anthropometry and a smaller sample (n = 56) for behavioral observation in conjunction with heart rate monitoring. Urban migrants had higher body mass index and more body fat than their rural counterparts, particularly the females. The physical exertion index calculated for observed activities using heart rate values was much higher in farming activities in the rural area than in sedentary work activities in the urban area. In addition, walking time was notably shorter in the urban group than in the rural group (118 vs 52 min/day in males and 116 vs 29 min/day in females). Consequently, despite the urban group spending a shorter time resting and a longer time working, their daily physical activity level did not achieve the desirable level (1.75-1.80). It is thus necessary for urban residents to increase walking time to about 2 h per day, the level observed in their rural counterparts.

Activities of Daily Living↗

PubMed1995

Physical activity: one approach to the primary prevention of hypertension.

1. Despite the merits of physical activity reducing the risk of hypertension and showing other health benefits, Americans continue to be relatively sedentary. 2. Low to high intensity physical activities result in a reduction in both systolic and diastolic blood pressure in middle aged to older adults. Individuals can obtain benefits by engaging in aerobic exercise, a wide variety of leisure time activities, short bouts of exercise, and even isometric work. 3. Behavioral techniques of contracting, self monitoring, and relapse prevention training offer important methods to help clients adopt and maintain physical activity.

Behavior Therapy↗

PubMed1993

Ventral tegmental self-stimulation selectively induces opioid peptide release in rat CNS.

Intracranial self-stimulation (ICS) is thought to activate neuronal systems involved in processing natural reinforcing agents. Metabolic mapping studies have previously demonstrated a subset of CNS structures specifically engaged by ICS in animals receiving stimulation actively vs. passively. Since opiates are known to enhance ICS behavior and presumably its reinforcing properties, the current study addressed the question of the role of opioid peptides as mediators of ICS. Rats were trained on a fixed ration (FR) 20 schedule of responding maintained by ICS. Following response stabilization, rats were assigned either to an active or a corresponding yoked stimulation group at 1 of 2 schedules of reinforcement (i.e., FR1-YFR1, FR20-YFR20, or sedentary control), and opioid peptide release was inferred from in vivo receptor occupancy. Autoradiographic analyses identified 3 groups of structures. Treatment-induced alterations in occupancy were seen in the medial dorsal nucleus of the thalamus, basolateral amygdala, ventral pallidum, medial habenula, dorsal raphe, posterior hypothalamus, substantia nigra pars compacta, agranular preinsular cortex, and zona incerta. Depending upon the structure, peptide release was dependent upon stimulus contingency (active vs. yoked) and/or schedule (FR1 vs. FR20). Evidence for ICS-induced inhibition of peptide release was found in the habenula and preinsular cortex. Nine additional structures, all components of, or receiving projections from, the limbic system, revealed complex interactions between ICS treatment and the electrode side. Finally, a widespread ipsilateral increase in receptor binding was seen rostrally from the cingulate, olfactory tubercle, and nucleus accumbens, along the lateral hypothalamus and hippocampus, and extending caudally to the substantia nigra and ventral tegmentum. These later effects appear to be related to stimulation-induced changes in blood flow and subsequent ligant presentation increases. Collectively, these data point towards the ability of rewarding brain stimulation to activate discrete neuronal opioid systems contingent upon specific behavioral as well as stimulus conditions.

Amygdala↗

PubMedDate not supplied

Clustering of behavior-related risk factors and its association with subjective health.

OBJECTIVES: To describe the clustering of behavior-related risk factors in the adult population of the Autonomous Community of Madrid (Spain) and evaluate the association between the level of aggregation of these factors and suboptimal subjective health. METHODS: Data were drawn from the Non-communicable Disease Risk-Factor Surveillance System (Sistema de Vigilancia de Factores de Riesgo asociados a Enfermedades No Transmisibles [SIVFRENT]). We studied the associations between smoking, high-risk alcohol consumption, leisure-time sedentariness and unbalanced diet in 16,043 persons aged 18-64 years and compared the observed against the expected proportions. Logistic regression was used to estimate the association between clustering of risk factors and suboptimal health (fair, poor and very poor). RESULTS: Almost 20% of subjects had 3 or 4 risk factors simultaneously. Most combinations of 3 risk factors exceeded expectations and, in particular, 4 factor clustering yielded observed/expected quotients of 2.15 (95% confidence interval [CI]: 1.93-2.38) in men and 2.96 (95% CI, 2.46-3.46) in women. In both sexes, the individual factor most closely associated with the remaining risk factors was smoking. Aggregation of risk factors was more frequent among men, younger age groups and subjects with low educational level. Compared with persons with none of the 4 risk factors, those that simultaneously had 3 or 4 more frequently reported suboptimal subjective health (OR = 2.49; 95% CI, 1.59-3.90 in men and OR = 1.96; 95% CI, 1.29-2.97 in women). CONCLUSIONS: Behavior-related risk factors tend to aggregate, and this accumulation is higher among men, younger age groups, and subjects with a low educational level. A greater level of clustering is associated with a higher frequency of suboptimal perceived health.

Adolescent↗