scholarly journals Physical fitness and nutritional anthropometric status of children from disadvantaged communities in the Nelson Mandela Bay region

2020 ◽  
Vol 32 (1) ◽  
pp. 1-8
Author(s):  
Danielle Smith ◽  
Larissa Adams ◽  
Rosa Du Randt ◽  
Jan Degen ◽  
Stefanie Gall ◽  
...  

Background: Information about the relationships between physical fitness, body composition and nutrition has increased in recent years; however, little is known about physical fitness and the coexistence of under-/overnutrition among children living in disadvantaged areas. Objectives: To determine the physical fitness status and its association with body composition, growth and selected socio- demographics in primary schoolchildren from disadvantaged communities in the Nelson Mandela Bay region. Methods: Nine hundred and sixty-five children (49% girls, M=9.5 years) participated in this cross-sectional study. Height and weight were measured to establish body mass index, and height-for-age z-scores. Physical fitness was assessed using tests from the Eurofit Physical Fitness test battery (flexibility, upper/lower body muscular strength and cardiorespiratory fitness). Between- group differences and cross-sectional associations were examined with univariate (Chi2-tests, analyses of variance) and multivariate methods (mixed linear/logistic regression). Results: Most children had normal weight (76.7%), while 4.5% were underweight and 18.7% were overweight/obese. Underweight children and children with stunted growth (11.5%) had lower average upper body strength (p<0.001). Overweight/obese children had lower scores in weight-bearing activities (p<0.001). Children with higher socio-economic status were more likely to be overweight and obese (p<0.001). In the multivariate analyses, sex, age, body mass index, and stunting were associated with children’s physical fitness. Conclusion: Fitness assessments seem to be a relevant measure of the current health status of children in disadvantaged settings. Compared to international norms, the children in this study had relatively low scores for both upper- and lower body muscular strength. Therefore, effective school-based intervention programmes should be developed to improve children’s physical fitness in disadvantaged schools.

Medicina ◽  
2019 ◽  
Vol 55 (2) ◽  
pp. 57
Author(s):  
Sergio Sola-Rodríguez ◽  
Blanca Gavilán-Carrera ◽  
José Antonio Vargas-Hitos ◽  
José Mario Sabio ◽  
Pablo Morillas-de-Laguno ◽  
...  

Background and objectives: Higher physical fitness is associated with a more favorable weight and body composition in the general population, although this association has not been studied in patients with systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE). The aim of the present study was to examine the association of different components of physical fitness with body composition in women with SLE with mild disease activity. Materials and Methods: This cross-sectional study included 77 women with SLE (43.2 ± 13.8 years old) and clinical stability during the previous 6 months. Body composition (including body mass index (BMI), fat mass index (FMI), waist circumference, waist-to-height ratio and waist-to-hip ratio) was assessed using a stadiometer, an anthropometric tape, and a bioimpedance device. Physical fitness included cardiorespiratory fitness (Siconolfi step test and 6 min walk test), muscular strength (handgrip strength test as upper body measure and 30 s chair stand as lower body measure), and flexibility (back-scratch test). Participants with a fitness level equal or above the median of the study sample were categorized as “fit” and those below the median were categorized as “unfit”. Linear regression assessed the association of physical fitness with body composition parameters. Results: Cardiorespiratory fitness and upper body muscular strength were negatively associated with BMI, FMI, waist circumference, and waist-to-height ratio (all, p < 0.05). Lower body muscular strength and flexibility were negatively related to FMI, waist circumference, waist-to-height ratio, and waist-to-hip ratio (all, p < 0.05). These relationships were still significant after controlling for age, disease duration, accrual damage, and SLE activity. Overall, fit patients presented significantly lower values in all body composition parameters compared to unfit patients (all, p < 0.05). Conclusions: The main findings of the present study suggest that physical fitness is inversely associated with body composition in women with SLE. Given the cross-sectional nature of this study, future clinical trials should study the causal pathways underlying these relationships.


2021 ◽  
Vol 7 (3) ◽  
pp. 147
Author(s):  
Adelia Handoko ◽  
Aris Prasetyo ◽  
Pipiet Wulandari ◽  
Kristianingrum Dian Sofiana ◽  
Jauhar Firdaus ◽  
...  

Technological advances in recent years have had an impact on people's lifestyles. Almost all activities in various sectors can be carried out and accessed via smartphones. This causes a decrease in physical activity which can lead to obesity. Obesity is an imbalance of energy entering the energy used in the body resulting in the accumulation of excess lipids which can interfere with the health condition of the body. Body composition is an important part of determining one's physical fitness. Body composition can be seen from a person's Body Mass Index (BMI). This type of research is analytic observational with cross sectional research design. The data used by researchers is secondary data in 2018. The sampling technique used is purposive sampling. The sample used in this study was 127 people, consisting of 47 men and 84 women. Data were analyzed using SPSS version 26 through the Spearman Analysis Test with the results of p = 0.000 (p-value <0.05) for the relationship between BMI and IKB in the slow way and p = 0.002 (p-value <0.05) for the relationship between BMI with IKB the fast way. The conclusion that can be drawn from the results of the analysis is that there is a weak correlation between body mass index and body fitness index on the Havard Step Test fitness test for students of the Faculty of Medicine, University of Jember. Keywords: body mass index, harvard step test , physical fitness


2017 ◽  
Vol 71 (10) ◽  
pp. 1200-1205 ◽  
Author(s):  
C Cadenas-Sanchez ◽  
P Henriksson ◽  
H Henriksson ◽  
C Delisle Nyström ◽  
J Pomeroy ◽  
...  

Circulation ◽  
2014 ◽  
Vol 130 (suppl_2) ◽  
Author(s):  
Patricia E Longmuir ◽  
Mary Corey ◽  
Guy Faulkner ◽  
Jennifer L Russell ◽  
Brian W McCrindle

Introduction: This cross-sectional study evaluated the healthy, active lifestyle capacity (daily physical activity, strength, flexibility, body composition) of children after Fontan, which was hypothesized to be lower than healthy peers. Methods: Participants (n=64, 25 female) were 9 ± 2 years of age. Fontan completion occurred at 3 ± 1 years of age. Canadian Health Measures Survey protocols assessed aerobic endurance (walking up/down steps at set pace), strength (handgrip dynamometry), flexibility (sit and reach), body composition (body mass index) and daily moderate-to-vigorous physical activity (7-day accelerometry). Participant versus published norm differences were evaluated with t-tests. Linear regression evaluated associations with age/gender/demographic factors. Results: Children after Fontan had strength scores similar (mean difference 1 kg) to their peers, were less likely to be obese (mean difference of body mass index = 1.1 ± 2.5, p=.001) and performed 50 minutes of moderate-to-vigorous activity per day. Estimated maximal aerobic endurance (mean difference = 21 ± 3 ml/kg/min or 61% of expected) and flexibility (mean difference = 9 ± 8 cm or 64% of expected) were lower than peers(p<.001). Participants performed fewer minutes of daily activity (mean difference from normal 12 ± 17 minutes/day, p<.001), but almost all (60/63) demonstrated the capacity for at least 20 minutes per day. Daily activity was higher with Fontan completion at a younger age (4 ± 2 mins/year) and for those taking antithrombotic medication (7 ± 18 and 22 ± 17 fewer minutes/day for those taking/not taking antithrombotics, respectively). Conclusions: Children after Fontan demonstrate the capacity to successfully perform the daily physical activity associated with optimal health. They have similar levels of strength and good body composition. We recommend that children after Fontan be counselled to expect that they can successfully participate in physically active peer play.


Author(s):  
Martin Zvonar ◽  
Mario Kasović ◽  
Lovro Štefan

Background. The main purpose of this study was to explore the body-mass index and waist circumference associated with physical fitness by gender. Methods. In this cross-sectional study, we included 1036 adolescents (55.4% girls) from eight randomly selected secondary schools within the city of Zagreb (Croatia). Body-mass index and waist circumference were objectively measured. Physical fitness included three tests: (1) 1 min sit-ups, (2) standing long jump and (3) a sit-and-reach test. Associations were calculated using linear regression models. Results. Boys had higher body-mass index and waist circumference values, compared to girls (p < 0.001). They also performed better in 1 min sit-ups and the standing long jump tests (p < 0.001), while girls obtained higher values in the sit-and-reach test (p < 0.001). In boys, body-mass index and waist circumference were associated with 1 min sit-ups and the standing long jump. In girls, waist circumference was also associated with 1 min sit-ups and the standing long jump, while body-mass index was only associated with this standing long jump. Conclusions. Our study shows that anthropometric indices have non-linear associations with physical fitness tests in a large sample of Croatian adolescents. Screening for thinness and obesity to predict the level of physical fitness should be of a great interest.


2018 ◽  
Vol 2 (73) ◽  
Author(s):  
Sandrija Čapkauskienė ◽  
Kristina Visagurskienė ◽  
Rima Bakienė ◽  
Irena Vitkienė ◽  
Daiva Vizbaraitė

Childhood obesity is a key public health issue around the globe in developed and developing countries (Dugan, 2008). The recent worldwide increase in the prevalence of childhood obesity may be due in part to a decrease in children’s physical activity levels (Ball et al., 2001). It is necessary to develop early interventions to improve physical fitness in children and to prevent the increase of childhood obesity (Brunet et al., 2006). So, the aim of this study was to evaluate the body composition and physical fitness of children aged 5—7 years and to estimate the interaction between body composition components and physical fitness tests. Participants: 216 children participated in this study: 104 girls, mean age 5.90 ± 0.63 years and 112 boys — mean age 5.98 ± 0.50 years from Kaunas city (Lithuania) preschools. Methods: all the subjects have been measured for their height, body mass, waist circumference (WC) and skinfolds at 2 different places — triceps and subscapular. Body mass index (BMI) and percentage body fat mass (BFM) were evaluated. All the participants did four physical fitness tests including speed shuttle run, 20 meters distance run, standing long jump and throwing 1 kg ball. General physical fitness level was evaluated based on B. Sekita (1988) methods. Results. Results showed that BMI did not significantly differ between boys and girls, and was evaluated as “optimal” for both groups. BFM was significantly higher in girls (p < 0.001), and WC did not differ between genders. But WC had a tendency to increase with age in both boys and girls. Strong relationship was observed between BMI and BFM (r = 0.660, r = 0.660 respectively; p < 0.01), and between BMI and WC (r = 0.703, r = 0.826 respectively; p < 0.01) for both boys and girls. The results of physical tests showed that boys did all the tests better than girls (p < 0.01). When we evaluated the general physical fitness of each child, the results indicated that their physical fitness waslow, evaluated as “good enough” for most boys and girls. General physical fitness of children negatively but slightly correlated with BFM (r = –0.201; p < 0.001), it indicated that higher BFM determined lower evaluation of general physical fitness.Conclusions. Optimal body weight, according to body mass index, percentage body fat mass and waist circumference, was established for the bigger part of children, aged 5—7 years old. This study shows that physical fitness of children was low — evaluated as “good enough” and negatively correlated with body fat mass, showing that high body fat mass negatively impacted physical fitness.Key words: body mass index, percentage body fat mass, waist circumference, physical fitness.


Author(s):  
Edita Maciulevičienė ◽  
Rita Sadzevičienė ◽  
Renata Rutkauskaitė

Research background and hypothesis. The objective methods of measuring physical activity (PA) are used more and more widely in various types of research. However, in Lithuania there is a lack of such studies with adolescents. Thus, we conducted a pilot study to objectively measure boys’ PA and to develop a more accurate PA assessment methodology in Lithuania. The purpose of this study was to analyse the objectively measured adolescent boys’ weekly physical activity and its relation to their body composition and physical fitness.Research  methods.  The  participants  of  this  study  were  104  healthy  adolescent  boys.  Physical  activity  of schoolboys was measured using actigraphs (Tri-axis ActiTrainer Activity Monitors). The level of the intensity of physical activity was determined by calculating energy consumption in MET’s. Low PA (LPA) equals up to 3 MET’s, moderate PA (MPA) – 3–6 MET’s, and vigorous PA (VPA) – 8 or more METs. Based on the frequency of VPA and MPA per week, the participants of this study were divided into physical activity groups. For health-related physical fitness  assessment  the  following  tests  were  used:  body  composition  (using TANITA  Body Analyser, TBF-300); flexibility (sit and reach test, Eurofitas, 2002), power (vertical jump was measured using a jump parameter gauge (SBM-1), muscular strength and endurance (modified push-up test (Suni et al., 1994)). Research results. All of the schoolboys demonstrated LPA on each day of the assessment. MPA on each day was experienced by 59.6% of the boys. No participants achieved VPA . The most frequent MPA and VPA were observed 5–7 and 1–3 days per week, respectively. Results of body composition indicated that boys experiencing VPA had lower body fat mass compared to those who experienced only MPA and LPA (p < 0.05). Analysis of physical fitness results indicated that boys who experienced VPA were better muscular in strength and endurance test (p < 0.05), but results of high jump and sit and reach test were not significantly different. Discussion and conclusion. Boys who experienced VPA at least for 3 days/week demonstrated better muscular strength and endurance results and had lower body fat content (%) (p < 0.05). For boys who did not experience MPA at least for 6 days/week, the total amount of weekly physical activity decreased and they could not produce better results in strength and endurance test (p < 0.05). Better results of boys’ muscular strength and endurance were  significantly related to their body lower BMI (r = 0.279; p < 0.05) and fat mass (r = 0.387; p < 0.01). Objectively Measured Weekly Physical  Activity among Adolescent Boys and its  Relation to Health-Related Physical FitnessKeywords: physical activity, MET’s, actigraphs.


2019 ◽  
Vol 26 (3) ◽  
pp. 14-19 ◽  
Author(s):  
Natalia Chukhlantseva

AbstractIntroduction. Indoor cycling training programs at fitness clubs offer the possibility of optimizing the structure and amount of physical activity, which reduces the risk of disrupting the adaptive abilities of women’s bodies. The main purpose of this study was to identify the effect of an indoor cycling program on the body composition and physical fitness of young women.Material and methods. Twenty-nine women (age = 29.31 ± 3.40 years, body weight = 70.71 ± 6.15 kg, and height = 169.83 ± 3.17 cm) took part in the study, participating in three classes per week for 16 weeks. Each class included three periods: the preparatory, main, and supporting periods. Body composition (waist circumference and body mass index), cardiorespiratory fitness (VО2max), motor fitness (balance), and musculoskeletal fitness (upper and lower body muscle strength and muscular endurance) were compared before the beginning of the study and after 10 and 16 weeks of training. Changes recorded in each variable over time were analyzed statistically using repeated measures methods.Results. Significant improvements in physical fitness were identified in the values of the body mass index (7.81%; ES: 0.95, p = 0.0001) and VО2max (12.51%; ES: 1.02, p = 0.0001). Moderate improvements were found in lower body muscle strength (11.13%; ES: 0.66, p = 0.0001) and waist circumference (6.05%, ES: 0.65, p = 0.0001). There was an increase in the strength of the muscles of the upper body (5.27%; ES: 0.41, p = 0.0001), muscular endurance (8.20%; ES: 0.32, p = 0.0001), and balance (10.68%; ES: 0.29, p = 0.003).Conclusion. Indoor cycling in a fitness club is an effective form of exercise for young women; it has targeted training effects on the body’s functional systems, adaptive abilities, and physical fitness.


Author(s):  
Stevo POPOVIC ◽  
Boris BANJEVIC ◽  
Bojan MASANOVIC ◽  
Dusko BJELICA

Background: The body composition and physical fitness of members of the army is always a relevant topic for research, since the level of defense and security of people and material goods in a specific territory in many ways depends on the level of ability of the army. However, members of the armed forces are a heterogeneous group, typified by different abilities, characteristics, but also everyday needs, and the trend of changing body composition and reducing physical fitness is a current issue that has not bypassed this population either. Therefore, this study aimed to determine possible differences in body composition indicators that could appear between members of the Army of Montenegro of different military specialties. Methods: The sample of respondents included 240 Montenegrin male soldiers (32.5yr±9.5), who were measured at the sports dispensaries within the barracks of Montenegrin Army around the country in the spring of 2020, was classified into eight numerically equal subsamples according to their military specialty. The sample of variables included five anthropometric measures, which were necessary to calculate two derived body composition indicators: Body Mass Index (BMI) and Body Fat Percentage (FAT %). Using the one-way ANOVA and Post Hoc test with Taki’s model, the variables were analyzed. Results: It was determined that the body composition of Montenegrin soldiers shows a certain peculiarity compared to other national military corps, while there are differences in body composition indicators between members of the Montenegrin Army of different military specialties. Conclusion: This fact dramatically strengthens the issues of Montenegrin distinctive regarding body composition, both in general terms and in terms of distinctive within specific professional vocations.  


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