Do children’s previous physical activity habits influence their behaviors during the Covid-19 social distancing period?

Objective: Verify whether the practice of physical activity, before the social distancing imposed by COVID-19, influences children’s routines during this period, in children of different ages. Methods: Descriptive cross-sectional study carried out with an online questionnaire from LimeSurvey and disseminated for four months during social distancing. The questionnaire contained questions about family composition, household characteristics, household and children’s routines, including habits such as sleeping, physical activity, intellectual activity, playing with and without physical activity, and screen time. The final sample consisted of 916 participating families that answered about the physical activity habits of their respective children before the pandemic. Children were divided into three age groups (three to five years, six to nine years, and ten to twelve years). Independent Student’s t-tests were performed to investigate whether the previous practice of scheduled physical activity group and the no physical activity group differed as to the time dedicated to children’s activities and routines (intellectual activity, sleeping, screen time, playing with and without physical activity), by age groups, during social distancing. Results: There was a decrease in the levels of physical activity undertaken by Brazilian children during social distancing. There was no difference when both groups. The children with previous practice of scheduled physical activity did not display different habits from the children who did not adopt this practice. Conclusions: The practice of physical activity before social distancing did not influence the level of physical activity and other habits during social distancing. Healthy habits should be encouraged and targeted for all children during the pandemic. These findings can contribute to the formulation of public policies for children during pandemic times.

Symptom and clinical recovery outcomes for pediatric concussion following early physical activity

OBJECTIVE Recent research supports initiating physical activity as soon as 24 to 48 hours after concussion to reduce persistent postconcussive symptoms. However, this practice has not been widely adopted. The objective of this study was to evaluate the association of early physical activity with patient-reported and functional outcomes for pediatric patients following a concussion. METHODS A retrospective cohort of patients who presented to a pediatric sports medicine clinic (48% female, mean age14.3 ± 2.6 years, and mean 9.8 ± 5.7 days postconcussion) were evaluated. Patients were grouped based on whether they reported engaging in physical activity prior to presenting to the clinic. Patient- and parent-reported symptom frequency (Health and Behavior Inventory), 11 different clinical outcomes (including missed school, memory recall, and balance assessments), the presence of symptoms persisting beyond 28 days, and a subgroup analysis of those patients receiving exercise versus symptom-limiting activity prescriptions were examined. Outcomes were compared between physical activity groups using the Mann-Whitney U-test and the chi-square test. To adjust for the effect of potential confounders, a logistic binary regression model was constructed. RESULTS In total, 211 pediatric patients were included, 35 (17%) of whom reported early physical activity. A greater proportion of the no physical activity group reported a headache (85% vs 60%, p = 0.001). The no physical activity group also reported higher patient-reported (23.1 ± 13.4 vs 15.0 ± 13.4, p < 0.001) and parent-reported (19.4 ± 12.7 vs 11.2 ± 10.3, p = 0.001) symptom frequency at the initial visit. The early physical activity group had a lower proportion of patients with persistent symptoms (44% vs 22%, p = 0.02) and a shorter time to symptom resolution (15.6 ± 12.4 days vs 27.2 ± 24.2 days, p = 0.02). After adjusting for potential confounders, early physical activity was associated with 5.8 lower odds of experiencing persistent symptoms (adjusted OR 5.83, 95% CI 2.05–16.61; p = 0.001). CONCLUSIONS A significant association between early physical activity and decreased symptom burden was observed. A lower proportion of those patients who engaged in early physical activity experienced persistent symptoms 28 days postinjury. However, low rates of early physical activity prior to the initial clinic visit were also observed, indicating that this approach may not be well known by acute care or primary care providers, or is not widely adopted by patients and families.

Diferencias demográficas de climas motivacionales, necesidades psicológicas básicas y cohesión en jóvenes (Demographic differences in motivational climates, basic psychological needs and cohesion in young people)

El objetivo de este trabajo es analizar el comportamiento de las variables de clima motivacional (empowering y disempowering), necesidades psicológicas (satisfacción y frustración) y cohesión (tarea y social) en función del sexo (hombres y mujeres), naturaleza de la actividad física (deporte conjunto-individual y educación física) y años de experiencia deportiva (4 años o menos, 5 años o más); además, analizar la interrelación entre las variables psicológicas. Participaron 237 jóvenes deportistas mexicanos (Medad = 12.22, DT = 1.27) de nivel básico. Con respecto a las diferencias en función del género, no hubo diferencias significativas; en cuanto a la naturaleza de la actividad, se presentaron diferencias entre todas las variables psicológicas; por último, en función de los años de experiencia, únicamente el clima empowering mostró diferencia significativa, siendo mayor en los deportistas con menos años de experiencia. Para poder ser concluyentes en estos resultados es necesario realizar una mayor investigacion. Respecto a la interacción entre variables, se evidencia la relación positiva entre el clima empowering, la satisfacción de las NPB y ambas cohesiones; así como, el clima disempowering y la frustración de las NPB. Abtract: The objective of this work is to analyze the behavior of the variables of motivational climate (empowering and disempowering), psychological needs (satisfaction and frustration) and cohesion (task and social) as a function of sex (men and women), nature of physical activity (group-individual sport and physical education) and years of sport experience (4 years or less, 5 years or more); in addition, to analyze the interrelation between the psychological variables. A total of 237 young Mexican athletes (Mage = 12.22, SD = 1.27) of elementary level participated. With respect to the differences according to gender, there were no significant differences; with respect to the nature of the activity, there were differences between all the psychological variables; finally, according to the years of experience, only the empowering climate showed a significant difference, being greater in the athletes with fewer years of experience. In order to be conclusive about these results, further research is needed. Regarding the interaction between variables, there was evidence of a positive relationship between the empowering climate, NPB satisfaction and both cohesions, as well as the disempowering climate and NPB frustration.

Association between physical-activity trajectories and cognitive decline in adults 50 years of age or older

ObjectivesTo investigate the associations of physical-activity trajectories with the level of cognitive performance and its decline in adults 50 years of age or older.MethodsWe studied 38729 individuals (63 ± 9 years; 57% women) enrolled in the Survey of Health, Ageing and Retirement in Europe (SHARE). Physical activity was self-reported and cognitive performance was assessed based on immediate recall, verbal fluency, and delayed recall. Physical-activity trajectories were estimated using growth mixture modelling and linear mixed effects models were used to investigate the associations between the trajectories and cognitive performance.ResultsThe models identified two physical-activity trajectories of physical activity: constantly-high physical activity (N=27634: 71%) and decreasing physical activity (N=11095; 29%). Results showed that participants in the decreasing physical-activity group exhibited a lower level of cognitive performance compared to the high physical-activity group (immediate recall: ß=0.94; 95% confidence interval [CI]=0.92 to 0.95; verbal fluency: ß=0.98; 95% CI=0.97 to 0.98; delayed recall: ß=0.95; 95% CI=0.94 to 0.97). Moreover, compared with participants in the constantly-high physical-activity group, participants in the decreasing physical-activity group showed a steeper decline in all cognitive measures (immediate recall: ß=-0.04; 95% CI=-0.05 to −0.04; verbal fluency: ß=-0.22; 95% CI=-0.24 to −0.21; delayed recall: ß=-0.04; 95% CI=-0.05 to −0.04).ConclusionsPhysical-activity trajectories are associated with the level and evolution of cognitive performance in adults over 50 years. Specifically, our findings suggest that a decline in physical activity over multiple years is associated with a lower level and a steeper decline in cognitive performance.

The Combined Effects of Milk Intake and Physical Activity on Bone Mineral Density in Korean Adolescents

The purpose of this study was to examine the combined effects of milk intake and physical activity on bone mineral density in adolescents. This study was conducted using data from the 2009–2011 Korea National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey (KNHANES), which provided measurements of bone mineral density (BMD) in addition to basic health-related data. This study included 1061 adolescents aged 13 to 18 years (557 males and 504 females) whose data on milk intake and participation time in moderate to vigorous physical activity were available. BMD was measured by dual-energy X-ray absorptiometry (DXA). Milk intake was assessed using the 24-h recall method, and the levels of physical activity were examined using a questionnaire. The physical activity questions of 2009–2011 KNHANES were based on the Korean version of the International Physical Activity Questionnaire (IPAQ) short form. The subjects were classified into four groups according to milk intake and physical activity level: no milk intake + low-level physical activity group (MnoPlow), no milk intake + high-level physical activity group (MnoPhigh), milk intake + low-level physical activity group (MyesPlow), and milk intake + high-level physical activity group (MyesPhigh). The results of partial correlation controlling for age, body mass index (BMI), and energy intake showed that the BMD variables were associated significantly with physical activity in both males and females. Among males, the MnoPlow group had the lowest BMD in all BMD variables, showing a significant difference from the high-level physical activity groups (MnoPhigh, MyesPhigh) by multiple logistic regression analysis. Among females, the MyesPhigh group showed a significantly higher lumbar BMD value than the other groups. The MnoPlow group had approximately 0.3 to 0.5 times lower odds ratio for median or higher BMD values, compared to MyesPhigh group. These results show that milk intake and physical activity have a combined effect on BMD, and suggest that to achieve healthy bone growth, it is important to encourage both moderate to vigorous physical activity and milk intake during adolescence.

The Use of Small Electronic Devices and Health: Feasibility of Interventions for a Forthcoming Crossover Design

Background Modern lifestyle is heavily affected by technology such as smartphones, tablets, and other small computers; yet it remains unclear how our health and well-being are affected by the heavy use of these devices. Objective This feasibility study aims to test two different interventions of an experimental protocol for a forthcoming large-scale community-based study and get estimates of parameters for sample size calculation. The aim of the large-scale study is to investigate the effect of (1) a wearable tracking device on aerobic capacity (VO2max/kg) and the effect of (2) restricting media use on total sleep time. Methods Twenty healthy participants were included and equipped with a wrist-worn device tracking physical activity and sleep. Participants were allocated to either a physical activity group, which was instructed to use the wrist-worn device to support exercise, or a sleep silent group, which was instructed to remove or switch off all electronic devices in the bedroom (except the wrist-worn tracking device). The intervention lasted approximately 4 weeks. Data collected included blood pressure, submaximal cycle ergometer test, self-reported technology use, and compliance of using the wearable tracking device. Results All participants wore the wearable tracking device 95.8% (SD 4.4%) of the time. Participants in the physical activity group increased aerobic capacity from 30.38 (SD 8.98) to 32.1 (SD 8.71) mL/kg/min (t=–2.31, P=.046) and decreased their systolic blood pressure from 126.5 (SD 15.8) mm Hg to 121.8 (SD 11.7) mm Hg (t=2.72, P=.02). The sleep silent group prolonged their time offline before bedtime from 18.1 (SD 19.4) minutes to 27.2 (SD 17.3) minutes (t=–2.94, P=.02). Conclusions The two interventions are feasible to conduct. Participants were willing to wear the tracking device on their wrist and restrict all media use in their bedroom and thereby reduce bedtime technology use. Our results also suggest that tracking physical activity using a wearable device is accompanied by noteworthy health benefits. We outline necessary adjustments for a forthcoming large-scale study.

Association between physical-activity trajectories and cognitive decline in adults 50 years of age or older

Aims To investigate the associations of physical-activity trajectories with the level of cognitive performance (CP) and its decline in adults 50 years of age or older. Methods We studied 38 729 individuals (63 ± 9 years; 57% women) enrolled in the Survey of Health, Ageing and Retirement in Europe (SHARE). Physical activity was self-reported and CP was assessed based on immediate recall, verbal fluency and delayed recall. Physical-activity trajectories were estimated using growth mixture modelling and linear mixed-effects models were used to investigate the associations between the trajectories and CP. Results The models identified two trajectories of physical activity: constantly high physical activity (N = 27 634: 71%) and decreasing physical activity (N = 11 095; 29%). Results showed that participants in the decreasing physical-activity group exhibited a lower level of CP compared to the high physical-activity group (immediate recall: ß = 0.94; 95% confidence interval [CI] = 0.92–0.95; verbal fluency: ß = 0.98; 95% CI = 0.97–0.98; delayed recall: ß = 0.95; 95% CI = 0.94–0.97). Moreover, compared with participants in the constantly high physical-activity group, participants in the decreasing physical-activity group showed a steeper decline in all cognitive measures (immediate recall: ß = −0.04; 95% CI = −0.05 to −0.04; verbal fluency: ß = −0.22; 95% CI = −0.24 to −0.21; delayed recall: ß = −0.04; 95% CI = −0.05 to −0.04). Conclusions Physical-activity trajectories are associated with the level and evolution of CP in adults over 50 years. Specifically, our findings suggest that a decline in physical activity over multiple years is associated with a lower level and a steeper decline in CP.

Influence of COVID-19 Building Restrictions on Physical Activity Promotion Through Increased Stair Use and Limited Elevator Access: A Quasi-Experimental Study—Sport and Physical Activity Group Active Campus Project

Background: The aim of this study was to determine the effectiveness of UK government COVID-19 safe offices policy to increase stair use in a higher education setting during the COVID-19 pandemic. Methods: Automated counts at 3 ground floor staircases and the elevator entrances were used to estimate stair to elevator use ratio for ascent and descent from/to the ground floor of a university building at baseline (January to March 2020), first and second intervention months (October 2020, November 2020, respectively). Stair promoting signage and a 1-way system was implemented, in line with government policy. Results: At baseline, stair to elevator use ratio for ascent from and descent to the ground floor was 1.36 (0.02) and 1.88 (0.02) people, respectively. The ratio significantly increased in the first intervention month to 2.64 (0.09) and 3.96 (0.22) people for ascent and descent, respectively. However, the ratio decreased between the first and second intervention months to 1.63 (0.06) and 3.05 (0.52) people for ascent and descent, respectively. Conclusion: The UK government COVID-19 policy was effective at increasing stair use in a higher education setting.

OUTDOOR AND INDOOR PHYSICAL ACTIVITY PROGRAMS IN PARTICIPANTS’ OPINIONS

The studies were conducted to determine the degree of dependence between the physical conditions of organizing school exercise classes and the accompanying emotions expressed by pupils. The factor differentiating the nature of these classes was the environment, which in one case was the natural environment in the vicinity of the school, and in the other one - school infrastructure facilities. The data were collected using The Physical Activity Group Environment Questionnaire PAGEQ in a group of 220 students participating in a kinesiology learning project. The results seem to indicate the role of the natural environment that positively shapes human feelings.