Hip and wrist accelerometers showed consistent associations with fitness and fatness in children aged 8‐12 years
Aim Physical activity (PA) has traditionally been measured wearing accelerometers on the hip, but they are increasingly being worn on the wrist. We compared hip and wrist accelerometers with regard to their acceptability and any associations between PA and fatness and fitness. Methods This cross-sectional study comprised 103 children aged 8-12 years (62% boys) who participated in the ActiveBrains trial by the University of Granada, Spain, in 2014-2016. The children wore both ActiGraph GT3X+ hip and wrist accelerometers round the clock for 7 days. The acceptability of both placements was evaluated by a questionnaire, while the children's fat mass index, waist circumference and cardiorespirat…
Recommendations for Determining the Validity of Consumer Wearables and Smartphones for the Estimation of Energy Expenditure : Expert Statement and Checklist of the INTERLIVE Network
Open Access funding provided by the IReL Consortium. This research was partly funded by Huawei Technologies, Finland. RA and BC are partly funded by Science Foundation Ireland (12/RC/2289_P2). PMG and FBO are supported by grants from the MINECO/FEDER (DEP2016-79512-R) and from the University of Granada, Plan Propio de Investigacion 2016, Excellence actions: Units of Excellence; Scientific Excellence Unit on Exercise and Health (UCEES); Junta de Andalucia, Consejeria de Conocimiento, Investigacion y Universidades and European Regional Development Funds (ref. SOMM17/6107/UGR). JT and JS are partly funded by the Research Council of Norway (249932/F20). AG is supported by a European Research Co…
European fitness landscape for children and adolescents: updated reference values, fitness maps and country rankings based on nearly 8 million test results from 34 countries gathered by the FitBack network
Objectives (1) To develop reference values for health-related fitness in European children and adolescents aged 6–18 years that are the foundation for the web-based, open-access and multilanguage fitness platform (FitBack); (2) to provide comparisons across European countries. Methods This study builds on a previous large fitness reference study in European youth by (1) widening the age demographic, (2) identifying the most recent and representative country-level data and (3) including national data from existing fitness surveillance and monitoring systems. We used the Assessing Levels of PHysical Activity and fitness at population level (ALPHA) test battery as it comprises tests with the h…
Physical fitness in relation to later body composition in pre-school children
Objectives Although physical fitness is considered a marker of health in youth, little is known whether physical fitness in pre-school age is related to later body composition. Thus, this study investigated (i) associations of physical fitness at 4.5 years of age with body composition 12 months later and (ii) whether improvements in physical fitness during the 12-month follow-up were associated with changes in body composition. Design This study included 142 children, measured at 4.5 and 5.5 years, from the control group of the MINISTOP trial. Methods Physical fitness (cardiorespiratory fitness, lower- and upper-body muscular strength and motor fitness) was measured using the PREFIT test ba…
Impact of COVID-19 Confinement on Physical Activity and Sedentary Behaviour in Spanish University Students: Role of Gender
During the COVID-19 pandemic, entire populations were instructed to live in home-confinement to prevent the expansion of the disease. Spain was one of the countries with the strictest conditions, as outdoor physical activity was banned for nearly two months. This study aimed to analyse the changes in physical activity and sedentary behaviours in Spanish university students before and during the confinement by COVID-19 with special focus on gender. We also analysed enjoyment, the tools used and motivation and impediments for doing physical activity. An online questionnaire, which included the International Physical Activity Questionnaire Short Form and certain &ldquo
Longitudinal Physical Activity, Body Composition, and Physical Fitness in Preschoolers
Purpose: This study aimed to investigate longitudinal associations of objectively measured physical activity (PA) and sedentary behavior (SB) with body composition and physical fitness at a 12-month follow-up in healthy Swedish 4-yr-old children. Methods: The data from the population-based MINISTOP trial were collected between 2014 and 2016, and this study included the 138 children who were in the control group. PA and SB were assessed using the wrist-worn ActiGraph (wGT3x-BT) accelerometer during seven 24-h periods and, subsequently, defined as SB, light-intensity PA, moderate-intensity PA, vigorous-intensity PA (VPA), and moderate-to-vigorous PA (MVPA). Body composition was measured using…
GRANADA consensus on analytical approaches to assess associations with accelerometer-determined physical behaviours (physical activity, sedentary behaviour and sleep) in epidemiological studies
This study was conducted under the umbrella of the ActiveBrains and the SmarterMove projects supported by the MINECO/FEDER (DEP2013-47540, DEP2016-79512-R, RYC-2011-09011) and the CoCA project supported by the European Union's 2020 research and innovation programme (667302). JHM is supported by a grant from the Spanish Ministry of Education, Culture and Sport (FPU15/02645). AR is supported by the NIHR Leicester Biomedical Research Centre, and the Collaboration for leadership in Applied Health Research and Care (CLAHRC) East Midlands. SS is supported by the French National Research Agency (ANR-19-CE36-0004-01). RW is supported by a Medical Research Council Industrial Strategy Studentship (MR…
The Role of Chronic Physical Activity in Alleviating the Detrimental Relationship of Childhood Obesity on Brain and Cognition
Shu-Shih Hsieh was supported by the Postdoctoral Research Abroad Program from the Ministry of Science and Technology in Taiwan (reference number: 109-2917-I-564-034). Francisco B. Ortega's research activity was supported by funds from Spanish Ministry of Economy and Competitiveness (Reference number: DEP2016-79512-R and DEP2017-91544-EXP) and the Andalusian Operational Programme supported with European Regional Development Funds (ERDF in English, FEDER in Spanish, project ref: B-CTS-355-UGR18).
The Role of Heart Rate on the Associations Between Body Composition and Heart Rate Variability in Children With Overweight/Obesity: The ActiveBrains Project
The authors would like to thank all the participants who volunteered for this investigation. This work is the part of a Ph.D. Thesis conducted in the Biomedicine Doctoral Studies of the University of Granada, Spain.
Physical activity intensity, sedentary behavior, body composition and physical fitness in 4-year-old children : results from the ministop trial
Existing knowledge on associations of physical activity (PA) and sedentary behavior (SB) with body composition and physical fitness in preschoolers is limited.To examine associations of PA and SB with body composition and physical fitness in healthy Swedish 4-year-old children.We utilized baseline data collected in 2014 for the population-based MINISTOP trial (n=307). Light-intensity PA (LPA), moderate-intensity PA (MPA), vigorous-intensity PA (VPA), moderate-to-vigorous PA (MVPA) and SB were measured using accelerometry (ActiGraph-wGT3x-BT). Body composition was measured using air-displacement plethysmography, and physical fitness (that is, cardiorespiratory fitness, lower and upper body m…
Transcriptional and Epigenetic Response to Sedentary Behavior and Physical Activity in Children and Adolescents: A Systematic Review.
Background: The links of sedentary behavior and physical activity with health outcomes in children and adolescents is well known. However, the molecular mechanisms involved are poorly understood.We aimed to synthesize the current knowledge of the association of sedentary behavior and physical activity (acute and chronic effects) with gene expression and epigenetic modifications in children and adolescents. Methods: PubMed, Web of Science, and Scopus databases were systematically searched until April 2022. A total of 15 articles were eligible for this review. The risk of bias assessment was performed using the Joanna Briggs Institute Critical Appraisal Tool for Systematic Reviews and/or a mo…
Heart Rate Is a Better Predictor of Cardiorespiratory Fitness Than Heart Rate Variability in Overweight/Obese Children: The ActiveBrains Project
The authors would like to thank all the participants who volunteered for this investigation. This work is part of a Ph.D. thesis conducted in the Biomedicine Doctoral Studies of the University of Granada, Spain.
Associations of fat mass and fat-free mass with physical fitness in 4-year-old children: Results from the MINISTOP trial
Physical fitness is a powerful marker of health in youth. Studies in adolescents and adults suggest that higher fat mass is related to worse physical fitness. However, there is limited knowledge whether fat mass and fat-free mass are associated with physical fitness already in preschoolers. Baseline data from the MINISTOP (Mobile-based INtervention Intended to STop Obesity in Preschoolers) trial was utilized for this cross-sectional analysis. Body composition was assessed using air-displacement plethysmography. Fat mass index [fat mass (kg)/height(2) (m)] and fat-free mass index [fat-free mass (kg)/height(2) (m)] were used to provide height-adjusted measures of body composition. Physical fi…