Metabolic risk factors, physical activity and physical fitness in azorean adolescents: a cross-sectional study

BMC Public Health

Research Article

José Cazuza de Farias Júnior¹  Luísa Soares-Miranda²  Ana I Marques²  Rute Santos²  Susana Vale²  Carla Moreira²  Jorge Mota²  Paula C Santos³ 

[1] Physical Education Department, Federal University of Paraiba, Brazil;Research Centre in Physical Activity, Health and Leisure, Faculty of Sport, University of Porto, Portugal;Research Centre in Physical Activity, Health and Leisure, Faculty of Sport, University of Porto, Portugal;Department of Physiotherapy, School of Health Technology of Porto, IPP, Portugal;

关键词: Physical Activity;    Waist Circumference;    Physical Fitness;    Mediterranean Diet;    Step Count;   

DOI  :  10.1186/1471-2458-11-214

 received in 2010-11-01, accepted in 2011-04-06,  发布年份 2011

来源: Springer

【 摘 要 】

BackgroundThe prevalence of metabolic syndrome has increased over the last few decades in adolescents and has become an important health challenge worldwide. This study analyzed the relationships between metabolic risk factors (MRF) and physical activity (PA) and physical fitness (PF) in a sample of Azorean adolescents.MethodsA cross-sectional school-based study was conducted on 417 adolescents (243 girls) aged 15-18 from the Azorean Islands, Portugal. Height, weight, waist circumference, fasting glucose, HDL-cholesterol, triglycerides, and blood pressure were measured. A sum of MRF was computed, and adolescents were classified into three groups: no MRF, one MRF and two or more MRF. PA was assessed by a sealed pedometer. PF was assessed using five tests from the Fitnessgram Test Battery. Dietary intake was obtained using a semi-quantitative food frequency questionnaire.ResultsMean daily steps for girls and boys were 7427 ± 2725 and 7916 ± 3936, respectively. Fifty-nine percent of the adolescents showed at least one MRF and 57.6% were under the healthy zone in the 20 m Shuttle Run Test. Ordinal logistic regression analysis showed that after adjusting for sex, body mass index, socio-economic status and adherence to a Mediterranean diet, adolescents who were in the highest quartile of the pedometer step/counts (≥9423 steps/day) and those who achieved the healthy zone in five tests were less likely to have one or more MRF (OR = 0.56;95%CI:0.33-0.95; OR = 0.55;95%CI:0.31-0.98, respectively).ConclusionsDaily step counts and PF levels were negatively associated with having one or more MRF among Azorean adolescents. Our findings emphasize the importance of promoting and increasing regular PA and PF to reduce the public health burden of chronic diseases associated with a sedentary lifestyle.

【 授权许可】

CC BY   
© Moreira et al; licensee BioMed Central Ltd. 2011