Effect of Motor Competence and Health-Related Fitness in the Prevention of Metabolic Syndrome Risk Factors.

Purpose: In the last decades we have seen an increase in sedentary behaviors and a decrease in physical activity in children when compared to past generations. This lifestyle is commonly associated with the development of clustering risk factors that define metabolic syndrome (MetS). Knowing that motor competence (MC) development can influence lifelong physical activity habits, it is reasonable to assume that children's MC will directly link to clustered cardiometabolic health outcomes. The aim of this study was to analyze the role of MC in MetS risk factors. Methods: Seventy children with a mean age of 7.49 (SD = 1.28) years were evaluated on motor competence (MCA-Motor Competence Assessment instrument), cardiovascular fitness (PACER test), upper body strength (UBS; handgrip), and the components of MetS, hypertriglyceridemia, hypertension, abdominal obesity, low concentration of high-density lipoprotein cholesterol, and high fasting blood glucose. The composite value of MetS was calculated according to Burns et al. (2017). Multiple standard regressions were performed to explore the effect of different variables on MetS. Motor competence and health-related fitness (cardiovascular fitness and relative upper body strength) were used as independent variables (predictors) and MetS as dependent variable. Results: Overall, the results showed that motor competence (ß = -.072; p < .05) is a significant predictor and this model explained 7,1% of the variance in MetS. Conclusion: Although more studies are needed, our results indicate that MC seems to have a positive role in children's health markers.

This study aimed to analyze the role of MC, cardiorespiratory fitness, and upper body strength in MetS risk factors.The results suggest that upper body strength is the strongest predictor for MetS (negative association), followed by MC (positive association).When the different MC components were entered independently instead of total MC, the upper body strength and locomotor MC were found to be significant predictors of the MetS behavior.Considering our results and the fact that MC levels during childhood positively influence PA levels along lifespan, this study suggests a pathway to follow in future research.

Embracing the Nutritional Assessment in Cerebral Palsy: A Toolkit for Healthcare Professionals for Daily Practice.

BACKGROUND: Nutritional status assessment (NSA) can be challenging in children with cerebral palsy (CP). There are high omission rates in national surveillance reports of weight and height information. Alternative methods are used to assess nutritional status that may be unknown to the healthcare professionals (HCP) who report these children. Caregivers experience challenges when dealing with feeding problems (FP) common in CP. Our aim was to assess the difficulties in NSA which are causing this underreport and to create solutions for registers and caregivers. METHODS: An online questionnaire was created for registers. Three meetings with HCP and caregivers were held to discuss problems and solutions regarding NSA and intervention. RESULTS: HCP mentioned difficulty in NSA due to a lack of time, collaboration with others, equipment, and childrens' motor impairment. Caregivers experienced difficulty in preparing nutritious meals with adapted textures. The creation of educational tools and other strategies were suggested. A toolkit for HCP was created with the weight and height assessment methods described and other for caregivers to deal with common FP. CONCLUSIONS: There are several difficulties experienced by HCP that might be overcome with educational tools, such as a toolkit. This will facilitate nutritional assessment and intervention and hopefully reduce underreporting.

Sintra Grows Healthy: development and implementation of a food literacy curriculum for primary schools.

OBJECTIVE: Describe the process of development and implementation of Health at the Table - a food literacy curriculum for primary school aged children. DESIGN: Through a community-based research process, Health at the Table development and implementation took place in four stages: exploratory study, production, implementation and monitoring. SETTING: Primary schools of Sintra's municipality, Portugal. PARTICIPANTS: Children (6-10 years), teachers, school staff and children's legal guardians of three primary schools during the pilot project and eight primary schools in the second year. RESULTS: During the needs assessment phase, 99·1 % (n 341) of the children's legal guardians, 100 % (n 34) of the teachers and 100 % (n 19) of the school staff considered that the school plays an important or very important role in children's food literacy (stage 1). During the pilot project, a manual with sixty session plans was developed (stage 2). In the second year, Health at the Table was implemented by seventy-two trained teachers during one school year (stage 3). Most of the teachers agreed that the curriculum was appropriate (69·2 %) and that children developed health, wellness/well-being and environmental skills (83·1 %). Most of the children said they had learned about healthy eating (86·3 %) and claimed to eat healthier since the Health at the Table implementation (58·9 %) (stage 4). CONCLUSIONS: Health at the Table is a food literacy curriculum that can be reproduced in similar contexts in a sustainable way. The need to combine educational strategies with a healthy school food environment is reinforced to increase effectiveness in tackling childhood obesity.

A school-based intervention for a better future: study protocol of Sintra Grows Healthy.

BACKGROUND: Preventing childhood obesity is a public health challenge of the twenty-first century and it must be a priority. Governments play a major role in creating and supporting a healthy school environment and should prioritise actions to improve children's health. Sintra Grows Healthy aims to promote healthy lifestyles to prevent childhood obesity and improve children's health-related quality of life and social and emotional skills, through the development of a school evidence-based and sustainable model. METHODS: This protocol describes a quasi-experimental design and community-based participatory research. The participants included in the study are the school community of Portuguese public primary schools from the municipality of Sintra. Data will be collected on demographic and socio-economic characterization, nutritional status, eating habits and behaviours, physical activity, sedentary behaviours and sleep, health-related quality of life, and social and emotional skills. DISCUSSION: There is evidence to support interventions in school settings as strategies for obesity prevention. Up-to-date homogeneous and community-based interventions for preventing childhood obesity are lacking, therefore Sintra Grows Healthy intends to fill this gap. Furthermore, Sintra Grows Healthy aims to contribute with relevant scientific findings that will allow the development of better strategies for policymakers and society to manage this major public health problem.

Development of RisObIn.Com, a Screening Tool for Risk of Childhood Obesity in the Community.

The prevalence of childhood overweight has increased considerably in the past three decades and there is evidence that childhood obesity can persist into adulthood. A simple tool to identify relevant risk factors may alert families and prevent overweight and obesity. This study aims to develop a pre-school screening tool to assess the risk of childhood obesity. Child anthropometric measurements and several risk factors for childhood obesity factors were obtained. The effect of the variables on the outcome of obesity (defined as increased anthropometry-estimated adiposity) was assessed by binary logistic regression analyses. The identified variables were submitted for expert panel validation and combined for the tool development. A total of 304 children were included. Eight items were included in the tool. A higher score of the tool indicates a greater risk for obesity in childhood with the cutoff point set at 0. The tool sensitivity for obesity was 95%, specificity was 74.4%, the positive predictive value was 37.3%, and negative predictive value was 98.9%. The Risk of childhood Obesity In the Community (RisObIn.Com) tool is proposed to be a comprehensive tool to identify children at high risk for late childhood obesity at admission to primary school. Further studies are needed to assess the performance of the tool.

Association between whey protein, regional fat mass, and strength in resistance-trained men: a cross-sectional study.

The purpose of this study was to evaluate the association between whey protein supplementation, body composition, and muscle strength in resistance-trained individuals. Forty-nine healthy males, aged 18 to 35 years and were engaged in resistance training for at least 1 year, were assigned into 2 groups according to whey protein intake (whey - n = 26, age: 30.7 ± 7.4 years, body mass: 75.8 ± 9.0 kg; without whey: n = 23, age: 31.0 ± 7.4 years, body mass: 77.9 ± 9.3 kg). Using a cross-sectional design, a morning assessment of body fat mass (FM) (by dual-energy X-ray absorptiometry) and strength (using 1-repetition maximum for bench press and back squat) was performed. Nutritional assessment was performed by 3-day food records. Regarding nutritional habits, differences between total energy intake (kcal) and estimated energy requirements (kcal) were observed. Results, from raw data or controlling for energy intake, estimated energy requirements, or achieved percentage of energy requirements, showed that whey protein supplementation was inversely correlated with whole-body FM (R = -0.367 (p = 0.010); R = -0.317 (p = 0.049); R = -0.380 (p = 0.011); R = -0.321 (p = 0.047), respectively), trunk FM (R = -0.396 (p = 0.005), R = -0.367 (p = 0.022), R = -0.423 (p = 0.004), R = -0.369 (p = 0.021), respectively) and android FM (R = -0.381 (p = 0.007), R = -0.332 (p = 0.039), R = -0.383 (p = 0.010), R = -0.336 (p = 0.036), respectively). No correlations were found between muscle strength outcomes and whey protein supplementation. The present data suggest that whey protein ingestion has a positive association with whole-body and regional (trunk and android) FM.