Evaluation of the relationship between nutritional status, levels of physical activity and physical strength in adolescents.

BACKGROUND & AIMS: The study aimed at evaluating the relationship among anthropometric measurements, levels of physical activity and physical fitness in schoolchildren. METHODS: A cross-sectional study was carried out in public schools, with 173 adolescents from 10 to 17 years of age. Socioeconomic data were obtained by a structured questionnaire. Anthropometric measures were assessed and classified according to Body Mass Index (BMI)/age and Waist Circumference (WC). The long version of the International Physical Activity Questionnaire (IPAQ) was used to assess the level of physical activity, while the physical fitness level was assessed using the Projeto Esporte Brasil (PROESP) test protocol. RESULTS: 72,3% of the adolescents were eutrophic and 24.3% were overweight and 22.6% were at high risk for cardiovascular disease, with no statistical difference between the sexes (p > 0.05). 53.8% were physically inactive, regardless of sex and nutritional status. 86.1% of the adolescents showed low physical fitness, more significantly for sit-and-reach andsquare tests of females. BMI was directly correlated with physical fitness in the assessment ofupper limb power and agility (medicine ball throw and square test) and indirectly with aerobic capacity and lower limb power (abdominal resistance, horizontal jump and general resistance). The opposite was observed in the correlation of endurance (abdominal and general) and medicine ball throw with WC. Also, there was a likely visceral obesity and consequent cardiovascular risk in females more than in males. CONCLUSIONS: These findings reinforce the connection between physical activity and the presence of overweight and obesity in adolescents and also the need to effectively intervene in this groupin order to ensure the prevention of chronic non-communicable diseases in adulthood.

Use of neck circumference as a predictor of cardiovascular risk in chronic kidney patients undergoing haemodialysis who are candidates for transplantation.

INTRODUCTION: Patients undergoing haemodialysis are at great cardiovascular risk. Neck circumference (NC) is a simple and low-cost measure for estimating this risk precociously. The present study aimed to evaluate whether the cardiovascular risk obtained by NC is associated with the main cardiometabolic risk factors in patients on haemodialysis treatment who are on a waiting list for transplantation. METHODS: A cross-sectional study was conducted including 96 patients in a single transplantation centre. Socio-demographic, clinical-laboratory and anthropometric data were collected. NC was considered as a dependent variable and the independent variables were body mass index (BMI), fasting glycaemia and lipid profile, triglyceride and high-density lipoprotein-cholesterol (TGL/HDL-C) ratio, and triglyceride and glycaemia (TyG) index. For the comparison of averages, we used Mann-Whitney and Student's t tests, as well as one-way analysis of variance and Kruskal-Wallis tests. Bivariate and multivariate logistic regression was performed for the association between NC and cardiometabolic risk factors. p < 0.05 was considered statistically significant. RESULTS: There were higher BMI averages, blood glucose, triglycerides (TGL), TGL/HDL-C ratio and TyG index in the tertile 3 of the NC, whereas the HDL-C decreased as the tertile increased. There was a statistically significant risk of cardiovascular disease that was asscoiated, according to NC, with being overweight, high levels of TGL, TGL/HDL-C, TyG index and low HDL-C. CONCLUSIONS: NC is shown to be associated with cardiometabolic risk factors in kidney patients undergoing haemodialysis who are on a transplant waiting list.