Effects of the 3-year Sigue la Huella intervention on sedentary time in secondary school students.

BACKGROUND: To examine the effects of the Sigue la Huella (Follow the Footstep) intervention on adolescents' daily sedentary time (ST). METHODS: This quasi-experimental, cohort study took place in four secondary schools in Huesca (Spain) during the 2009-2010, 2010-2011 and 2011-2012 academic years (students aged 12-15 years). Two schools were assigned to the experimental condition (n = 368) and two schools to the control condition (n = 314). Sigue la Huella adopted a whole school approach and used both curricular and non-curricular intervention channels to empower students to make better decisions. ST was measured for 7 days on four occasions using accelerometers. Growth curve models were used to analyze the data. RESULTS: In the model with all participants, a significant interaction indicated that the effect of the intervention was dependent on the study cohort considered. While in cohort 1 there were no significant differences in rate of linear change of ST between the experimental and the control group (P = 0.148), in cohorts 2 and 3 significant differences were observed in favor of the experimental group (ß = -13.88, 95% CI = -25.00 to -2.76, P = 0.015; ß = -76.73, 95% CI = -110.68 to -42.78, P < 0.001), independent of type of school (public vs. private) and gender. CONCLUSIONS: Sigue la Huella had mainly a protective effect in two of the three study cohorts. Whereas in cohort 2 the intervention prevented increases in ST, in cohort 3 the intervention reduced considerably the increase in ST noted in the control group.

Promising school-based strategies and intervention guidelines to increase physical activity of adolescents.

This narrative review describes the available scientific evidence regarding promising school-based strategies to increase physical activity of adolescents. We conducted a literature search for studies published up to 2011, regarding adolescent physical activity intervention studies that resulted in increased physical activity (regardless of measurement) and reviewed 52 intervention articles and 21 review articles. We identified several promising strategies and grouped into five broad intervention guidelines. These guidelines are as follows: (i) design multi-component interventions that foster the empowerment of members of the school community; (ii) develop improvements to Physical Education curricula as a strategy to promote physical activity to adolescents; (iii) design and implement non-curricular programmes and activities to promote physical activity; (iv) include computer-tailored interventions during the implementation and monitoring of physical activity promotion programmes and (v) design and implement specific strategies that respond to the interests and needs of girls. On the basis of our review of the adolescent physical activity promotion literature, we suggest that these five guidelines should be taken into account in school-based interventions geared towards achieving an increase in adolescent physical activity.

Centre for the Promotion of Physical Activity and Health (CAPAS-City): A Pyrenean Cross-Cultural Structure to Lead the Way in the Design, Implementation, and Evaluation of Multilevel Physical Activity Interventions.

This study describes a Pyrenean cross-cultural structure called Centre for the Promotion of Physical Activity and Health (CAPAS-City) that was created to promote physical activity (PA) in Huesca (Spain) and Tarbes (France). The main aim of this centre is to lead the way in the design, implementation, and evaluation of multilevel PA interventions to improve their efficacy and sustainability inside the city. CAPAS-City responds to the main challenges related to multilevel PA interventions, through six guiding principles: (1) promoting sustainability, (2) playing a leadership role, (3) promoting multisectoral partnerships, (4) using evidence-based strategies, (5) promoting integrated knowledge translation, and (6) using a participatory research approach. Five multilevel PA interventions were designed in both cities by CAPAS-City with these principles in mind. Through the example of the Annual MOT Test adapted to bikes, we also illustrate one practical application of the use of these principles, following the Social-Ecological approach, in which the main agents of influence are involved at different levels to encourage cycling. According to the promising results found in this study, CAPAS-City appears to be a structure that is able to respond to the main needs and challenges of multilevel interventions to increase PA levels in the whole population of both cities.

Weekday and weekend physical activity patterns of French and Spanish adolescents.

Adolescents' objectively assessed physical activity (PA) patterns during specific segments of the day remain unclear. In order to develop a clearer understanding this study examined country and gender differences in moderate to vigorous physical activity (MVPA) levels during specific segments of weekdays and weekend days, and explored the contribution of each segment to PA guidelines. Morpho-demographic, socio-economic and PA data were collected from a sample of 829 French and Spanish adolescents (45.0% Spanish; 55.2% females; 14.33±.73 years). Actigraph GT3X accelerometers were worn for seven days to assess adolescents' MVPA for three segments of weekdays (school-travel-time, school-time, and non-school-time), and weekend days (morning-time, afternoon-time and night-time). Data were analysed using multilevel modelling. The most active segments were non-school-time (29.2±17.5 min) and school-time (25.8±14.2 min) during weekdays, and morning-time (28.2±25.8 min) on weekend days. Except for school-time, Spanish adolescents were more significantly active than French adolescents during all segments. Significant gender differences were found in all segments. Country differences highlight the need to recognise cultural contexts that influence adolescents' PA. Common European-wide strategies may be insufficient to increase MVPA levels if cultural variability is not considered. Spanish and French PA intervention programmes should target girls and low-active boys during non-school-time and weekends.

A cross-cultural study of adolescents' physical activity levels in France and Spain.

The goals of this study were (1) to describe and compare levels of physical activity (PA), assessed by accelerometry, of adolescents in two close Spanish and French cities according to gender and period of the week and (2) to assess, with reference to country and gender, the extent to which international PA guidelines were fulfilled. The PA of 401 adolescents (53.37% females) from France and Spain (55.72% French) aged 14.45 ± 0.67 years was assessed with GT3X accelerometers for seven consecutive days to evaluate their habitual levels of moderate to vigorous physical activity (MVPA). Data collection took place from September to December 2010 in six public and state schools in France and Spain. There were significant differences in MVPA in terms of country, gender and period of the week. Spanish adolescents were more active than French adolescents, boys were more active than girls and MVPA was higher on weekdays than at weekends. French girls showed the lowest level of PA. Only 35.9% of the whole sample met the guidelines for PA in both countries. Governments of relevant countries, especially France, should adopt PA promotion policies targeted at adolescents in order to enhance their compliance with PA guidelines.

Barreras percibidas para la práctica de actividad física en estudiantes universitarios. Diferencias por género y niveles de actividad física / Perceived barriers to Physical Activity in University Students. Differences in Gender and Physical Activity Levels

Resumen La etapa universitaria supone un momento sensible respecto a la realización de práctica de actividad física (AF), especialmente en las mujeres. El objetivo principal de este estudio fue identificar la prevalencia de barreras de práctica de AF, y analizar las posibles diferencias en función del género y el cumplimiento de las recomendaciones de práctica de AF para adultos, establecidas por la Organización Mundial de la Salud (2010). Participaron 901 estudiantes universitarios (M = 22.59; DT = 3.59) que cumplimentaron el IPAQ-SF y la Escala de Percepción de Barreras. Entre los resultados destaca que las barreras relativas a la falta de tiempo obtuvieron los valores más altos entre la población universitaria. El MANOVA realizado mostró que los estudiantes que no cumplían las recomendaciones de práctica de AF percibían valores superiores en la mayoría de barreras de práctica de AF que aquellos estudiantes que sí cumplían las recomendaciones. De igual modo, las mujeres que cumplían las recomendaciones de AF presentaron valores superiores en todas las barreras analizadas, que los hombres que cumplían dichas recomendaciones. En esta misma línea, las mujeres que no cumplían las recomendaciones de AF presentaron valores superiores en las barreras referentes al tiempo y a la capacidad de disfrute que los hombres que no cumplían dichas recomendaciones. A raíz de la alta prevalencia de percepción de barreras, especialmente en las mujeres, se destaca la importancia de desarrollar programas de intervención y políticas que puedan suponer una mayor adherencia a la práctica de AF, asentando unos hábitos más activos en la población universitaria.

Abstract University stage is a sensitive moment about doing physical activity (PA), especially in women. The main objective of this study was to identify the barriers to PA in university students and analyze possible differences in gender and compliance with PA guidelines established in adults by World Health Organization (2010). 901 students (M = 22.59; SD = 3.59) completed the IPAQ-SF and the Scale of Perceived Barriers. Among the results, the barriers related to lack of time obtained the highest values among the university population. The MANOVA showed that students who failing to meet PA guidelines perceived higher values ​​in most analyzed barriers than the students who meet PA guidelines. Likewise, women who met the PA guidelines presented higher values in all the barriers analyzed than the men who met the PA guidelines. In addition, women who failing to meet PA guidelines presented higher values in the barriers related to time and disliking of PA than the men who failing to meet PA guidelines. In summary, this study showed a high prevalencia of barriers in university students, especially in women. The results highlight the importance of developing health policies and PA interventions targeting university students.