OBJECTIVE
To identify factors in childhood which might influence the development of obesity in adulthood.


BACKGROUND
The prevalence of obesity is increasing in the UK and other developed countries, in adults and children. The adverse health consequences of adult obesity are well documented, but are less certain for childhood obesity. An association between fatness in adolescence and undesirable socio-economic consequences, such as lower educational attainment and income, has been observed, particularly for women. Childhood factors implicated in the development of adult obesity therefore have far-reaching implications for costs to the health-services and economy.


SEARCH STRATEGY
In order to identify relevant studies, electronic databases--Medline, Embase, CAB abstracts, Psyclit and Sport Discus-were searched from the start date of the database to Spring 1998. The general search structure for electronic databases was (childhood or synonyms) AND (fatness or synonyms) AND (longitudinal or synonyms). Further studies were identified by citations in retrieved papers and by consultation with experts.


INCLUSION CRITERIA
Longitudinal observational studies of healthy children which included measurement of a risk factor in childhood (<18 y), and outcome measure at least 1 y later. Any measure of fatness, leanness or change in fatness or leanness was accepted. Measures of fat distribution were not included. Only studies with participants from an industrialized country were considered, and those concerning minority or special groups, e.g. Pima Indians or children born preterm, were excluded.


FINDINGS
Risk factors for obesity included parental fatness, social factors, birth weight, timing or rate of maturation, physical activity, dietary factors and other behavioural or psychological factors. Offspring of obese parent(s) were consistently seen to be at increased risk of fatness, although few studies have looked at this relationship over longer periods of childhood and into adulthood. The relative contributions of genes and inherited lifestyle factors to the parent-child fatness association remain largely unknown. No clear relationship is reported between socio-economic status (SES) in early life and childhood fatness. However, a strong consistent relationship is observed between low SES in early life and increased fatness in adulthood. Studies investigating SES were generally large but very few considered confounding by parental fatness. Women who change social class (social mobility) show the prevalence of obesity of the class they join, an association which is not present in men. The influence of other social factors such as family size, number of parents at home and childcare have been little researched. There is good evidence from large and reasonably long-term studies for an apparently clear relationship for increased fatness with higher birth weight, but in studies which attempted to address potential confounding by gestational age, parental fatness, or social group, the relationship was less consistent. The relationship between earlier maturation and greater subsequent fatness was investigated in predominantly smaller, but also a few large studies. Again, this relationship appeared to be consistent, but in general, the studies had not investigated whether there was confounding by other factors, including parental fatness, SES, earlier fatness in childhood, or dietary or activity behaviours. Studies investigating the role of diet or activity were generally small, and included diverse methods of risk factor measurement. There was almost no evidence for an influence of activity in infancy on later fatness, and inconsistent but suggestive evidence for a protective effect of activity in childhood on later fatness. No clear evidence for an effect of infant feeding on later fatness emerged, but follow-up to adulthood was rare, with only one study measuring fatness after 7y. Studies investigating diet in childhood were limited and inconc

Childhood predictors of adult obesity: a systematic review.

BACKGROUND
Physical activity in adolescence has been reported to enhance physical activity in adulthood, but detailed information on the enhancing effect of different types of adolescent sports is lacking. We evaluated the association between participation in different types of adolescent sports and physical activity in adulthood.


METHODS
The sample comprised 7794 males and females who responded to the mailed questions on physical activity status at age 14 years and at age 31 years in follow-up surveys of the Northern Finland 1966 birth cohort. The associations between adolescent participation in different sports and adult physical activity was examined by multinomial logistic regression.


RESULTS
Frequent participation in sports after school hours in adolescence was associated with a high level of physical activity in adulthood. In males, adolescent participation in ball games, intensive endurance sports, track and field, and combat sports was associated with a high or very high level of adult activity. In females, the same applied to adolescent participation in running, orienteering, track and field, cycling, gymnastics, and riding. Adolescent participation in ball games increased participation in ball games in adulthood, especially in males, while participation in cross-country skiing, running, and orienteering provided the greatest stimulation to carry over of some endurance sport to adulthood.


CONCLUSIONS
Participation in sports at least once a week among females and twice a week among males was associated with high level of physical activity in later life. Adolescent participation in the intensive endurance sports, and some sports that require and encourage diversified sports skills, appeared to be most beneficial with respect to the enhancement of adult physical activity.

Adolescent Participation in Sport and Adult Physical Activity

The purpose of this review is to describe the amount of time children spend in sedentary behaviour and to determine if there are specific factors that associate with sedentary behaviour in children. The following search terms were used to identify relevant articles: sedentary behaviour, inactivity, television, computer, video games, small screen, sitting, prevalence, patterns, correlates, factors and determinants. The databases used to conduct the search included PubMed, PsycINFO, ERIC (Education Resources Information Center) and Academic Search Premier. The studies reviewed were limited to those that sampled children (2-18 years), were written in English and used a measure of sedentary behaviour as the dependent variable. Several studies reported the time spent watching television or the proportion of children at or above a threshold for television viewing (eg, ≥3 h/day). Among the accelerometer studies included, the National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey is the largest and reported ∼6.1, 7.5 and 8.0 h/day mean sedentary time in children 6-11, 12-15 and 16-19 years old, respectively. Taken together, the existing literature across the world indicates a slightly higher level of sedentary behaviour in older children. Higher levels of sedentary behaviour were also reported in non-white children, children from lower socioeconomic status background and children from households with more access to televisions/computers. Lower levels of sedentary behaviour were reported in children whose parents have rules/limitations on screen time.

https://bjsm.bmj.com/content/bjsports/45/11/906.full.pdf?45%2F11%2F906=

Sedentary behaviour in youth

Objetivo: Verificar a variação da pressão intraocular decorrente do uso de óculos de natação. Métodos: Nove nadadores (5 homens e 4 mulheres), com idade entre 18 e 25 anos tiveram sua PIO medida em seis diferentes momentos. Momento 1): pré teste, momento 2): após 10 minutos sentados vestindo óculos de natação, momento 3): quinze minutos após o momento 2, momento 4): após 10 minutos dentro da piscina sem usar óculos de natação, momento 5): imediatamente após nadar 400 metros usando o óculos de natação, momento 6): doze minutos após o termino do nado. Foi utilizado como procedimento estatístico o teste ANOVA e o pós teste de Bonferonni. Resultados: Não houve alteração significativa após 10 minutos de uso do óculos de natação (p˃0.05); não houve alteração significativa da PIO após 10 minutos de permanência dentro da piscina sem usar óculos de natação (p˃0.05); houve redução significativo da PIO (p˂0.01) imediatamente após os 400 metros de nado, retornando próximo aos valores iniciais 12 minutos após o termino do teste. Conclusão: houve redução significativa da PIO após 400 metros de nado, retornando aos valores iniciais 12 minutos após o término do teste.

Revista Brasileira de Prescrição e Fisiologia do Exercício

OBJECTIVE: To analyze alcohol and tobacco use among Brazilian adolescents and identify higher-risk subgroups. METHODS: A systematic review of the literature was conducted. Searches were performed using four databases (LILACS, MEDLINE /PubMed, Web of Science, and Google Scholar), specialized websites and the references cited in retrieved articles. The search was done in English and Portuguese and there was no limit on the year of publication (up to June 2011). From the search, 59 studies met all the inclusion criteria: to involve Brazilian adolescents aged 10-19 years; to assess the prevalence of alcohol and/or tobacco use; to use questionnaires or structured interviews to measure the variables of interest; and to be a school or population-based study that used methodological procedures to ensure representativeness of the target population (i.e. random sampling). RESULTS: The prevalence of current alcohol use (at the time of the investigation or in the previous month) ranged from 23.0% to 67.7%. The mean prevalence was 34.9% (reflecting the central trend of the estimates found in the studies). The prevalence of current tobacco use ranged from 2.4% to 22.0%, and the mean prevalence was 9.3%. A large proportion of the studies estimated prevalences of frequent alcohol use (66.7%) and heavy alcohol use (36.8%) of more than 10%. However, most studies found prevalences of frequent and heavy tobacco use of less than 10%. The Brazilian literature has highlighted that environmental factors (religiosity, working conditions, and substance use among family and friends) and psychosocial factors (such as conflicts with parents and feelings of negativeness and loneliness) are associated with the tobacco and alcohol use among adolescents. CONCLUSIONS: The results suggest that consumption of alcohol and tobacco among adolescents has reached alarming prevalences in various localities in Brazil. Since unhealthy behavior tends to continue from adolescence into adulthood, public policies aimed towards reducing alcohol and tobacco use among Brazilians over the medium and long terms may direct young people and the subgroups at higher risk towards such behavior.

/pdf/prevalence-of-alcohol-and-tobacco-use-among-brazilian-2nbympe0x7.pdf

Prevalence of alcohol and tobacco use among Brazilian adolescents: a systematic review

Objective: To describe the prevalence of physical inactivity and associated factors among high school students from state’s public schools in the city of Sao Paulo, state of Sao Paulo, Brazil. Methods: Sixteen state’s public schools were randomly selected according to the geographic areas of the city (North, South, East, and West). The sample consisted of 3,845 high school students in 2006. Physical inactivity was measured using the International Physical Activity Questionnaire (short IPAQ) and was defined as practicing moderate and/or vigorous physical activity for a period of less than 300 minutes per week. The independent variables analyzed were: gender, age, socioeconomic level, geographic area of the city, awareness of the “Agita Sao Paulo” program, participation in physical education classes, smoking, alcohol intake and time spent per day watching television. Threelevel Poisson regression was used for assessing the variables, with a significance level of p < 0.05. Results: The general prevalence of physical inactivity among adolescents in Sao Paulo was 62.5% (95%CI 60.5-64.1). The factors associated with physical inactivity were gender, age, socioeconomic level, geographic area of the city, awareness of the “Agita Sao Paulo” program, non-participation in physical education classes, smoking, alcohol intake and time spent per day watching television. Conclusion: It was concluded that the prevalence of physical inactivity among adolescents in Sao Paulo was high in all the geographic areas evaluated, and that sociodemographic and behavioral factors contributed significantly to physical inactivity.

Prevalence of physical inactivity and associated factors among high school students from state's public schools.

OBJECTIVE: To describe the prevalence of physical inactivity and associated factors among high school students from state's public schools in the city of Sao Paulo, state of Sao Paulo, Brazil. METHODS: Sixteen state's public schools were randomly selected according to the geographic areas of the city (North, South, East, and West). The sample consisted of 3,845 high school students in 2006. Physical inactivity was measured using the International Physical Activity Questionnaire (short IPAQ) and was defined as practicing moderate and/or vigorous physical activity for a period of less than 300 minutes per week. The independent variables analyzed were: gender, age, socioeconomic level, geographic area of the city, awareness of the "Agita Sao Paulo" program, participation in physical education classes, smoking, alcohol intake and time spent per day watching television. Three-level Poisson regression was used for assessing the variables, with a significance level of p < 0.05. RESULTS: The general prevalence of physical inactivity among adolescents in Sao Paulo was 62.5% (95%CI 60.5-64.1). The factors associated with physical inactivity were gender, age, socioeconomic level, geographic area of the city, awareness of the "Agita Sao Paulo" program, non-participation in physical education classes, smoking, alcohol intake and time spent per day watching television. CONCLUSION: It was concluded that the prevalence of physical inactivity among adolescents in Sao Paulo was high in all the geographic areas evaluated, and that sociodemographic and behavioral factors contributed significantly to physical inactivity.

http://www.scielo.br/pdf/jped/v85n4/en_v85n4a06.pdf

Jorge F. Araújo Júnior

Papers

Prevalence of physical inactivity and associated factors among high school students from state's public schools.

Prevalência de inatividade física e fatores associados em estudantes do ensino médio de escolas públicas estaduais