physical activity

Health related fitness | physical activity | physical fitness

Relationship between physical activity and physical fitness in children and Adults.

Physical activity means, All movement including during leisure time, for transport to get to and from places, or as part of a person's work. Both moderate- and vigorous-intensity physical activity improve health.

In adults, physical activity is associated with a lower risk of obesity, cardiovascular disease, hypertension, diabetes, cancer, and premature mortality. There is sufficient evidence that the origins of cardiovascular disease are found in childhood and adolescence. The relative figures of lipids and lipoproteins, blood pressure and adiposity of young people tend to persist throughout life (tracking)

1. There is also evidence that patterns of physical activity behavior in childhood persist into adult life

2. If, in addition to all this, we take into account the difficulty of modifying habits in adult life, we can say without fear of being wrong that childhood and adolescence are key stages in the primary prevention of cardiovascular disease and other diseases associated with a sedentary lifestyle. .

Although it is usually assumed that more active young people have better physical condition and that this relationship is causal, we believe that this assumption cannot be maintained in the light of current knowledge. The proportion of variation in the different measures of physical fitness attributable to physical activity is low in children and adolescents; In addition, the measures of physical activity and physical condition show great variability. To break down the relationships between these concepts, it may be better to start by defining them.

The terms physical activity, physical exercise and physical fitness are often used in a confusing way; however, even though they are closely related variables, they should not be used synonymously. Physical activity refers to any bodily movement produced by skeletal muscle that requires energy consumption, and physical exercise is defined as physical activity that is planned, structured, systematic and aimed at improving or maintaining one or more components of physical condition. physical. Physical fitness can be considered as a measure of the ability to perform physical activity and/or physical exercise that integrates most of the bodily functions (locomotor, cardiorespiratory, hematocirculatory, endocrine-metabolic, and psychoneurological) involved in body movement. Physical fitness has historically been conceptualized into three components: cardiorespiratory fitness (CCR), strength, and motor ability. Over time, this concept has gone from being directed primarily at the components of strength and motor skills to focusing on the components more directly related to health, and is referred to as health-related physical fitness. Although the specific tests to determine it are somewhat heterogeneous, physical fitness related to health includes cardiorespiratory fitness, muscular strength and endurance, flexibility and body composition (especially adiposity), and in children, also speed and speed. agility.

Although much of the variability of physical condition is genetically determined, environmental conditions and especially physical exercise influence physical condition. In children, the relationship between physical activity and physical fitness is less robust. It has been argued that in younger children and adolescents, because physical activity occurs in an unpredictable, unsystematic manner and over short periods, it may not change physical fitness. In addition, the lack of agreement in the findings of the different studies that assess the relationship between physical activity and physical fitness in children and adolescents could be due to the multitude of methods that have been used to measure both physical fitness and physical activity. An important aspect when we try to assess the effects of daily physical activity is the difficulty of obtaining valid and precise measurements.

 

Since the contributions of this study are of great practical importance, it is worth highlighting certain questions about the relationship between physical activity and physical condition, and between these and health.

Relationship between physical activity and physical

 fitness in children and adolescents

It is often assumed that physical activity is related to physical fitness and therefore that physically active children are more fit. For some authors, although they sometimes do not make it explicit, this relationship is causal, and it is also often argued that the evidence indicates that only high-intensity physical activity (more than 6 METs) improves physical condition. So far, although the data from the study we are commenting on seems to point in that direction, these claims do not have solid scientific support, as we will see below. First of all, it should be noted that in most studies the relationship between physical activity and physical condition is weak or moderate and in some it is not significant. Furthermore, daily physical activity accounts for only a relatively small percentage of aerobic capacity 4.

Various reasons have been put forward to justify this weak association, including that the measures of physical activity and physical fitness vary greatly in terms of their validity and reliability, that moderate-high intensity physical activity in children and young people is not maintained during prolonged periods and that the relationship between physical fitness and physical activity in young people and adolescents may be masked, at least in part, by the heterogeneity in the composition of the samples of the studies of children and adolescents 5.

It is true that the measurement of physical activity in children and young people is subject to various conditions that threaten its validity and reliability. We are not going to dwell on the limitations of physical activity measured through questionnaires and scales, because there are excellent reviews that have commented on them6. However, it should be noted that, although the measurement of physical activity using accelerometers is undoubtedly more objective, it is not without serious limitations that threaten its validity and reliability. In the first place, the accelerometer registers poorly some movements that imply minimum vertical displacements, such as pedaling, and this represents a good proportion of the free-time physical activity of children and adolescents in some European countries, including Sweden, the country where data have been collected. the data from the study we are discussing. Second, the cut-off points to categorize the intensity of physical activity have been defined in laboratory conditions and poorly represent movements in real conditions in children and adolescents. Finally, while in the articles that measure physical activity through questionnaires it is an unavoidable requirement to present the non-response rate and even analyze whether those who do not respond differ significantly from those who do, in most of the articles in which that physical activity is measured with accelerometers, the proportion of measurements that are discarded for not meeting inclusion criteria is not specified (at least 3 days with a minimum of 10 hours of recording per day in the study we are commenting on). Our experience in measuring physical activity with accelerometers in children and adolescents makes us suspect that those who do not meet the inclusion criteria may be different in terms of the pattern of physical activity from those who do meet them.

Physical activity and physical condition. The role of

 obesity and genetic determinants

 

Various studies show that adult individuals who perform physical activity on a regular basis are less likely to develop health problems; Likewise, an inverse relationship has been shown between physical condition and the risk of becoming ill and dying. It has been described that in adults physical fitness is a better predictor of health outcomes than physical activity7. In children, based on the analysis of some cross-sectional8 and prospective9 studies, it has been stated that it is not enough to increase physical activity, since future cardiovascular risk is more conditioned by the physical condition that is achieved than by the amount of physical activity that is performed; Some arguments dispute this claim.

In the first place, it must be considered that the relationship between physical activity and physical condition, and between this and various cardiovascular risk factors, cannot be analyzed without taking into account the role of various confounding factors, among which it is worth highlighting the adiposity and genetic determinants. The results of an intervention study10 indicate that only high-intensity physical exercise has any effect on CRC in obese adolescents, and that both moderate and high-intensity physical exercise modifies adiposity. In a more recent cross-sectional study,11 on the contrary, both total physical activity and intense physical activity were associated with better CRC, although only intense physical activity reduced adiposity. Our view is that since both fitness and adiposity have a strong hereditary component, an adolescent who inherits a predisposition to low fitness or obesity is less likely to engage in any type of vigorous physical activity. To further complicate the situation, the relationship between CRC and cardiovascular risk may also be mediated by genetic inheritance. This is demonstrated by studies that relate polymorphisms of the angiotensin-converting enzyme and CRC on the one hand, and others that relate low birth weight (in part genetically determined) with low CRC in childhood and adolescence.

Another aspect to highlight from the work of Ortega et al is the different strength of the association by sex between physical activity and physical condition. The authors outline that sociocultural differences could be the cause of these results. Recognizing the difficulty of explaining this fact, we think that, as we mentioned before, it should be considered that genetic conditions explain a large proportion of variability in physical condition, probably due to the influence of genetics on the different distribution of fat, the capacity aerobic and the concentrations of testosterone and other hormones related to strength and flexibility, etc. As the authors point out, future studies in this field should clarify the main causes of the differences in physical activity and CRC between boys and girls.

In summary, the article by Ortega et al highlights the rigor and precision with which the measurements of physical activity and physical condition have been made, and provides data on the relationship between the recommendations for physical activity and physical condition, and about the importance of sex in that relationship. Based on the data from that study, hypotheses arise about the role of gender, genetic influence, and possibly other environmental determinants in the relationship between physical activity and CRC. It also shows that the prevalence of low-level CRC in Swedish adolescent males is much lower than in Spanish adolescents (9% and 19%, respectively), while in females these figures are similar (20% and 17%, respectively). ).

 

The best preventive strategy in adolescents: provide opportunities for physical activity

 

In any case, we think that, while these doubts about the relationship between physical activity and physical condition are cleared up, we cannot lose sight of the horizon: physical activity is a behavior and physical condition, a state; and what is in our hands is to promote active behaviors in order to modify that state or level of physical condition. In addition to genetic conditions, physical condition is determined by individual and social conditions. As at the moment we cannot influence genetic determinants, we must try to modify the individual and social conditions for physical activity. We must not forget that, although for some authors it is very doubtful that physical exercise below what is recommended will influence physical condition, it probably does influence self-esteem, academic performance or bone density.

For all these reasons, we think it is necessary and urgent to provide more opportunities for physical activity among adolescents ("bike lanes" for access to educational and leisure centres, easy access to sports facilities, parks with fun jogging circuits, city planning safe for pedestrians, promotion of physical activity during recreation time in educational centers, promotion of after-school programs of non-competitive physical exercise --games--, etc.), and trying to ensure that in the environment where the adolescent lives the practice of physical exercise is an appreciated value and, therefore, make families, educators and other social agents aware that the promotion of competitive physical exercise, and especially non-competitive physical exercise, is the best way to shape a future healthier for the younger ones.

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