european college of sport science

PP-HF14 Health and Fitness 14
(4) Loftin, M., Sothern, M., Warren, B. & Udall, J. (2004). Comparison of VO2 Peak during treadmill and cycle ergometry in severly overweight
youth, Journal of Sports Science and Medicine, 3, 254-260.
(5) Cole T.J., Bellizzi, M., Flegal, K. & Dietz, W. (2000). Establishing a standart definition for children overweight and obesity worldwide:
international survey. British Medical Journal. 320, 1240-1243.
MEASUREMENT OF CHILDREN’S PHYSICAL ACTIVITY FROM THE WRIST
VIRTANEN, P.
POLAR ELECTRO OY
According to questionnaires children’s everyday physical activity has diminished. Objective measurements of children’s physical activity
as well as technical solutions are needed. Accelerometers have been used in several researches to evaluate oxygen consumption and
physical activity. The researches have, however, so far focused on validating devices developed for the measurement of adults. The
objective of this research was to create a method based on acceleration measurement on the wrist to evaluate 6-15 y old children’s
oxygen consumption and physical activity. We wanted to find out how accurately different intensities of children’s physical activities could
be recognized. Also the effect of children’s demographics to the measured acceleration signals and parameters was examined.
Twenty 6-15 y old children were measured in twelve activities using uniaxial acceleration measurement. Simultaneously oxygen consumption
was measured with portable analysator (Viasys, Oxygon Mobile). The activities were divided in three classes: 1) sitting activities
(sitting on a chair, lego playing, pc playing and table icehockey playing – all activities lasted 5 min); 2) interrupted moving (backpack
packing, rope jumping, football dribbling, basketball dribbling – all lasted 5 min); and 3) walking & running. Walking and running were
both performed with two speeds on a treadmill. All measurements were performed in laboratory conditions. The acceleration data was
transferred to Matlab software and transformed into MET units. The results were compared with those of the gas analysator.
Height of the children was the best demographic parameter to adjust the oxygen consumption evaluated from the acceleration signal. In
the sitting activities the METs evaluated from acceleration were (mean±SD): sitting on a chair 1.3±0.0 MET, lego playing 1.5±0.2 MET, pc
playing 1.3±0.0 MET, and table icehockey playing 1.5±0.6 MET. In the interrupted moving the MET values were: backpack packing 2.8±0.4
MET, rope jumping 6.7±2.3 MET, football dribbling 7.4±2.5 MET, and basketball dribbling 7.6±2.6 MET. In walking the values were on the
average 3.1±0.6 MET and in running 7.0±1.4 MET. METs evaluated from the acceleration signal and calculated from oxygen consumption
differed in sitting activities -0.03±0.36 MET. The correlation coefficient was 0.31. In interrupted moving the difference was -0.01±1.19 MET
and correlation 0.91. In walking and running (results combined) the difference between evaluated and calculated MET values was
0.10±1.00 MET and correlation 0.91. When METs of all the twelve activities were taken into account, the difference between evaluated and
measured values was
-0.07±0.092 MET and correlation 0.95.
It seems that measuring acceleration from the wrist and classifying the activities suits well to evaluate 6-15 y old children’s oxygen consumption.
Oxygen consumption evaluated from acceleration correlates well with the measured values.
SMOKING CESSATION SHOULD BE ACCOMPANIED BY LIFESTYLE INTERVENTIONS IN PATIENTS WITH RHEUMATOID
ARTHRITIS
STAVROPOULOS-KALINOGLOU, A., METSIOS, G.S., KONTIS, V., JAMURTAS, A.J., KOUTEDAKIS, Y., KITAS, G.D.
UNIVERSITY OF WOLVERHAMPTON
Background: Rheumatoid arthritis (RA) is associated with altered metabolism leading to muscle wasting. In the general population cigarette
smoking is known to affect body composition by reducing fat and inhibiting muscle synthesis. Even though smoking has been implicated
in the pathophysiology and progression of RA, its possible effects on body composition of such patients have not been studied. This
cross-sectional study aimed to identify potential associations of smoking with body weight and composition of RA patients.
Methods: A total of 392 patients (290 females) with RA were assessed for body mass index (BMI), body fat (BF), fat-free mass (FFM) and
waist circumference. Erythrocyte sedimentation rate, C-reactive protein, Disease Activity Score-28 and Health Assessment Questionnaire
were used to assess disease activity and severity. Smoking habit (current smoker: CS; ex-smoker: XS; never-smoker: NS) and intensity
(pack-years) were also noted.
Results: CS (male: 25.8, 95% CI: 24.1 – 27.6; female: 26.1, 95% CI: 24.5 – 27.9) had significantly lower BMI compared to XS (male: 28.4,
95% CI: 27.3 – 29.5, p