CommentRethinking our approach to physical activity
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Cited by (167)
What influences stress reduction in urban forests: Environment types or personality traits?
2024, Urban Forestry and Urban GreeningAs an extensive and convenient natural resource, urban forests have been shown to reduce stress in urban residents. Although many studies have observed positive physiological and psychological responses in urban forests, research on their mechanisms remains insufficient. The relationships between stress reduction, environments, and individuals need to be further explored with environment types and personality traits as key influencing factors. Therefore, the present study explored the effects of environment types, personality traits, and their interactions on stress reduction by viewing virtual reality (VR) images and investigated their direct and indirect paths using structural equation modeling (SEM). The results indicated that personality traits significantly influenced psychological stress reduction in urban forests, but the effects of environment types and personality traits on physiological stress reduction were not significant. Through SEM, we found that lower neuroticism and higher extraversion led to better psychological stress reduction by indirectly promoting environmental evaluation, whereas the direct and indirect paths of environment types on psychological stress reduction were the opposite. These findings provide accurate evidence of the effects of environment types and personality traits on stress reduction and further reveal the mechanisms of stress reduction in urban forests from a more comprehensive perspective.
Association of Stair Use With Risk of Major Chronic Diseases
2024, American Journal of Preventive MedicinePhysical inactivity is associated with a higher risk of chronic diseases. Regular stair use can contribute to increasing physical activity in the population. This study aimed to investigate the association between flights of stairs used daily at home and all-cause mortality and cause-specific incidence and mortality.
Of the 502,628 UK Biobank participants recruited between 2007 and 2010, 442,027 (mean age, 56±8 years) had available data and were included in the analyses conducted in 2023. Participants were categorized on the basis of flights of stairs climbed daily (1–5, 6–10, 11–15, >15). The disease-specific outcomes were cardiovascular disease, respiratory disease, cancer, type 2 diabetes, and all-cause dementia. Cox proportional hazard models, adjusted for sociodemographic, lifestyle, and health-related confounding factors, were used to analyze the associations between stair use frequency and health outcomes.
Participants were followed up for a median of 10.9 years. Climbing stairs >15 times per day was associated with a lower risk of 8 of the 9 outcomes analyzed than not using stairs. The magnitude of association ranged from 3% (95% CI=0.94, 0.99) lower risk for all-cause cancer to 51% (95% CI=0.39, 0.60) lower risk of chronic obstructive pulmonary disease. Findings were similar for mortality outcomes, with the hazard ratios ranging from 0.82 (95% CI=0.77, 0.87) for all-cause cancer to 0.46 (95% CI=0.23, 0.92) for chronic obstructive pulmonary disease mortality.
Stair use was associated with a lower risk of all-cause mortality and cause-specific incidence and mortality independent of confounding factors, including adiposity and multimorbidity.
An 11-week school-based “health education through football” programme improves musculoskeletal variables in 10–12-yr-old Danish school children
2023, Bone ReportsTo investigate the effects of the “11 for Health” programme on musculoskeletal fitness.
A total of 108 Danish children aged 10–12 years participated in the study, with 61 children in the intervention group (IG, 25 girls and 36 boys) and 47 children in the control group (CG, 21 girls and 26 boys). Measurements were conducted before and after an 11-week intervention consisting of twice-weekly 45-min football training sessions for IG or continuation of normal Physical Education program for CG. Whole-body dual X-ray absorptiometry was conducted for evaluation of leg and total bone mineral density as well as bone, muscle and fat mass. Standing Long Jump and Stork balance tests were employed to assess musculoskeletal fitness and postural balance.
During the 11-week study period, leg bone mineral density as well as leg lean body mass increased more (p < 0.05) in the intervention group (IG) compared to the control group (CG) (0.021 ± 0.019 vs 0.014 ± 0.018 g/cm2 and 0.51 ± 0.46 vs 0.32 ± 0.35 kg, respectively). Moreover, body fat percentage decreased more in IG than in CG (−0.6 ± 0.1 vs 0.1 ± 0.1 %-points, p < 0.05). No significant between-group differences were found in bone mineral content. Stork balance test performance increased more in IG than in CG (0.5 ± 2.6 vs −1.5 ± 4.4 s, p < 0.05), whereas no between-group differences were found in jump performance.
The school-based football programme, 11 for Health, with twice-weekly 45-min training sessions over 11 weeks improves various, but not all evaluated parameters related to musculoskeletal fitness in 10–12-yr-old Danish school children.
Physical Inactivity and Sedentariness: Languorous Behavior Among Adolescents in 80 Countries
2022, Journal of Adolescent HealthHigh rates of adolescent physical inactivity and sedentary behavior have been reported worldwide, but the combined prevalence of languorous behavior (physical inactivity and/or sedentary behavior) may more accurately reflect just how few adolescents meet World Health Organization recommendations.
We analyzed nationally representative data from 325,219 students in 80 countries that participated in the Global School-based Student Health Survey between 2009 and 2018. Students were classified as physically inactive if they reported engaging in moderate or vigorous physical activity less than 60 minutes daily. Students were classified as being sedentary if they sat for three or more hours per day outside of school, such as when having screen time not related to studying. Statistics for each country were generated using complex samples analysis, then the results from all countries were synthesized.
In total, 84% of students were physically inactive, 37% were sedentary, and 91% met the definition for the concept we are calling languorous behavior.
Establishing specific evidence-based guidelines for increasing physical activity and decreasing sitting time will enable progress toward reducing languorous behavior among adolescents.
The impact of variation and autonomy on psychological responses to high intensity interval training exercise
2022, Psychology of Sport and ExerciseHigh-intensity interval training (HIIT) provides notable physiological benefits and is generally well-tolerated across modalities and populations. This study investigated how exercise autonomy support impacts psychological responses to exercise.
Twenty-nine participants completed three HIIT trials: Conventional-HIIT with 60-sec work segments, Varied-HIIT with a mix of 30, 60, 90, & 120-sec segments, and Autonomous-HIIT with self-selected 30, 60, 90, & 120-sec segments. Affective valence, enjoyment, and intention were measured.
Affective valence during exercise was not different between trials (p > 0.05) but enjoyment during exercise was higher for Autonomous-HIIT (p < 0.05). Enjoyment and intention measured post-exercise were greater for Autonomous-HIIT than Varied-HIIT (p < 0.05).
Autonomous HIIT produced more desirable responses than varied and traditional HIIT sessions. These data suggest that HIIT sessions utilizing self-selected interval durations can produce more positive responses, which provides the basis for recommending autonomy within HIIT exercise.
Relationships between landscape characteristics and the restorative quality of soundscapes in urban blue spaces
2022, Applied AcousticsThis study aims to explore the specific effects of audio-visual combinations on the restorative quality of soundscapes in blue spaces. In the experiments, 6 types of blue space were combined with 14 sounds, and the Short-version Revised Restoration scale (SRRS) was utilized by 65 volunteers to measure the restorative quality of the audio-visual combinations. On a scale from 1 to 9, the following results were obtained: (1) the water sound with the highest restorative quality is river sound (6.94), followed by fountain sound (6.59) and stream sound (6.41), and the sound of sea waves (5.85) has the lowest restorative quality; (2) in blue spaces with a high degree of urbanization (2.25), 9 types of sounds can improve restorative quality; (3) improving the visual quality of water, increasing the number of boats and reducing the number of paved areas can improve the restorative quality of audio-visual combinations; (4) it is appropriate to reduce plant diversity to improve the restorative effect in highly urbanized shore areas; and (5) footsteps are not appropriate in blue spaces with good natural surroundings. These results indicate that the restorative quality of soundscapes in blue spaces can be improved through landscape design, which provides implications for sustainable environment design.