The purpose of this pilot study was to measure physical activity (PA) levels in children undergoing treatment for acute lymphoblastic leukemia (ALL) and to compare the results with those from age-matched healthy children. We used the MTI Actigraph accelerometer to determine PA (during a 1 week period) in children (n = 7; age = 4-7 y) undergoing maintenance treatment for ALL and in age-matched controls (n = 7). The number of children accumulating at least 60 min of moderate-to-vigorous physical activity (MVPA) for 5 or more days of the week was 3 for the control group, whereas no children with ALL met this criterion. Significantly lower levels of total weekly time of MVPA were seen in children being treated for ALL (328 +/- 107 min) than in controls (506 +/- 175 min) (p < 0.05). When weekday data was analyzed, the ALL patients also had significantly lower mean daily times of MVPA (49 +/- 23 min vs. 79 +/- 25 min). It is thus important that young ALL sufferers are encouraged to participate in appropriate sports, games, and physical activities both in the family and school environments that will prime them with positive attitudes to PA during the critical early years of life.

Inspiratory muscle training (IMT) has been shown to improve exercise capacity in diseased populations. We chose to examine the effects of eight weeks of IMT on exercise capacity and spontaneous physical activity in elderly individuals. Eighteen moderately active elderly subjects (68.1 +/- 6.8 years [mean +/- SD]; range 58 - 78 years) were randomly assigned to either an experimental group (n = 9) or a control group (n = 9) in a double-blind manner. All subjects underwent inspiratory muscle testing, treadmill exercise testing and a four-day measurement period of spontaneous physical activity (using accelerometry) both pre- and post-intervention. The experimental group underwent eight weeks of incremental IMT using a pressure threshold device, while the control group underwent sham training using identical devices. After IMT training, inspiratory muscle strength (mean + 21.5 cm H (2)O; 95 % CI: 9.3, 33.7; p = 0.002), V.O (2peak) (+ 2.8 ml x min (-1) x kg (-1); 95 % CI: 0.5, 5.2; p = 0.022), time to exhaustion during a fixed workload treadmill test (+ 7.1 min; 95 % CI: 1.8, 2.4; p = 0.013) and time engaged in moderate-to-vigorous physical activity (+ 59 min; 95 % CI: 15, 78; p = 0.008) improved. Except for a decline in moderate-to-vigorous physical activity, no significant changes were seen in the control group. Therefore, IMT may be a useful technique for positively influencing exercise capacity and physical activity in elderly individuals.

The article describes a study that evaluated the adequacy of 2 different menu settings in a group of elite adolescent Spanish soccer players. Five-day food intake was assessed on 2 occasions, while athletes were consuming a flexible "buffet-style" diet (B; n = 33) and a fixed "menu-style" diet (M; n = 29). For all principal meals of the day food weighing was performed, and snacks were recorded by self-report. M provided significantly higher total energy and carbohydrate intakes than B. Breakfast and snacks both provided more energy in M. Calories obtained from fat were excessive in both settings. Calcium and vitamin D were below recommendations in B but not in M. Fiber, magnesium, folate, vitamin A, and vitamin E intake fell below recommended values in both settings. M provided significantly greater quantities of magnesium and vitamins D and E. Both feeding options were far from optimal in satisfying current scientifically based recommendations for active adolescents.