The aims of this study were: 1) to compare anthropometric and fitness variables of high-level beach handball players across Under-19 (U-19), Under-21 (U-21) and senior male categories, and between male and female senior players and; 2) to test the correlations among those measures. A total of 70 high-level players (53 male of different ages) were evaluated for 5-m acceleration, 15-m sprint, horizontal jump, handgrip, specific beach handball throwing velocities, and anthropometric variables.Differences between age groups were tested using ANOVA. Independent T-Student test was used to compare fitness variables between male and female elite athletes, and Pearson partial correlation coefficients were calculated between each of the fitness variables using BMI and age as covariates.SPSS Software was used, and the level of significance was set at 95%. The U-21 athletes better performed on horizontal jump and 6-m throw than the U-19 athletes. Senior athletes showed better performance on horizontal jump than U-19 athletes (p≤.05). Positive correlation was seen for handgrip on dominant and non-dominant hands and 6-m throwing speed, and for handgrip on dominant hand and inflight velocity (p≤.05). Negative correlations were observed between horizontal jump and 5-m acceleration, and 15-m sprint (p≤.01 and p≤.05, respectively). Male athletes better performed than women in all the fitness tests. The study, for the first time, showed physical fitness comparisons between beach handball elite male athletes of different ages and between genders. These are key steps for coaches and athletes and may support future beach handball studies and practice.

Social isolation was adopted as a strategy to reduce the transmission speed of the severe acute respiratory syndrome of coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) in several countries in the world, including Brazil. As a result, schools were closed and the routines of children altered, affecting sleep, sedentary behavior, and physical activity. The present study aims to compare the children’s weekly routine and time spent on sleep, sedentary behavior and physical activity before and during the Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic. A cross-sectional study with a quantitative and qualitative approach was performed, with 120 parents, mothers or guardians of children from 5 to 10 years of age of both sexes enrolled in 5 full-time schools in Arapiraca, Alagoas, Brazil. To meet the research objective, two interviews were conducted between 27 May and 5 June, out addressing aspects of sleep, sedentary behavior, and physical activity before and during the COVID-19 pandemic. In the analysis of quantitative data, the paired sample t test was performed, while for qualitative data, discourse analysis was used. Significant differences (p < 0.05) were found in the routine and in sleep time (increase 10%) and screen time (increase 36%) before vs during the COVID-19 pandemic, on weekdays and weekends. There was also a reduction in the practice of physical activity (54%). Therefore, the findings indicate that behaviors during the COVID-19 pandemic could be harmful to children’s health and that the school may be an important social environment to protect children from exposure to these behaviors.

RESUMOO estudo objetivou analisar a influência do índice de massa corporal (IMC) e do nível de atividade física (NAF) sobre a pressão arterial (PA) em adolescentes. A amostra foi constituída por 799 estudantes de ambos os sexos, com idade média de 12.09 anos (± 0.80). O peso, a estatura e a PA foram avaliados de acordo com critérios internacionalmente estabelecidos. Em seguida, procedeu-se ao cálculo do IMC e os sujeitos foram classificados de acordo com os pontos de corte propostos por Cole, Flegal e Dietz (2000). Para avaliar o NAF, procedeu-se ao preenchimento do questionário de estilo de vida modificado (Silva, Silva, & Martins, 2006). Observou-se que 9.1% dos adolescentes eram hipertensos, 11.8% tinham sobrepeso, 5.4% eram obesos e 47.2% dos sujeitos apresentaram baixo NAF. O fato de ser inativo (OR = 1.99), insuficientemente ativo (OR = 1.87) e ser obeso (OR = 5.1) apresentou associação com o aumento das chances de desenvolver hipertensão. Ser inativo e insuficientemente ativo está fortemente associado ao desenvolvimento da obesidade (OR = 7.97 e 4.35) respectivamente. Na amostra estudada, o sobrepeso, a obesidade e o baixo NAF estão associados ao desenvolvimento de hipertensão arterial. Além disso, um baixo NAF está associado ao aumento de peso nos adolescentes. Palavras-chave: índice de massa corporal, nível de atividade física, pressão arterial, adolescentes ABSTRACTThis study aimed to analyze the influence of body mass index (BMI) and physical activity level (PAL) on blood pressure (BP) in adolescents. The sample was composed of 799 students of both genders, aged 12.09 (± 0.80). The weight, height and BP were assessed according to internationally established criteria, and BMI was calculated and classified according to the cutoff points proposed by Cole, Flegal and Dietz (2000). To evaluate the PAL, the modified lifestyle questionnaire was used (Silva, Silva, & Martins, 2006). We found that 9.1% of the subjects evaluated have high blood pressure, 11.8% were overweight, 5.4% were obese and 47.2% of the people presented low PAL. The fact of being inactive (OR = 1.99), insufficiently active (OR = 1.87) and obese (OR = 5.1) was associated with an increased risk of developing hypertension. Being inactive or insufficiently active was strongly associated with the development of the obesity (OR = 7.97 and 4.35) respectively. In the studied sample, the overweight, the obesity and low PAL are associated with the development of arterial hypertension. In addition, a low PAL is associated with an increasing number of overweight adolescents.

Moderate to vigorous physical activity plays a recognized osteogenic effect on bone. Moreover, sedentary time, and fat accumulation are unfavorable to bone health. Our study aimed (1) to examine changes in body composition, bone tissue, physical activity, and sedentary time; and (2) to explore whether changes in physical activity intensities and in sedentary time are associated with changes in bone outcomes after a school-based interdisciplinary intervention program. A total of 53 overweight/obese students (10.6 ± 3.5 year-olds; 26 girls) participated in physical activity classes. Bone area, bone mass, and bone mineral density z-score, body composition (fat mass, fat lean mass), physical activity, sedentary time and potential confounders (vitamin D and maturational status) were assessed at baseline, and 8 months later. General Linear Models were carried out and significance level was set at 5%. Changes in moderate to vigorous physical activity were positively correlated with changes in all bone mass indicators. We observed a significant overall effect of the intervention on bone mineral density z-score changes, however after adjustments for changes in sedentary time and moderate to vigorous physical activity, no effect was observed. Finally, variations in sedentary time and in moderate to vigorous physical activity play an important role in bone mass density in those participants of the interdisciplinary program.

This study aimed to identify the most important variables of male and female beach handball workload demands and compare them by sex. A total of 92 elite Brazilian beach handball players (54 male: age 22.1 ± 2.6 years, height 1.8 ± 0.5 m, weight 77.6 ± 13.4 kg; and 38 female: age 24.4 ± 5.5 years, height 1.7 ± 0.5 m, weight 67.5 ± 6.5 kg) were analyzed in 24 official matches during a four-day congested tournament. From 250 variables measured by the inertial measurement unit, fourteen were extracted for analysis using Principal Component Analysis as selection criteria. Five Principal Components (PC) were extracted that explained 81.2–82.8% of total variance (overview of workload demands during beach handball). Specifically, 36.2–39.3% was explained by PC1 (Distance Expl , Distance, Distance 4–7 km/h , and Acc), 15–18% by PC2 (Acc Max , Acc 3–4 m/s , Dec 4–3 m/s ), 10.7–12.9% by PC3 (Jumps Avg Take-Off, Jumps Avg Landing and PL RT ), 8–9.4% by PC4 (Distance > 18.1 km/h , Speed Max ), and 6.7–7.7% by PC5 (HR Avg and Step Balance). Sex-related differences were found in the PC distribution of variables, as well as in selected variables (HR Avg , Dec 4–3 m/s , Acc 3–4 m/s , Jumps Avg Take-Off, Jumps Avg Landing, Acc Max , Distance, Distance 4–7 km/h , Acc, Speed Max ) with higher values in male players (p < .05). In conclusion, the sex-related PC distribution and workload demands in beach handball should consider for training design and injury prevention programs.

Introdução: A força de preensão manual é um fator de grande influência no desempenho competitivo na prática do jiu-jitsu. Objetivos: Avaliar o efeito de um treinamento específico de força isométrica máxima de pegada utilizando o quimono em atletas de jiu-jitsu. Métodos: A característica da pesquisa foi experimental de caráter quantitativo. Foram avaliados 20 atletas de jiu-jitsu do sexo masculino de nível competitivo nacional e estadual, com graduações faixa azul, roxa e preta. A média de idade foi de 28,2 ± 5,1 anos, o peso de 78,8 ± 12,8 kg e o tempo de prática esportiva de 9,1 ± 6,2 anos. A intervenção aplicada ao grupo experimental teve a duração de 4 semanas, realizada 3 vezes por semana. No protocolo de treinamento cada atleta realizou 4 séries de contração isométrica máxima de 6 segundos com intervalo de recuperação de 2 minutos. Resultados: Os resultados do estudo demonstraram que a intervenção produziu resultados significativos na força de preensão manual no grupo experimental (p < 0,05) o que não ocorreu no grupo de controle (p > 0,05). Conclusão: Conclui-se que um treinamento de força isométrica máxima pode ser um fator importante para a estrutura e planejamento de um programa de treinamento em atletas de esportes que necessitam de elevada força da preensão manual.Palavras-chave: dinamometria, força isométrica máxima, preensão manual.

Since 2011 an educational policy promulgated that public schools from Pernambuco have had to offer physical education (PE) class in the same shift where students are enrolled. This study examined the impact of the implementation of an educational policy on PE offering and students’ participation, and whether health related behaviors could be moderated by PE participation. It was a natural experiment study performed with data obtained from two cross-sectional studies (2007 and 2012) of a sample (n = 715) of high-school students from Caruaru. PE offering was assessed by asking students if they had PE class and adapted questionnaire was used to assess health-related information. It was observed that before policy implementation, most of the students (♂: 72.4%; ♀: 69.0%) was not engaged in any PE class during the week. After policy implementation the proportion of students who had at least one PE class/week increased (♂: 68.7%; ♀: 68.9%). Having ≥1 PE classes was not associated with the amount of physical activity either before (♂: OR = 1.47 (95%CI: 0.78 – 2.76)); ♀: OR = 1.02 (95%CI: 0.61– 1.72) or after (♂: OR = 0.90 (95%CI: 0.51 – 1.58)); ♀: OR = 1.06 (95%CI: 0.63 – 1.80) policy implementation. Fruit consumption was the only health-related behavior associated to PE class (♂: OR = 1.55 (95%CI: 1.01 – 2.70); ♀: OR = 1.48 (95%CI: 1.02 – 2.10). PE offering and participation of students improved and it seems that implementation of new policies for PE might impact on students’ behaviors, although, regarding to some limitations, not sufficiently to impact on overall students’ health behaviors.

A literatura tem evidenciado a necessidade de estudos de validação de testes motores para avaliação da competência motora (CM). Assim, Luz e colaboradores propuseram uma bateria de testes Motor Competence Assessment (MCA) para avaliação da CM em crianças e adolescentes portugueses. Objetivou-se investigar as evidências de validade da MCA em uma amostra de pré-escolares brasileiros e testar a correlação entre resultados da CM avaliados com a MCA e o Test of Gross Motor Development -2  (TGMD-2). Participaram 251 pré-escolares de ambos os sexos, de seis Centros de Referência em Educação Infantil de João Pessoa-PB. Os dados foram coletados por meio da MCA e do TGMD-2. Os resultados da análise fatorial confirmatória (AFC) mostraram dois modelos, um com  índices de ajuste adequados; Os coeficientes de correlação interclasse variaram entre 0,77 e 0,96, indicando confiabilidade excelente; a correlação entre a MCA e o TGMD-2 foi significante com magnitude moderada (r = 0,57, p<0,01). A estrutura de três variáveis latentes do construto CM na MCA foi confirmada pela AFC. Entretanto, sugere-se um modelo bidimensional. A MCA e o TGMD-2 parecem medir aspectos semelhantes da CM. A confiabilidade permitiu concluir que o protocolo da MCA aplicado a pré-escolares mantém estabilidade temporal.