ResumoObjetivo: Verificar o efeito da atividade física programada na escola sobre a composição corporal em escolares adolescentes durante 1 ano letivo.Métodos: Amostra foi composta por 383 alunos, divididos em dois grupos: caso com 186 (96 meninos e 90 meninas) e controle com 197 (108 meninos e 89 meninas), com idade entre 10 e 15 anos. Trata-se de estudo de intervenção com pré e pós-teste, no qual o grupo caso foi submetido a atividade física programada e o grupo-controle a aulas convencionais de educação física escolar. A composição corporal foi avaliada por medidas antropométricas e cálculos de índice de massa corporal, percentual de gordura e massas gorda e magra.Resultados: O grupo caso apresentou estabilidade na prega cutânea subescapular, índice de massa corporal, percentual de gordura e na massa gorda; redução significativa na prega cutânea triciptal, perímetro do abdome nas meninas e aumento significativo dos perímetros do braço, cintura e panturrilha e da massa magra. No grupo-controle houve aumento do índice de massa corporal, prega cutânea triciptal, perímetro do abdome e da massa gorda nas meninas. O grupo caso apresentou diminuição significativa na proporção de sobrepesos e obesos no pós em relação ao pré-teste, o mesmo não ocorrendo no grupo-controle. Conclusão:A atividade física programada resultou em melhoria e manutenção nas variáveis da composição corporal e redução da frequência de sobrepeso e obesidade no grupo que sofreu intervenção.J Pediatr (Rio J). 2009;85(1):28-34: Atividade motora, saúde escolar, composição corporal, obesidade, sobrepeso. AbstractObjective: To verify the influence of programmed physical activity on body composition among adolescent students during 1 school year. Methods:The sample included 383 students (age range: 10 to 15 years) separated into two groups: 186 cases (96 male and 90 female) and 197 controls (108 male and 89 female). This was an intervention study with pre-and post-test assessments in which interventions consisted of programmed physical activity; the control group had conventional school physical education. Body composition was assessed by anthropometric measurements, body mass index (BMI), body fat percentage and fat and lean body mass. Results:In the case group, subscapular skinfold thickness, BMI, body fat percentage and fat body mass remained stable; there were significant reductions in tricipital skinfold thickness and in abdominal perimeter among girls and significant increases in arm, waist and calf perimeters and in lean body mass. In the control group, there were significant increases in BMI, tricipital skinfold thickness, abdominal perimeter and fat body mass among girls. At post-test, overweight and obesity significantly decreased among case group subjects, but not among controls. Conclusion:Programmed physical activity resulted in improvement or maintenance of body composition parameters and in reduction of overweight and obesity in the intervention group. J Pediatr (Rio J). 2009;85(1):28-34: Motor activity, school health, body composition, o...

Dual energy X-ray absorptiometry (DXA) cannot be used to evaluate participants taller than the scan area. We aimed to analyse the accuracy of bone mineral content, fat mass, and lean mass assessed with DXA whole-body scan and from the sum of two scans (head and trunk plus limbs). Participants were 31 athletes (13 males and 18 females) and 65 non-athletes (34 males and 31 females), that fit within the DXA scan area. Three scans were performed using a Hologic Explorer-W fan-beam densitometer: a whole-body scan used as the reference; a head scan; and a trunk and limbs scan. The sum of the head scan and the trunk and limbs scan was used as the alternative procedure. Multiple regression and agreement analysis were performed. Non-significant differences between methods were observed for fat mass (0.06 kg) and lean mass (-0.07 kg) while bone mineral content from the alternative procedure differed from the reference scan (0.009 kg). The alternative procedure explained > 99% of the variance in the reference scan and low limits of agreement were observed. Precision analysis indicated low pure errors and the higher coefficients of variation were found for fat mass (whole-body: 3.70%; subtotal: 4.05%). The method proposed is a valid and simple solution to be used in individuals taller than the DXA scan area, including athletes engaged in sports recognised for including very tall competitors.

Ten minutes can be used as an abbreviated alternative for IC measurements in healthy young adults, and values of the first 5-minute interval should be discarded.

Objective: To verify the influence of programmed physical activity on body composition among adolescent students during 1 school year. Methods:The sample included 383 students (age range: 10 to 15 years) separated into two groups: 186 cases (96 male and 90 female) and 197 controls (108 male and 89 female). This was an intervention study with pre-and post-test assessments in which interventions consisted of programmed physical activity; the control group had conventional school physical education. Body composition was assessed by anthropometric measurements, body mass index (BMI), body fat percentage and fat and lean body mass. Results:In the case group, subscapular skinfold thickness, BMI, body fat percentage and fat body mass remained stable; there were significant reductions in tricipital skinfold thickness and in abdominal perimeter among girls and significant increases in arm, waist and calf perimeters and in lean body mass. In the control group, there were significant increases in BMI, tricipital skinfold thickness, abdominal perimeter and fat body mass among girls. At post-test, overweight and obesity significantly decreased among case group subjects, but not among controls. Conclusion:Programmed physical activity resulted in improvement or maintenance of body composition parameters and in reduction of overweight and obesity in the intervention group. (Rio J). 2009;85(1):28-34: Motor activity, school health, body composition, obesity, overweight. J Pediatr

Growth curves have been developed for individuals with Down syndrome (DS) in several countries. However, in order to facilitate the preparation of clinical guidelines it is necessary to verify the eligibility of these curves. The search was conducted according to the PRISMA method (Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic reviews and Meta-Analyses). It was conducted between July 2012 and June 2013 in MEDLINE/PubMed and BIREME. The inclusion and exclusion criteria were applied to identify the studies and a total of 16 relevant articles were selected. The aspects analyzed in the articles consisted of sample size, number of observations, age group, anthropometric variables, standard deviation scores (SDS), type of study, collection and analysis of data, participants, inclusion/exclusion criteria and outcomes. The mean, standard deviations (SDs) and percentiles for sex and age were used to develop the curve of weight, height, and head circumference. The individuals with DS presented growth between -0.4 and -4.0 SDS in comparison to healthy controls. The variation in these observations can be explained by genetic differences, secular trends in growth and disease status. Regarding the limitations identified, it was observed that most of the studies did not provide data concerning the number of individuals and observations, mean values and respective SDs by sex and age. In addition, most studies did not use LMS methods to evaluate asymmetry, the median and data variability. In conclusion, the results of this review demonstrated that in order to avoid false diagnoses in children and adolescents with DS new growth curves must be developed.