The design and implementation of strategies to promote physical activity for health among children and adolescents and older adults, particularly girls/women, should be encouraged.

The aim was to develop a path-flow analysis model for young swimmers' performance based on biomechanical and energetic parameters, using structural equation modeling. Thirty-eight male young swimmers served as subjects. Performance was assessed by the 200-m freestyle event. For biomechanical assessment the stroke length, the stroke frequency and the swimming velocity were analyzed. Energetics assessment included the critical velocity, the stroke index and the propulsive efficiency. The confirmatory model explained 79% of swimming performance after deleting the stroke index-performance path, which was nonsignificant (SRMR = 0.06). As a conclusion, the model is appropriate to explain performance in young swimmers.

The prevalence for overweight/obesity among Portuguese children and adolescents vary according to the cut-off points used and are also of concern requiring strategies to promote healthy weight gain among children and adolescents.

The aim of this study was to investigate the effects of pelvic floor muscles training in elite female volleyball athletes and whether it is an effective therapy for stress urinary incontinence. Fourteen athletes, both continent and incontinent, between 18 and 30 years of age, were randomly assigned to an experimental group or a control group. The experimental group received a protocol for pelvic floor muscle training for 4 months. This consisted of three phases: awareness/stabilization, strength training and power. The control group was not subject to any intervention during the same period. Measures were collected at the initial and final phase for both groups. Maximum voluntary contractions were evaluated with a perineometer, involuntary urine loss with a Pad test and quality of life with the King’s Health Questionnaire. Baseline sociodemographic and anthropometric characteristics were not significantly different. Comparing the two groups, the experimental group improved maximum voluntary pelvic contractions (p<0.001) and reduced urine loss (p=0.025), indicating the existence of significant differences between groups in the variation from the initial and final phases. The percentage of urine loss decreased in the experimental group, from 71.4–42.9%, suggesting that the protocol intervention for 16 weeks may help athletes with stress urinary incontinence.

This study determined the prevalence of overweight, obesity, and abdominal obesity in the Portuguese adults and examined the relationship between above mentioned prevalences and educational level. Body mass, stature, and waist circumference were measured in a representative sample of the Portuguese population aged 18–103 years (n = 9,447; 18–64 years: n = 6,908; ≥65 years: n = 2,539). Overweight and obesity corresponded to a body mass index ranging between 25–29.9 kg/m2 and ≥30 kg/m2, respectively. Abdominal obesity was assessed as >102 cm for males and >88 cm for females. After adjusting for educational level, the combined prevalences of overweight and obesity were 66.6% in males and 57.9% in females (18–64 years). Respective values in older adults (≥65 years) were 70.4% for males and 74.7% for females. About 19.3% of adult males and 37.9% of adult females presented abdominal obesity. Correspondent values in older adults were 32.1%, for males, and 69.7%, for females. In adults, low educational level was related to an increased risk for overweight (OR = 2.54; 95% CI: 2.08–3.09), obesity (OR = 2.76; 95% CI: 2.20–3.45), and abdominal obesity (OR = 5.48; 95% CI: 4.60–6.52). This reinforces the importance of adjusting public health strategies for educational level.