Introduction: The International Physical Activity Questionnaire (IPAQ) was developed to measure health-enhancing physical activity in adult populations. This study explores the concurrent validity of a modified version of the long IPAQ (the IPAQ-A) for the assessment of physical activity among adolescents. Participants and methods: In total, 248 healthy adolescents, divided into one older and one younger age group (aged 15-17 years (N ¼ 188) and 12-14 years (N ¼ 60), respectively) from nine Healthy Lifestyle by Nutrition in Adolescence (HELENA) Study centres across Europe, voluntarily participated in the study. Data on total physical activity, as well as activities in different intensities derived from the IPAQ-A, were compared using Spearman's correlation coefficient and Bland-Altman analysis, with data from an accelerometer. Tertiles of total physical activity for the IPAQ-A and the accelerometer were compared using Kendall's tau-b. Results: For the older age group, significant correlations between the instruments were found for time spent walking, for moderate and vigorous activities as well as for total physical activity (Rs ¼ 0.17-0.30, Po0.05). No significant correlations were found for any of the variables studied in the younger age group. Kendall's tau-b showed low but significant correlations for tertiles of total physical activity (Po0.001). Conclusions: The IPAQ-A has reasonable validity properties for assessing activities in different intensities and for total physical activity in healthy European adolescents aged 15-17 years. For adolescents aged 14 years and younger, the correlations were unsatisfactorily low and objective methodology, such as accelerometry, may be the appropriate alternative.
BackgroundExcessive television (TV) viewing might play an important role in the development of cardiovascular disease (CVD). The aim of this study was to examine the independent associations between TV viewing and CVD risk factors in adolescents.MethodsA sample of 425 adolescents, aged 13- to 18.5-year-old, was included in this study. Body mass index (BMI), waist circumference (WC), glucose, total cholesterol, triglycerides, HDL-cholesterol, LDL-cholesterol, apolipoprotein (apo) A-1, apo B-100, and lipoprotein(a) levels were determined. A composite CVD risk score was computed based on age-, sex-, sexual maturation- and race-standardized triglycerides, HDL-cholesterol, LDL-cholesterol and glucose. TV viewing was self-reported.ResultsTwo hundred and twenty-five adolescents (53%) who spent >3 hrs/day watching TV were considered as the "high TV viewing" group. Ninety-nine adolescents (23%) from the total sample were classified as overweight according to International age- and sex-specific BMI values. The high TV viewing group had significantly less favorable values of HDL-cholesterol, glucose, apo A1 and CVD score, independent of age, sex, sexual maturation, race and weight status. There was a significant interaction effect of TV viewing × weight status (P = 0.002) on WC, and the negative influence of TV viewing on WC persisted in the overweight group (P = 0.031) but was attenuated in non-overweight adolescents (P > 0.05).ConclusionExcessive TV viewing seems to be related to an unfavorable CVD risk factors profile in adolescence. Reducing TV viewing in overweight adolescents might be beneficial to decrease abdominal body fat.
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