A child-appropriate, multidimensional PA intervention could sustainably improve MS but not PA. Findings suggest that a change in health-related behaviors is difficult. Future research should implement participatory intervention components in preschool setting and better integrate the families of the children.

BackgroundHealth-related and disease-specific quality of life (HRQoL) has been increasingly valued as relevant clinical parameter in cystic fibrosis (CF) clinical care and clinical trials. HRQoL measures should assess – among other domains – daily functioning from a patient’s perspective. However, validation studies for the most frequently used HRQoL questionnaire in CF, the Cystic Fibrosis Questionnaire (CFQ), have not included measures of physical activity or fitness. The objective of this study was, therefore, to determine the cross-sectional and longitudinal relationships between HRQoL, physical activity and fitness in patients with CF.MethodsBaseline (n = 76) and 6-month follow-up data (n = 70) from patients with CF (age ≥12 years, FEV1 ≥35%) were analysed. Patients participated in two multi-centre exercise intervention studies with identical assessment methodology. Outcome variables included HRQoL (German revised multi-dimensional disease-specific CFQ (CFQ-R)), body composition, pulmonary function, physical activity, short-term muscle power, and aerobic fitness by peak oxygen uptake and aerobic power.ResultsPeak oxygen uptake was positively related to 7 of 13 HRQoL scales cross-sectionally (r = 0.30-0.46). Muscle power (r = 0.25-0.32) and peak aerobic power (r = 0.24-0.35) were positively related to 4 scales each, and reported physical activity to 1 scale (r = 0.29). Changes in HRQoL-scores were directly and significantly related to changes in reported activity (r = 0.35-0.39), peak aerobic power (r = 0.31-0.34), and peak oxygen uptake (r = 0.26-0.37) in 3 scales each. Established associates of HRQoL such as FEV1 or body mass index correlated positively with fewer scales (all 0.24 < r < 0.55).ConclusionsHRQoL was associated with physical fitness, especially aerobic fitness, and to a lesser extent with reported physical activity. These findings underline the importance of physical fitness for HRQoL in CF and provide an additional rationale for exercise testing in this population.Trial registrationClinicalTrials.gov, NCT00231686

Current research seems to confirm a secular decline in movement skills in school children. Only few data are available for preschool children and no clear trend can be identified. In the year 2007, height, weight, and motor performance were determined in 726 preschool children [Prevention through Activity in Kindergarten Trial (PAKT)] and compared with historical samples from 1973, 1985, and 1989. There was no difference in height and weight between the samples of 1973 and 2007. Older boys of today were smaller and lighter than those of 1989. Regardless of age, PAKT children fared significantly better in standing long jump than those assessed in 1989. Compared with the sample of 1973, PAKT children did equally well in this task. There were no differences in performance in an obstacle course between children of 1989 and 2007. In balancing backwards, PAKT children performed significantly worse than those in 1985. Regarding target throwing only the PAKT 4-year-olds achieved significantly worse results than those in 1985.Therefore, in preschool children, a secular decline is only evident in some, but not all, motor skills, which may indicate a change in behavior activity over the last decades.

BackgroundThe objective of this study was to validate physical activity questionnaires for cystic fibrosis (CF) against accelerometry and cycle ergometry.Methods41 patients with CF (12-42 years) completed the Habitual Activity Estimation Scale (HAES), the 7-Day Physical Activity Recall questionnaire (7D-PAR) and the Lipid Research Clinics questionnaire (LRC) and performed an incremental exercise test according to the Godfrey protocol up to volitional fatigue. Time spent in moderate and vigorous physical activity (MVPA) assessed objectively by accelerometry was related to the time spent in the respective activity categories by correlation analyses and calculating intraclass correlation coefficients (ICC). Furthermore, the results of the exercise test were correlated with the results of the questionnaires.ResultsTime spent in the categories 'hard','very hard' and 'hard & very hard' of the 7D-PAR (0.41 < r < 0.56) and 'active' (r = 0.33) of the HAES correlated significantly with MVPA. The activity levels of the LRC were not related to objectively determined physical activity. Significant ICCs were only observed between the 7D-PAR activitiy categories and MVPA (ICC = 0.40-0.44). Only the LRC showed moderate correlations with the exercise test (Wmax: r = 0.46, p = 0.002; VO2peak: r = 0.32, p = 0.041).ConclusionsIn conclusion, the activity categories 'hard' and 'very hard' of the 7D-PAR best reflected objectively measured MVPA. Since the association was at most moderate, the 7D-PAR may be selected to describe physical activity within a population. None of the evaluated questionnaires was able to generate valid physical activity data exercise performance data at the individual level. Neither did any of the questionnaires provide a valid assessment of aerobic fitness on an invidual level.