General socioeconomic conditions as well as the physical environment have undergone remarkable changes in Hungary during the past 30 years. Unfortunately, these positive processes have resulted in a reduction of habitual physical activity along with unfavorable changes in dietary habits. Therefore, the purpose of the present study was to compare some selected morphological and functional parameters of 7-14-year-old Hungarian schoolboys living in the middle of the 1970s and at the beginning of the new millennium. It was hypothesized that there would be significant differences in morphological and functional characteristics of the Hungarian schoolboy populations, because they were assessed 30 years apart. Means of height, body mass, body mass index (BMI), the sum of five skinfold tests, percentage of body fat, and two running performance times (400 m and 1,200 m) of the boys (N = 3,672) studied in 1975 were compared to those of the boys (N = 3,758) in 2005. Data were analyzed using two-tailed independent samples t tests (p < .05). We observed significant secular changes in body mass and height. In addition, boys in 2005 had significantly more subcutaneous fat compared to 1975. The running times for the two distances were significantly poorer at the time of the second investigation. The remarkable and unfavorable changes in body composition and cardiorespiratory performance were attributed to the continuously decreasing intensity of habitual physical exercise and a lifestyle that had become more sedentary (watching TV playing computer games, etc.). Radical interventions are necessary to reduce these risks associated with the high prevalence of cardiovascular disease in Hungary, and the challenge to resolve the problem requires combined efforts at the educational, societal, corporate, and governmental levels.
The aim of this comparison was to evaluate the nutritional status and cardio-respiratory fitness of future health professionals, namely university students engaged in medical studies. It was assumed that the lifestyle of such students would be reflected by healthy body composition and fitness performance indicators. Altogether 1,560 volunteer, female, university students of three institutions were investigated in 2008. Height, body weight, BMI, body fat content and 800 m run test means were compared.The height, weight and BMI means did not differ significantly but PE students recorded the lowest mean body fat (18.34% vs. 24.37 and 25.12%) and shortest mean running time (203 s vs. 239 and 243 s). Among the medical (11.23%) and technical university students (19.95%) statistically the same prevalence of obesity was observed.High body fat content and low running performance of medical students were in contrast with our hypothesis. Their prevalence of overweight/obesity and low fitness did not differ from that of relatively sedentary technical university students and the average Hungarian young adult population. Thus, it is questionable how young health professionals will promote the necessity and positive effects of regular physical activity if they do not apply them to their own lifestyle.
This study was conducted to determine the predictive ability of rated perceived exertion (RPE) of mentally retarded (MR) young adults with respect to heart rate (HR) and workload (WL). Subjects were a group of 10 mentally retarded adults (M age = 21.20 yrs, M IQ = 50.5) and a control group of 10 nonretarded adults (M age = 21.18 yrs). The procedure involved the performance of a continuous multistage treadmill test using a modified Balke protocol. Rated perceived exertion and heart rate were recorded after each minute. Correlation coefficients for both RPE/HR and RPE/WL were significant for both groups. Tests for differences in RPE/HR and RPE/WL correlation coefficients between the two groups indicated significance for RPE/HR but none for RPE/WL. Regression analysis revealed that variation in RPE could be explained by variations in HR and WL. The association between rated perceived exertion and heart rate and rated perceived exertion and workload suggests the use of the Borg scale with mentally retarded individuals.
Long-range repeated-measure sample differences in body dimensions, body composition and physical performance help to describe the changes in a population's lifestyle. The aim of our study was to analyse such changes in longitudinal studies repeated after a 25-year interval. Data collections repeated every six months for the periods 1977-1981 (n=152) and 2002-2006 (n=158) were carried out in nonathletic boys aged between 6.51 and 11.50 years from the same districts of Budapest. Means for height, body mass, BMI, body fat percentage, and distance covered during a running endurance test, as well as the slopes of the changes were compared. The children of the second series of studies were significantly taller and heavier, had more depot fat and showed poorer cardio-respiratory endurance than their peers 25 years before. The increases with age in weight, BMI and depot fat were steeper in the second series. The significant differences that developed in anthropometric traits and physical performance during these 25 years are regarded as indirect evidence for how severely the average physical condition had declined, as well as how health risks of the schoolchildren had increased.
Lifestyle changes and challenges following university graduation often present a sharp contrast to the relatively free and basically pleasant university life enjoyed by the typical college student. Adaptation to a new work environment, relocation to a new community, concerns of marriage and family, personal finances, including income and budgeting (automobile and mortgage payments, savings, etc.), and adjustment to independent living result in an unfamiliar schedule of duties, often too sedentary in nature.The aim of this study was to analyse the changes observed in young working professionals by comparing selected body composition estimates, and physiological working capacity variables at the time of university graduation and four years later.Anthropometric and functional cardio-respiratory exercise test data were collected in 26 physically active (but nonathletic) volunteer males at the time of their university graduation in 2000 and 4 years later in 2004. By the end of this four-year period body weight, body mass index (BMI), the sum of 5 skinfold thicknesses, and relative body fat content increased significantly. Both mean BMI and weight-related body fat content were within the categorized risk range at the time of the second data collection. Parallel with unfavourable changes in body composition, peak minute ventilation, aerobic power, oxygen pulse, and maximum treadmill running distance had decreased significantly during this time. We attributed the significant changes observed mainly to the dramatically changed lifestyle. The subjects could not maintain their previous level of habitual physical activity.
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