The purpose of the study was to identify and compare validity parameters of different absolute intensity thresholds in METs, using relative intensity classification as criterion measure. Convenience sampling was used to recruit total of 112 adults. The participants carried out an incremental maximal cycle ergometer test and asked to perform nine free-living activities. The oxygen uptake was measured by a VO2000® gas analyser throughout the tests. The intensity thresholds were identified using Receiver Operator Characteristic (ROC) curve analysis, having relative intensity categories as criterion measure. A total of 103 participants attended the two visits. Among 54 men and 49 women, the mean (± SD) ages were 36.1 (± 11.1) and 33.9 (± 10.6) years, respectively. The intensity thresholds identified were 4.9 METs for moderate and 6.8 METs for vigorous physical activity. In conclusion, the physical activity thresholds, generated according to the entire sample, were higher and presented improved specificity when compared to thresholds currently recommended. Moreover, these parameters presented relatively high accuracy, even when applied to specific groups such as sex, age, nutritional status and physical fitness.

Surveillance, policy, and research indicators were positively correlated, suggesting that action at multiple levels tends to stimulate progress in other areas. Efforts to expand PA-related surveillance, policy, and research in lower income countries are needed.

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Objective: To describe and compare measures of maternal depression, anxiety, and posttraumatic stress symptoms before and during the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic in a Brazilian birth cohort. Methods: All hospital births occurring in the municipality of Rio Grande (southern Brazil) during 2019 were identified. Mothers were invited to complete a standardized questionnaire on sociodemographic and health-related characteristics. Between May and July 2020, we tried to contact all cohort mothers of singletons, living in urban areas, to answer a standardized web-based questionnaire. They completed the Edinburgh Postnatal Depression Scale (EPDS) and Generalized Anxiety Disorder 7-item (GAD-7) in both follow-ups, and the Impact of Event Scale (IES) in the online follow-up. Results: We located 1,136 eligible mothers (n=2,051). Of those, 40.5% had moderate to severe stress due to the current pandemic, 29.3% had depression, and 25.9% had GAD. Mothers reporting loss of income during the pandemic (57.2%) had the highest proportions of mental health problems. Compared to baseline, the prevalence of depression increased 5.7 fold and that of anxiety increased 2.4-fold during the pandemic (both p < 0.001). Conclusion: We found a high prevalence of personal distress due to the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic, and a clear rise in both maternal depression and anxiety.

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Background Nurturing care, in which children are raised in engaging and safe environments, may reduce child stress and shape hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenal axis functioning. Hence, parent-training programs may impact child cortisol levels, as well as behavioral, social and health outcomes. We conducted a systematic review of the impact of parent-training interventions on children’s and caregivers’ cortisol levels, and meta-analyzed the results. Methods In January 2020, searches in PubMed, LILACS, ERIC, Web of Science, Scielo, Scopus, PsycNET and POPLINE databases were conducted, and two independent researchers screened the results for eligible studies – randomized trials that assessed the impact of parent-training interventions on child or caregiver cortisol levels. Random effects were used to pool the estimates, separately for children and caregivers, and for children’s morning and evening cortisol levels, as well as change across the day. Results A total of 27 eligible studies were found. Data from 19 studies were extracted and included in the meta-analyses, with 18 estimates of child cortisol levels and 5 estimates for caregiver cortisol levels. The pooled effect size (standardized mean difference) for the effects of parent training programs on morning child cortisol was 0.01 (95%CI: − 0.14 to 0.16; I 2 : 47.5%), and for caregivers it was 0.04 (95%CI: − 0.22 to 0.30; I 2 : 0.0%). Similar null results were observed for child evening cortisol and for the slope between morning and evening child cortisol. No evidence of publication bias was found. Conclusion Existing evidence shows no effect of parent-training interventions on child or caregiver post-intervention cortisol. Researchers are encouraged to adopt standardized protocols to improve evaluation standards, to test for intervention effects on psychosocial outcomes that are theorized to mediate the effects on biomarkers, and to use additional biomarkers for chronic stress.

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