The association between the level of physical activity with spinal posture and physical fitness parameters in early adolescence

Birute Strukcinskiene; Juozas  Raistenskis; Rimantas  Stukas; Vaiva  Strukcinskaite; Raimondas  Buckus; Aurelija  Sidlauskiene

doi:10.2298/VSP170517098S

Birute Strukcinskiene Klaipeda University, †Faculty of Health Sciences, Klaipeda, Lithuania
Juozas Raistenskis Vilnius University, Faculty of Medicine, Institute of Health Science, Vilnius, Lithuania
Rimantas Stukas Vilnius University, Faculty of Medicine, Institute of Health Science, Vilnius, Lithuania
Vaiva Strukcinskaite Vilnius University, Faculty of Medicine, Institute of Health Science, Vilnius, Lithuania
Raimondas Buckus Vilnius University, Faculty of Medicine, Institute of Health Science, Vilnius, Lithuania
Aurelija Sidlauskiene Vilnius University, Faculty of Medicine, Institute of Health Science, Vilnius, Lithuania

DOI: https://doi.org/10.2298/VSP170517098S

Keywords: adolescent, exercise, physical fitness, posture, spine

Abstract

Abstract

Background/Aim. A low level of physical activity and sedentary lifestyle affects the body posture in adolescents. The aim of this study was to assess the core relation between the level of physical activity and spinal posture as well as physical fitness parameters in 11–14 years old teenagers. Methods. The cross-sectional study included 532 children, aged from 11 to 14 years. The study was carried out at three Lithuanian schools in 2011–2013. The Youth Physical Activity Questionnaire (YPAQ) was used to assess physical activity. Spinal posture was assessed according to the Hoeger visual posture assessment method. Physical capacity was evaluated using a 6-min walking test (6 MWT) and by calculating maximum oxygen consumption (VO₂max). Other physical fitness such as the general balance, flexibility, explosive leg power and abdominal muscle endurance were evaluated by applying the European Fitness Test (Eurofit). According to time spent doing moderate to vigorous intensity physical activities (MVPA), the sample was divided into 2 groups – a low activity level group and moderate to vigorous intensity physical activity level group. We compared the spinal posture evaluation results and physical fitness parameters between groups as well as correlations between the duration of MVPA, spinal posture evaluation results and physical fitness parameters. Results. The study showed that 22.2% of teenagers had a low physical activity level and 16% of teenagers had an incorrect posture. The teenagers of low physical activity group were less physically fit and had the poorer posture than teenagers in the MVPA group. During the 6MWT, the teenagers in the low physical activity group walked on average 63.2 m less (p = 0.002), and their VO₂max was 0.8 mL/kg/min lower (p = 0.006) than that of teenagers in the MVPA group. The teenagers in the low physical activity group also did not perform as well in the explosive leg power and abdominal muscle endurance tests compared to teenagers in the MVPA group. Correlations between the duration of MVPA and spinal posture evaluation results as well as some physical fitness parameters were very weak. Conclusion. The teenagers of low physical activity were less physically capable and had poorer posture than the teenagers in the MVPA group.

References

REFERENCES

Janssen I, Leblanc AG. Systematic review of the health benefits of physical activity and fitness in school-aged children and youth. Int J Behav Nutr Phys Act 2010; 7: 40.

Strong WB, Malina RM, Blimkie CJ, Daniels SR, Dishman RK, Gutin B, et al. Evidence based physical activity for school-age youth. J Pediatr 2005; 146(6): 732–7.

Nelson MC, Neumark-Stzainer D, Hannan PJ, Sirard JR, Story M. Longitudinal and secular trends in physical activity and seden-tary behavior during adolescence. Pediatrics 2006; 118(6): e1627–34.

O’Donovan G, Blazevich AJ, Boreham C, Cooper AR, Crank H, Ekelund U, et al. The ABC of Physical Activity for Health: a consensus statement from the British Association of Sport and Exercise Sciences. J Sports Sci 2010; 28(6): 573–91.

World Health Organization. Global recommendations on physical activity for health. Geneva: WHO; 2010.

Hallal PC, Andersen LB, Bull FC, Guthold R, Haskell W, Ekelund U. Lancet Physical Activity Series Working Group. Global physical activity levels: surveillance progress, pitfalls, and prospects. Lancet 2012; 380(9838): 247–57.

Latalski M, Bylina J, Fatyga M, Repko M, Filipovic M, Jarosz MJ, et al. Risk factors of postural defects in children at school age. Ann Agric Environ Med 2013; 20(3): 583–7.

McMaster ME, Lee AJ, Burwell RG. Physical activities of Pa-tients with adolescent idiopathic scoliosis (AIS): preliminary longitudinal case-control study historical evaluation of possible risk factors. Scoliosis 2015; 10: 6.

Ortega FB, Ruiz JR, Castillo MJ, Sjöström M. Physical fitness in childhood and adolescence: a powerful marker of health. Int J Obes (Lond) 2008; 32(1): 1–11.

Gallahue DL, Cleland-Donnelly F. An Overview of Developmental Physical Education (Chapter 1). In: Gallahue DL, Cleland-Donnelly F, editors. Developmental Physical Education for All Children. 4th ed. Champaign, IL: Human Kinetics; 2007. p. 2–23.

Kristensen PL, Moeller NC, Korsholm L, Kolle E, Wedderkopp N, Froberg K, et al. The association between aerobic fitness and physical activity in children and adolescents: the European youth heart study. Eur J Appl Physiol 2010; 110(2): 267–75.

Armstrong N, Tomkinson G, Ekelund U. Aerobic fitness and its relationship to sport, exercise training and habitual physical activity during youth. Br J Sports Med 2011; 45(11): 849–58.

MRC Epidemiology Unit in University of Cambridge School of Clinical Medicine. Youth physical activity questionnaire

(Y-PAQ). Available from: http://www.mrc-epid.cam.ac.uk/ wp-content/uploads/2014/08/YPAQ.pdf [accessed 2017 Ju-ly19].

Corder K, van Sluijs EM, Wright A, Whincup P, Wareham NJ, Ekelund U. Is it possible to assess free-living physical activity and energy expenditure in young people by self-report? Am J Clin Nutr 2009; 89(3): 862–70.

Ridley K, Ainsworth BE, Olds TS. Development of a compen-dium of energy expenditures for youth. Int J Behav Nutr Phys Act 2008; 5: 45.

Guidelines for data processing and analysis of the Internation-al Physical Activity Questionnaire (IPAQ)—Short and Long Forms 2005. Available from: https://sites.google.com/ site/theipaq/scoring-protocol [Accessed 2017July19].

Hoeger WWK, Hoeger SA. Principles and Labs for Physical Fit-ness and Wellness. 2nd ed. Englewood, CO: Morton Publishing Company; 1988.

Klepper SE, Muir N. Reference values on the 6-minute walk test for children living in the United States. Pediatr Phys Ther 2011; 23(1): 32–40.

Lammers AE, Hislop AA, Flynn Y, Haworth SG. The 6-minute walk test: normal values for children of 4-11 years of age. Arch Dis Child 2008; 93(6): 464–8.

Ulrich S, Hildenbrand FF, Treder U, Fischler M, Keusch S, Speich R, et al. Reference values for the 6-minute walk test in healthy children and adolescents in Switzerland. BMC Pulm Med 2013; 13: 49.

Vanhelst J, Fardy PS, Salleron J, Beghin L. The six-minute walk test in obese youth: reproducibility, validity, and prediction equation to assess aerobic power. Disabil Rehabil 2013; 35(6): 479–82.

Volbekienė V, Kavaliauskas S. Eurofitas. Fizinio pajėgumo testai ir metodika. Lietuvos moksleivių fizinio pajėgumo rezultatai. 2-asis pataisytas ir papildytas leidimas. Vilnius: LSIC; 2002. (Lithuanian)

Hancox RJ, Milne BJ, Poulton R. Association between child and adolescent television viewing and adult health: a longitudinal birth cohort study. Lancet 2004; 364(9430): 257–62.

Bauman A, Craig CL. The place of physical activity in the WHO Global Strategy on Diet and Physical Activity. Int J Be-hav Nutr Phys Act 2005; 2: 10.

Zoeller RF Jr. Physical Activity, Sedentary Behavior, and Overweight/Obesity in Youth: Evidence From Cross-sectional, Longitudinal, and Interventional Studies. Am J Lifestyle Med 2009; 3(2): 110–4.

Allison KR, Adlaf EM, Dwyer JJ, Lysy DC, Irving HM. The de-cline in physical activity among adolescent students: a cross-national comparison. Can J Public Health 2007; 98(2): 97–100.

Telama R, Yang X, Viikari J, Valimaki I, Wanne O, Raitakari O. Physical activity from childhood to adulthood: a 21-year tracking study. Am J Prev Med 2005; 28(3): 267–73.

OECD. Health at a Glance: Europe 2010. OECD Publishing; 2010. Available from: http://dx.doi.org/10.1787/health_ glance-2010-en30.

Armstrong N, Welsman JR. Aerobic fitness: what are we measuring? Med Sport Sci 2007; 50: 5–25.

DuBose KD, Eisenmann JC, Donnelly JE. Aerobic fitness atte-nuates the metabolic syndrome score in normal-weight, at-risk-for-overweight, and overweight children. Pediatrics 2007; 120(5): e1262–8.

Aires L, Silva P, Silva G, Santos MP, Ribeiro JC, Mota J. Intensity of physical activity, cardiorespiratory fitness, and body mass index in youth. J Phys Act Health 2010; 7(1): 54–9.

Volbekiene V, Griciute A. Health-related physical fitness among schoolchildren in Lithuania: a comparison from 1992 to 2002. Scand J Public Health 2007; 35(3): 235–42.

Bouchard C, Lesage R, Lortie G, Simoneau JA, Hamel P, Boulay MR, et al. Aerobic performance in brothers, dizygotic and monozygotic twins. Med Sci Sports Exerc 1986; 18(6): 639–46.

Bouchard C, Daw EW, Rice T, Perusse L, Gagnon J, Province MA, et al. Familial resemblance for VO2max in the sedentary state: the HERITAGE family study. Med Sci Sports Exerc 1998; 30(2): 252–8.

Heneweer H, Vanhees L, Picavet HS. Physical activity and low back pain: a U-shaped relation? Pain 2009; 143(1–2): 21–5.

Mucha D, Ambroży T, Ząbek M, Wojtala J, Szczygieł A, Żaba K. Aktywność fizyczna jako warunek prawidłowej postawy ciała młodzieży. Kultura Bezpieczeństwa. Nauka-Praktyka-Refleksje 2015; 19: 139–48. (Polish)

Wyszynska J, Podgorska-Bednarz J, Drzal-Grabiec J, Rachwal M, Baran J, Czenczek-Lewandowska E, et al. Analysis of Relationship between the Body Mass Composition and Physical Activity with Body Posture in Children. Bio Med Res Int 2016; 2016: 1851670.

Widhe T. Spine: posture, mobility and pain. A longitudinal study from childhood to adolescence. Eur Spine J 2001; 10(2): 118–23.

Martinez-Gomez D, Welk GJ, Puertollano MA, Del-Campo J, Moya JM, Marcos A, et al. Associations of physical activity with muscular fitness in adolescents. Scand J Med Sci Sports 2011; 21(2): 310–7.

Patton GC, Sawyer SM, Santelli JS, Ross DA, Afifi R, Allen NB, et al. Our future: a Lancet commission on adolescent health and wellbeing. Lancet 2016; 387(10036): 2423–78.

Corkins MR, Daniels SR, de Ferranti SD, Golden NH, Kim JH, Magge SN, et al. Nutrition in children and adolescents. Med Clin North Am 2016; 100: 1217–35.