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PHYSICAL ACTIVITY AND HEALTH-RELATED FITNESS

Original Research

†denotes graduate student author, ‡Denotes professional author 

Corresponding author: Mitch Barton; PO Box 310769, Denton, TX 76203-0769; [email protected]; Phone: 940.369.5187; Fax: 940.565.4904

ABSTRACT
  International Journal of Exercise Science V(i): X-Y, YEAR.  Public health guidelines for physical activity (PA) behaviors are being updated with 2018 as a proposed release date. Currently, ≥60 minutes of daily PA are recommended for youth. Thus, the purpose of this study was to investigate the association between reported days of aerobic PA and health-related fitness (HRF). Participants included 4448 students in grades 6-8. Self-reported days of ≥60 minutes of aerobic PA was obtained. HRF was assessed with FitnessGram. Discriminant analysis indicated that weekly days of aerobic PA related to HRF. Adolescents who participated in ≥5 days of weekly aerobic PA generally had better fitness results than those with ≤4 days. Chi-square analyses indicated the highest percentages of adolescents in the FitnessGram Healthy Fitness Zone™ (HFZ) for each test item were those with ≥5 days of aerobic PA. These findings provided initial support that the impact of aerobic PA on HRF plateaus at 5 days per week. Thus, adolescents may be able to improve HRF even if they do not meet the currently recommended guidelines for daily PA.

KEY WORDS: adolescents, FitnessGram, physical fitness.

EFFECT OF EXERCISE ON BLOOD PRESSURE


International Journal of Exercise Science                                                          http://www.intjexersci.com
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INTRODUCTION

Public health physical activity guidelines (PAG) established in 2008 (1) are now being reviewed with proposed release in 2018. The PAG provide information about the amount and intensity of physical activity (PA) needed to positively influence health at all stages of life. For children and adolescents, there is evidence that PA and health-related physical fitness (HRF; e.g., cardiorespiratory fitness [CRF] and muscular strength and endurance) are reciprocally related and indirectly influence each other. Previous research has found a relationship between PA and higher levels of CRF, stronger muscles and bones, and lower body fatness (12, 19). Santos and colleagues (19) reported that youth who were classified as meeting the PAG and engaged in low levels of sedentary behavior (based on the median value for sedentary time by age and gender) were more likely to achieve a criterion-referenced standard for CRF. Although previous research findings from observational and experimental studies indicates an association between PA and HRF, more information is needed regarding the exact amount of activity (e.g., number of days with ≥60 minutes of aerobic PA) that is associated with healthier levels of HRF. Thus, additional evidence on the dose-response relationship between the amount of PA and HRF outcomes is needed (9, 16).  Comment by Mitch Barton: The first sentence immediately identifies that the Physical Activity Guidelines (PAG) are going to be an important part of this study. This first sentence is designed to be broad so it just starts by saying that the guidelines were established in 2008 and are going to be updated in 2018. Comment by Mitch Barton: The second sentence simply tells you what the PAG is in case the reader is not fully aware of the PAG. Comment by Mitch Barton: The 3rd sentence introduces the idea that physical activity (PA) is related to health-related fitness (HRF); in fact, it implies that both of these variables might be related to each other. BUT! How do we know this? Well, if we take a look at the next sentence… Comment by Mitch Barton: …this sentence establishes that we believe PA and HRF are interrelated because there has been previous research that has found evidence that more PA is associated with higher levels of HRF. At the end of this sentence, I have included TWO references to support this statement (i.e., these studies found evidence that PA and HRF are related). Then, in the next sentence, I actually talk about one of these studies in more detail.  Comment by Mitch Barton: In this sentence, I provide an overview what Santos and colleagues found in their study, which provides specific evidence of what I said in my previous sentence about previous research finding a relationship between PA and HRF. Comment by Mitch Barton: I had a limited amount of space to use for the introduction for this journal so I had to jump right into the “more information is needed” statement (if I had more space, I could have include another study or two that discusses the relationship between PA and HRF).  So, because I had limited space, I provided a general statement about the relationship between PA and HRF again and I specifically mention where more information is needed based on what I found in the literature. This statement about “…more information is needed…” is usually a strong hint about what the current study will be about.   In this case, based on this hint, we can assume that this study will be looking at how much activity is needed for there to be an association between PA and HRF. Comment by Mitch Barton: To make it even more clear about what information is missing in the literature, I make a more specific statement about needing additional evidence for the dose-response relationship between PA and HRF (i.e., how much PA is needed for there to be an impact on HRF?), and I include two citations from studies that have also discussed how more information in this area is needed.

The current PAG for children and adolescents is ≥60 minutes of daily PA, which should include ≥3 days of musculoskeletal and bone-enhancing activities. Strong and colleagues (23) provided support for this recommendation after conducting a systematic review of 850 articles. Strong et al.’s recommendation for 60 minutes of daily PA was largely based on the results of intervention studies with overweight and obese children that revealed 30-45 minute bouts of PA on 3-5 days per week improved various health outcomes (9). Sixty minutes of daily PA was chosen to help account for inter- and intra-individual differences in response to PA in free-living situations (9, 23). Strong and colleagues found strong evidence regarding the amount of activity youth needed to improve health and behavioral outcomes, but Dietz (4) indicated that there were still important gaps in the literature. Dietz emphasized that investigating different types (e.g., aerobic PA) and doses (e.g., five times weekly) of PA would likely have varying effects on adverse health outcomes. Addressing these gaps is important as the PAG are currently being reviewed and potentially modified. While there are different types of PA, aerobic PA was the primary focus of the current study because aerobic activities are the most common and have the broadest physiological and health effects (8). Comment by Mitch Barton: Because I have already established what the PAG is and that PA and HRF might be related, I started this sentence by focusing on the PAG for children and adolescences (who happened to be the sample for this study) and I highlight the role of musculoskeletal and bone-enhancing activities (which will also play a role in this study). Comment by Mitch Barton: In this section, I spend some extra time talking about the study by Strong and colleagues. I talk about how this study supported the PAG recommendations for children and youth, and I provided some background info about HOW this support was found. Comment by Mitch Barton: This is an example of how you can transition between studies in your literature review. I mentioned at the beginning how Strong and colleagues found evidence about the amount of PA needed to improve HRF, but in the same sentence, I noted how Dietz emphasized that there were still important gaps to consider regarding the different types and doses of PA.

Previous research has indicated that aerobic PA can improve different aspects of HRF (14), but limited information is available regarding the exact number of days of aerobic PA needed for youth to achieve healthier HRF levels and how each additional day of aerobic PA affects fitness outcomes. Further investigation will help identify the actual minimum number of days needed to achieve a fitness level sufficient to accrue health benefits. Ortega and colleagues (15) assessed the relationship between PA and CRF and found that 60 minutes or more of daily PA was associated with higher CRF levels in youth. However, the participants were placed into dichotomous groups based on those who achieved 60 minutes or more of daily PA and those who did not over a 4-day period. Thus, there is currently a need for more information regarding the number of days of aerobic PA that is associated with adolescents achieving HRF. The purpose of this study was to expand on previous research using aerobic PA by investigating the association between the number of days of aerobic PA and physical fitness achievement based on the FitnessGram assessment (i.e., Progressive Aerobic Capacity Endurance Run [PACER] laps, push-ups, curl-ups, trunk lift, and Body Mass Index [BMI]). It was hypothesized that there would be a positive association between the number of days of aerobic PA and each component of HRF (i.e., CRF, body composition, and muscular fitness). Comment by Mitch Barton: This is essentially a summary statement of the introduction so far. Comment by Mitch Barton: Again, this sentence is hinting that this study will investigate the minimum number of days needed to achieve a minimum level of fitness. Comment by Mitch Barton: This sentence starts by using a previous study that investigated a similar topic, but they used a different methodology than me so I use this as one “reason” for my study by stating that “…there is currently a need for more information…”. Comment by Mitch Barton: I have now told my “story” and conclude with my purpose statement and the hypothesis for this study. Here is a rough outline of my “story.”   Stated what the PAG is.   Stated that there is a relationship between PA and HRF   Provide supporting evidence and share example(s) of previous research that found a relationship between PA and HRF   Based on previous research, I identify an area where “…more information is needed…” that supports the reason for my study   I provide a more specific reason for why my study is needed (i.e., there is a need for a “…additional evidence for the dose-response relationship between PA and HRF.”)   I talk more about what previous research has found related to dose-response relationship between PA and HRF and I emphasize at the end why more information is needed    This leads to my purpose statement and hypothesis.

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International Journal of Exercise Science                                                          http://www.intjexersci.com
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