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Monitoring physical activity levels in segments of the young population has become an important topic among specialists. The objective of this study was to analyze the physical activity level of schoolchildren based on two current recommendations and to examine the association between the number of steps/day and different indicators of adiposity. The sample consisted of 162 subjects aged 10 to 18 years (65 boys and 97 girls). Body mass index and body fat percentage were calculated. The level of physical activity was quantified with a pedometer (New Lifestyles NL-2000) based on the following recommendations: Duncan et al. (male: 16,000 steps/day and female: 13,000 steps/day) and Tudor-Locke et al. (male: 15,000 steps/day and female: 12,000 steps/day). The Student t-test and one-way ANOVA (LSD post hoc test) were used for comparison between groups. A level of significance of 5% was adopted (p £ 0.05). Only 18.5% of the sample met the recommendations proposed by Duncan et al. and 25.9% met the cutoff proposed by Tudor-Locke et al. Adolescents who did not meet the cutoff proposed by Duncan had higher body fat percentages than those who did (p < 0.05). In conclusion, a high rate of the youngsters did not meet the recommendations analyzed and only one indicator of adiposity was associated with meeting one of the recommendations.

O objetivo do presente estudo foi comparar o gasto energético entre a caminhada realizada como meio de trans­porte e as aulas de ginástica em mulheres idosas. Foram avaliadas 17 mulheres com idade média de 65 ± 5,5, 70,0 ± 10,8 kg de massa corporal, estatura 156,5 ± 6,8 cm e adiposidade 22,1 ± 2,5 mm. Todas participavam de um programa de atividade física em um Centro de Terceira Ida­de do Município de São Caetano do Sul. Para determinar o gasto energético da caminhada utilizada como meio de transporte e das aulas de ginástica (x = 53,3 ± 4,8 min) foi utilizado o (Computer Science & Applications - CSA) um sensor que quantifica os movimentos e estima o gasto energético em kilocalorias. Para análise dos dados foi uti­lizado o teste "t" de student para amostras dependentes e o nível de significância adotado foi p < 0,05. Durante a ca­minhada de ida para as aulas de ginástica e volta para casa, o número de movimentos foi de 1673 ± 929,4 counts por minuto e durante as aulas de ginástica foi 905,1 ± 374,5 counts por minuto (p