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Physical activity (PA) promotes better cardiometabolic health, physical function, brain health and longevity. In contrast, prolonged sedentary behaviour (SB) is a risk factor for many chronic diseases and poor health. Limited research has evaluated or synthesised how competitive sports participation influences PA across the lifespan. Some evidence suggests, ironically, that former competitive athletes may be insufficiently active and current athletes may be highly sedentary away from sport. This study describes the protocol for a systematic review and meta-analysis on activity levels across the intensity spectrum in athletes, addressing the primary research question: is sports participation significantly associated with PA and/or SB among current and former competitive athletes? PubMed, Embase, Cochrane Database of Systematic Reviews, Web of Science and SPORTDiscus databases will be searched. Two reviewers will independently screen titles/abstracts and full texts of selected abstracts. Data will be extracted regarding the study population, sport played, PA measures and protocols, outcomes of interest and findings. Primary outcomes will include step counts, daily activity across the intensity spectrum (ie, sedentary, light, moderate and vigorous PA), metabolic equivalent of task and whole-day energy expenditure. Secondary outcomes will include additional accelerometry measures of PA, activity patterns and self-reported PA. The risk of bias will be assessed using the National Institutes of Health Study Quality Assessment Tools. Extracted data will be presented using narrative synthesis and tabular presentation. Meta-analyses will be conducted to determine outcomes with sufficient data.PROSPERO registration number: CRD42024469267.

Abstract Background Emerging evidence suggests that children’s fatness increases and fitness declines at a greater rate during the summer holiday period, compared with the school year. The aim of this study was to compare rates of change in fitness and fatness over the in-term and summer holiday periods among Australian schoolchildren. A secondary aim was to explore whether rates of change differed according to the child’s sex, socio-economic status (SES), pubertal status and weight status. Methods Children (n = 381) initially in Grade 4 (age 9) were recruited for this 2-year longitudinal study. Fatness (% body fat, BMI z-score, waist-to-height ratio) and fitness (20-m shuttle run and standing broad jump) were measured at the start and end of two consecutive years. Rates of change were calculated for the two in-school periods (Grades 4 and 5) and for the summer holiday period. Rates of change in fatness and fitness between in-school and holiday periods were compared, and differences in rates of change according to sex, socio-economic status, and weight status were explored. Results During the holidays, percentage body fat increased at a greater rate (annualised rate of change [RoC]: +3.9 vs. Grade 4 and + 4.7 vs. Grade 5), and aerobic fitness declined at a greater rate (RoC − 4.7 vs. Grade 4 and − 4.4 vs. Grade 5), than during the in-school periods. There were no differences in rates of change for BMI z-score, waist-to-height ratio or standing broad jump. Body fatness increased faster in the holidays (relative to the in-school period) in children who are overweight and from low-SES families. Aerobic fitness declined more rapidly in the holidays in children who are overweight. Conclusion This study highlights that during the summer holiday period, children experience greater increases in fatness and declines in fitness, with children who live with low-SES families and are overweight being more affected. The findings suggest the need for targeted interventions during this period to address these negative health trends. Trial registration Australia New Zealand Clinical Trials Registry, identifier ACTRN12618002008202. Retrospectively registered on 14 December 2018.

Background: Limited nationally representative evidence is available on temporal trends in physical fitness (PF) for children and adolescents during the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic. The primary aim was to examine the temporal trends in PF for Japanese children and adolescents before and during the COVID-19 pandemic. The secondary aim was to estimate the concurrent trends in body size (measured as body mass and height) and movement behaviors (exercise, screen, and sleep time). Methods: Census PF data for children in Grade 5 (aged 10–11 years) and adolescents in Grade 8 (aged 13–14 years) were obtained for the years 2013–2021 from the National Survey of Physical Fitness, Athletic Performance, and Exercise Habits in Japan (n = 16,647,699). PF and body size were objectively measured, and movement behaviors were self-reported. Using sample-weighted linear regression, temporal trends in mean PF were calculated before the pandemic (2013–2019) and during the pandemic (2019–2021) with adjustments for age, sex, body size, and exercise time. Results: When adjusted for age, sex, body size, and exercise time, there were significant declines in PF during the pandemic, with the largest declines observed in 20-m shuttle run (standardized (Cohen's) effect size (ES) = −0.109 per annum (p.a.)) and sit-ups performance (ES = −0.133 p.a.). The magnitude of the declines in 20-m shuttle run and sit-ups performances were 18- and 15-fold larger, respectively, than the improvements seen before the pandemic (2013–2019), after adjusting for age, sex, body size, and exercise time. During the pandemic, both body mass and screen time significantly increased, and exercise time decreased. Conclusion: Declines in 20-m shuttle run and sit-ups performances suggest corresponding declines in population health during the COVID-19 pandemic.

Background/Objective: Past Physical Activity Report Cards have indicated a minority of Australian children and young people are sufficiently active. The purpose of this paper is to summarise grades across 10 indicators of the 2022 Australian Physical Activity Report Card, to assess physical activity behaviours and supports. Methods: A development team consisting of research experts synthesised and evaluated national and state level data to inform grades for each indicator. Data were drawn from nationally and state/territory representative datasets spanning 2016–2021. Results: Overall Physical Activity Levels and Screen Time were both assigned grades of D-, remaining the worst performing indicators. Australia's best performing indicator was Community and the Built Environment (A-), followed by Organised Sport and Physical Activity (B-). Remaining indicators were Family and Peers (C+), School (C+), Strategies and Investments (C-), Active Transport (D-) and Physical Fitness (D-). Active Play was unable to be graded, due to lack of consensus on a primary metric for this indicator and a lack of representative data. Conclusion: Evidence suggests that physical activity levels of Australian children remain consistently low, despite access to and availability of facilities and open spaces. There is a strong need for a National Physical Activity Plan to address this. The theme for the 2022 Australian Physical Activity Report Card, REBOOT! Reimagining physically active lives encourages us all to think more imaginatively about how we might engage all children and young people through diverse physical activity opportunities to be more active.

Physical fitness (PF) is significantly associated with current and future health. Routine assessment of PF is important not only to understand the overall health of the population, but also to predict future disease burden. While the annual national PF testing conducted by the Japan Sports Agency is well known domestically, the existence of this surveillance strategy is seldom recognized internationally, as only a few published studies have used this PF surveillance dataset. This short review has three aims. First, we briefly summarize the history and test battery of the annual national PF surveillance system for Japanese people. Second, we discuss published research, including our recent work that utilized data from the Japanese PF surveillance database. Third, we propose a priority research agenda for Japanese PF surveillance. While annual PF surveillance appears to be “normal” for Japan, such surveillance efforts are extremely rare internationally. Promoting Japan’s national PF surveillance dataset in international publications provides an important opportunity for other countries to develop similar cost-effective public health surveillance strategies.

Despite handgrip strength (HGS) being considered a convenient muscle strength assessment, HGS lacks routine measurement in sports medicine and healthcare settings because barriers such as time and lack of instrumentation may exist. Alternatives to circumvent these barriers should be sought. This study examined the absolute agreement of a subjective estimate of strength capacity on objectively measured HGS in adults aged 18-84 years. We also evaluated the test-retest reliability of an electronic handgrip dynamometer as a secondary purpose. There were 4 trained interviewers (i.e., assessors) who were assigned completely at random to subject laboratory visits occurring on 2 separate days. Trained interviewers carefully positioned their fingers into the hand of each subject before asking them to squeeze their fingers with maximal effort, and interviewers estimated each subject's HGS. An electronic handgrip dynamometer objectively measured HGS. Intraclass correlation coefficients (ICCs) were used for the analyses. The analytic sample included 100 subjects (age: 48.0 ± 20.2 years; 61% women). Poor agreement between mean objective HGS and averaged subjective hand squeeze was observed (ICC: 0.47; 95% confidence interval [CI]: 0.40-0.53). However, there was moderate agreement between dynamometer-derived maximal HGS and the most accurate HGS estimate (ICC: 0.75; CI: 0.65-0.86). An excellent test-retest reliability was found for mean (ICC: 0.97; CI: 0.95-0.98) and maximal HGS with the electronic dynamometer (ICC: 0.97; CI: 0.96-0.98). Trained interviewers performing subjective hand squeezes can approximate objective HGS with adequate accuracy, which could be useful when time and handgrip dynamometry access are lacking. Expanded interviewer training and testing may help with implementation. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Purpose: To estimate temporal trends in broad jump performance for United States youth, a marker of muscular fitness and health. Method: Electronic databases, topical systematic reviews, and personal libraries were systematically searched for studies reporting descriptive standing broad jump data for apparently healthy United States youth (age 10-17 years). Temporal trends at the sex-age level were estimated using sample-weighted regression models associating the year of testing to mean jump performance, with national trends standardized to the year 1985 using a post-stratified population-weighting procedure. Results: Collectively, there was a small increase of 12.6 cm (95%CI: 12.5 to 12.7) or 7.9% (95%CI: 7.1 to 8.6) in 65,527 United States youth between 1911 and 1990. Increases were greater for girls (change in means [95% CI]: 17.1 cm [16.9 to 17.3]; 11.4% [10.7 to 12.2]) compared to boys (change in means [95% CI]: 8.5 cm [8.3 to 8.7]; 4.6% [3.8 to 5.4]), but did not differ between children (10-12 years) and adolescents (13-17 years). Increases in broad jump performance were not always uniform across time, with steady and progressive increases observed for boys and children, respectively, and a diminishing rate of increase observed for girls and adolescents. Conclusions: Muscular fitness is a good marker of health, so greater broad jump performance from 1911 to 1990 may reflect corresponding changes in health. Routine assessment of broad jump performance may be useful to monitor trends in health and muscular fitness of United States youth due to its practicality, scalability, and predictive utility.

Anthropometry is important for predicting sports performance. While 3-dimensional (3D) body scanners increase the feasibility of anthropometric assessment, reliability data on athletes are lacking. The aim of this study was to determine the test-retest reliability of a portable, single-camera 3D body scanning system (Styku S100) to assess circumferences, and whole-body and segmental surface areas and volumes of athletes. Forty-nine (19 males) athletes were scanned 6 times (two sessions of three scans). The Styku scanner demonstrated nearly perfect reliability. Systematic errors were negligible (mean standardized bias [95%CI]: scan 1 vs. 4, 0.04 [0.02, 0.06]), random errors were negligible (mean standardized typical error [95%CI]: scan 1 vs. 4, 0.14 [0.10, 0.17]), and test-retest correlations were nearly perfect (mean intra-class correlation coefficient [95%CI]: scan 1 vs. 4, 0.98 [0.97, 0.99]). Single-camera 3D body scanning systems may provide practitioners and researchers with a feasible tool to evaluate body size and shape.