Physical fitness (PF) is considered an excellent biomarker of health. One possible strategy to improve PF levels is active commuting. This review, performed accordingly to the Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews guidelines includes scientific articles published in peer-reviewed journals up to December 2019 that aim at examining the relationship between active travel/commuting and PF. The search was performed in three databases (PubMed, Scopus, and Web of Science). Sixteen studies were included in this review. Findings from the 16 studies were unclear. From the eleven studies on children and adolescents screened, eight were cross-sectional, one prospective cohort, one quasi-experimental, and one experimental. From the five studies on adults, four were experimental and one cross-sectional. Body mass, waist circumference, skinfolds, fat mass, cardiorespiratory fitness, upper and lower strength tests were performed in children, adolescents, and adults. Agility and speed tests were performed only in the young age groups. Majority of the investigations on young ages and adults have shown positive effects or relationships between active commuting and several attributes of PF. However, to avoid misconceptions, there is a need for future robust investigation to identify potential mediators or confounders in this relationship. More robust investigations are essential to understand how and whether decision-makers and public health authorities can use active travel/commuting as a strategy to improve PF in all ages.

OBJETIVO: Verificar os motivos e a prevalência de insatisfação com a imagem corporal (IC) em adolescentes. Métodos: Participaram do estudo 641 adolescentes de 11 a 17 anos. A imagem corporal foi autoavaliada através da escala de nove silhuetas corporais. Resultados: A prevalência de insatisfação com a IC foi de 60,4% (masculino = 54,5%, feminino = 65,7%; p < 0,05). Os rapazes (26,4%) apresentaram maior desejo em aumentar o tamanho da silhueta corporal, enquanto as moças (52,4%) desejavam diminuir. Prevalência mais elevada de insatisfação com a IC foi encontrada nos adolescentes urbanos. Os motivos indicados pelos adolescentes para a insatisfação foram similares entre os sexos (p = 0,156). Quando ao domicílio, a estética foi o motivo indicado pelos adolescentes urbanos e a autoestima pelos adolescentes rurais. Foi encontrada associação entre a percepção da imagem corporal e os motivos de insatisfação. Conclusões: A estética, a autoestima e a saúde são os motivos que mais influenciam a insatisfação com a IC. Mais da metade dos adolescentes está insatisfeita com sua silhueta corporal. Neste sentido, intervenções por profissionais e serviços de saúde são necessárias nessa fase da vida, para prevenir possíveis problemas futuros de distúrbios alimentares (anorexia, bulimia e vigorexia).

The aim of this study was to translate and validate the Pediatric Daytime Sleepiness Scale (PDSS) into Brazilian Portuguese. The translation/validation process was carried out through translation, back translation, technical review, assessment of verbal comprehension/clarity of the scale by experts and a focus group, test-retest, and application of the tool. The reproducibility analysis was performed by applying the PDSS in test-retest; internal consistency was verified by applying the scale in 90 children and adolescents. The mean score of the sum of PDSS questions was 15.6 (SD=5.0) points. The PDSS showed appropriate indicators of content validation and clarity for the Brazilian Portuguese version. The internal consistency analysis showed a Cronbach's alpha of 0.784. The PDSS showed adequate reproducibility. The PDSS scores showed a significant and negative correlation with time spent in bed (r=-0.214; p=0.023). The Brazilian Portuguese version of the PDSS shows satisfactory indicators of validity and can be applied in clinical practice and scientific research.

The objective of the present study was to propose cutoff points for the Pediatric Daytime Sleepiness Scale (PDSS) through sensitivity and specificity analyses in order to identify excessive daytime sleepiness, considering parameters such as duration and quality of sleep, health perception, stress control and depressive moods (feelings of sadness) in adolescents. A total of 1,132 adolescents, aged 14–19 years old, of both sexes, from the public high school of São José – SC, answered the questionnaire with information on age, daytime sleepiness, sleep duration, health perception, stress management, depressive moods (feelings of sadness) and quality of sleep. The Receiver Operating Characteristic (ROC) curve was used to estimate cutoff points considering the sensitivity and specificity values ​​that best identify adolescents with excessive daytime sleepiness, using independent variables as a reference. The majority of the sample was female (54.2%), aged 14–16 years. The girls presented worse quality of sleep (66.4%), and the boys had a more positive perception of health (74.8%), better stress control (64.8%) and lower depressive moods (feelings of sadness) (63.3%). The largest area in the ROC curve was the one that considered sleep quality as a parameter in both sexes (area of the curve = 0.709 and 0.659, respectively, for boys and girls, p < 0.001). Considering sleep quality as a reference, the cutoff point for excessive daytime sleepiness was 15 points. The other parameters used were also significant (p < 0.005). Poor sleep quality was the parameter most strongly related to daytime sleepiness, and a cutoff of 15 points for the PDSS for both sexes should be used in the definition of excessive daytime sleepiness. For the other parameters, stress management, depressive mood (feelings of sadness) and health perception, different cutoff points are suggested for boys and girls.

Purpose: Criterion-referenced cut-points for health-related fitness measures are lacking. This study aimed to determine the associations between aerobic fitness and high blood pressure levels (HBP) to determine the cut-points that best predict HBP among adolescents.Method: This cross-sectional school-based study with sample of 875 adolescents aged 14–19 years was conducted in southern Brazil. Aerobic fitness was assessed using the modified Canadian Aerobic Fitness Test (mCAFT). Systolic and diastolic blood pressure were measured by the oscillometric method with a digital sphygmomanometer. Analyses controlled for sociodemographic variables, physical activity, body mass and biological maturation.Results: Receiver Operating Characteristic (ROC) curves demonstrated that mCAFT measures could discriminate HBP in both sexes (female: AUC = 0.70; male: AUC = 0.63). The cut-points with the best discriminatory power for HBP were 32 mL·kg^-1·min^-1 for females and 40 mL·kg^-1·min^-1 for males. Females (OR = 8.4; 95% CI: 2.1, 33.7) and males (OR: 2.5; CI 95%: 1.2, 5.2) with low aerobic fitness levels were more likely to have HBP.Conclusion: mCAFT measures are inversely associated with BP and cut-points from ROC analyses have good discriminatory power for HBP.