OBJETIVO: Sintetizar e analisar as evidências da literatura sobre a associação entre atividade física e qualidade de vida. MÉTODOS: Revisão sistemática nas bases PubMed, Lilacs e SciELO com utilização dos descritores "physical activity", "motor activity", "exercise", "walking", "running", "physical fitness", "sport", "life style", "quality of life", "WHOQOL" e "SF". Foram selecionados 38 estudos publicados entre 1980 e 2010 que utilizaram algum instrumento de medida da atividade física e com alguma versão dos questionários Medical Outcomes Study 36-Item Short-Form Health Survey ou World Health Organization Quality of Life para avaliar a qualidade de vida. RESULTADOS: A maioria dos estudos apresentou delineamento transversal (68%), 18% foram experimentais, 8% de acompanhamento prospectivo (coorte) e 5% com delineamento misto (transversal e longitudinal). O questionário mais utilizado para avaliar a qualidade de vida foi o SF-36 (71%) e a atividade física foi auto-reportada em 82% dos estudos. Maior nível de atividade física associou-se à melhor percepção de qualidade de vida em idosos, adultos aparentemente saudáveis ou em diferentes condições de saúde. CONCLUSÕES: A associação entre atividade física e qualidade de vida é positiva e varia de acordo com o domínio analisado.

To analyze the association between physical activity (PA) and biological maturation in children and adolescents. We conducted a systematic review in April 2013 in the electronic databases of PubMed/Medline, SportDiscus, Web of Science and Lilacs without time restrictions. A total of 628 articles potentially relevant were identified and 10 met the inclusion criteria for this review: cross-sectional or longitudinal studies, published in Portuguese, English or Spanish, with schoolchildren aged 9-15 year old of both sexes. Despite the heterogeneity of the studies, there was an inverse association between PA and biological maturation. The PA decreases with increased biological and chronological age in both sexes. Boys tend to be more physically active than girls; however, when controlling for biological age, the sex differences disappear. The association between PA and timing of maturation varies between the sexes. Variation in the timing of biological maturation affects the tracking of PA in early adolescent girls. This review suggests that mediators (BMI, depression, low self-esteem, and concerns about body weight) can explain the association between PA and biological maturation. There is a relationship between PA and biological maturation. PA decreases with increasing biological age with no differences between sexes. As for the timing of biological maturation, this relationship varies between sexes.

The aim of this study was to synthesize and analyze scientific evidence of the perceived barriers to leisure-time physical activity (PA) in the Brazilian population. The Lilacs, SciELO, PubMed, ScienceDirect and Web of Science journal databases were reviewed and the number of reports of each barrier to PA, grouped according to the level of determinants of the social ecological model (intrapersonal, interpersonal and environmental) was analyzed. We found 25 studies (11 in adolescents, 8 in adults and 6 in older adults), totaling 62,678 reports of barriers to PA. The studies were conducted in the South (n=15), Southeast (n=7), and Northeast (n=2) regions, and one study also included different regions of Brazil. Overall, about seven out of every 10 reports on barriers to PA involved intrapersonal barriers. Adults and older adults had a higher proportion of reports of intrapersonal barriers (84.8% and 74%, respectively), than adolescents (47.8%). There are still few studies with older adults, children, and in populations of the Midwest and North of the country. The most frequently reported barriers to PA among adolescents were lack of company, lack of social support from family and friends, unsuitable climate and limited access to spaces for PA. Lack of motivation and lack of time were the most frequently reported barriers in adults, whereas in older adults the predominant barriers were lack of motivation and diagnosed disease or physical limitation. PA promotion programs need to take into account the different barriers to PA, since these are specific to age groups. Level of Evidence II; Systematic Review of Level II Studies.