The Czech Republic lacks body composition data for women. Therefore, the purpose of the study was to analyze body composition [body fat mass (BFM), fat-free mass (FFM), body fat percentage (%BFM) and visceral adipose tissue (VAT)] and to evaluate the changes that occur with aging in women aged 18–89 years. We also analyzed anthropometric characteristics of study participants and developed age-specific percentile curves for body composition parameters.

This study was aimed at the evaluation of relationship between visceral fat area (VFA) and physical activity (PA) with the metabolic syndrome (MetS) risk in the physically active postmenopausal women. A total of 85 attendants of the University of the Third Age (U3A) aged 62.8 ± 5.9 years (median time since menopause 11.8 y), participated in this study. VFA was assessed by bioimpedance method using InBody 720 analyzer. PA was assessed using the ActiGraph GT1 M accelerometer. Fasting levels of serum lipids (TG, HDL), serum glucose, waist circumference (WC) and blood pressure were measured to diagnose MetS according to NCEP-ATP III criteria. In 73 out of 85 participants the VFA exceeded the upper normal level of 100 cm², however, in almost a half of this group (n = 36) with elevated VFA (139.5 ± 26.1 cm² on average), only 2 out of 5 criteria for MetS diagnosis were met. Participants were physically active, making on average 10,919 ± 3435 steps/day. The risk of MetS occurrence in women with VFA > 100 cm² was twelve times higher (OR 12.33; CI 95% [1.5; 99.8]) than in the group with VFA < 100 cm². The participants from the group with the highest PA level (≥12,500 steps/day) were at almost 4 times lower risk for MetS, than their less active counterparts (OR 3.84; CI 95% [1.27;11.64]). Increased level of VFA is a strong risk factor for the MetS in postmenopausal women, however high level of regular PA above the threshold of 12,500 steps/day may substantially reduce it.

The aims of this study were to examine the prospective compositional associations between sedentary behaviour (SB) patterns and longitudinal changes in body composition parameters, and to use compositional isotemporal substitution modelling to analyse the longitudinal changes in body composition parameters associated with time reallocation from SB to physical activity (PA) in older women. The study included women aged 60 years and older (n = 182) with valid data at baseline and at the subsequent 7-year follow-up. For both time points, the ActiGraph GT1M accelerometer was used for SB and PA assessments and multi-frequency bioimpedance analysis was used to assess the body composition parameters related to adiposity and muscle mass. Compositional regression models were used to analyse the associations between proportion of time spent in sedentary bouts of different duration and longitudinal changes in body composition parameters. A compositional isotemporal substitution model was created to estimate the differences in body composition parameters associated with one-to-one time reallocations between baseline SB and PA. A significant increase in fat mass index (βilr1 = 0.61, 95% confidence interval [CI]: 0.18, 1.04) and visceral adipose tissue (βilr1 = 6.01, 95% CI: 1.52, 10.5) was associated with a higher baseline proportion of time spent in long sedentary bouts (i.e. sedentary bout of ≥30 min). Reallocating 1 h/week and 3.5 h/week from the time spent in long sedentary bouts in favour of light PA was associated with a significant decrease in fat mass index by 0.78% (95% CI: 0.24, 1.32) and 3.13% (95% CI: 0.97, 5.29), respectively. No association was found for indicators of muscle mass. This study suggests that long-term adiposity status could be improved by increasing the proportion of time spent in light PA at the expense of time spent in prolonged SB. This finding may help in designing more effective and feasible interventions for the maintenance of healthy body composition in advanced age.

The aim of the present study was an in-depth analysis of fine motor skills of the hands in elderly women from different socio-cultural backgrounds. The research also included analysis of the associations of age with the variables assessing right- and left-hand motor skills and its effect on hand performance asymmetry. The study examined 486 women over the age of 60. The study measured dominant and non-dominant hand performance using the motor performance series test battery (aiming, line tracking, inserting pins, tapping) from the Vienna test system. The best results in the tests assessing coordinated hand movements were achieved by the group of elderly women attending a University of the Third Age in Poland. This may be the result of a larger variety of physical activity programs offered at this type of institution. However, due to the cross-sectional design of the study, additional research of a longitudinal nature needs to be performed using the same sample of individuals to draw any definitive conclusions. Additionally, a decrease in the differences between dominant and non-dominant hand function with age was observed.