The perceived stress scale (PSS-10) reliability and validity were evaluated in Brazilian adults. A two-stage translation procedure was employed to achieve a Portuguese version. Participants were 793 Brazilian university teachers. The exploratory factor analysis showed two factors with eigenvalues greater than 1.0 (56.8% of variance). The Cronbach’s alpha coefficients were 0.83 (Factor 1), 0.77 (Factor 2) and 0.87 (Total Score). The test—retest reliability scores were 0.83 (Factor 1), 0.68 (Factor 2) and 0.86 (Total Score). PSS-10 and perceived health correlations ranged from —0.22 to —0.35. The PSS-10 showed an adequate reliability and validity supporting its use in this population.

Neighborhood safety is one of the environmental aspects that can influence physical activity. We analyzed the association between perceived neighborhood safety and physical inactivity (PI) in adults and examined effect modification according to sociodemographic variables.

Summarize the effects of interventions designed to promote physical activity during elementary school recess in children between 5 and 10 years old. Effective school interventions for children can promote physical activity and healthy behaviors. PubMed, Scopus, Bireme, SciELO, Web of Science, PsychINFO, Proquest, Physical Education Index, Sports Discus, and Eric databases were included in the data search. Original intervention articles on physical activity that used regression methods, published between 2000 and 2019 in English, Portuguese and Spanish were analyzed. Analyses were performed in 2019. Outcomes were organized according to the direction of the association by independent variables. Ten articles were considered eligible for data extraction and evaluation. Several strategies were used including playground markings, demarcation of physical activities zones, group activities, availability of sports equipment and facilities. Most of the studies were conducted in the United States. Recess periods ranged from 20-94 min per day and intervention time ranged from 6 weeks to 2 years. Recess duration and intervention effects were positively associated with physical activity. Gender (girls) and age (oldest) were negatively associated with physical activity during recess. Interventions based on modifications of school environment such as playground markings demarcation of physical activities zones, group activities, availability of sports equipment and facilities are cheap and cost-effective for increasing physical activity in school recess.

Objective: To synthesize the evidence available in the literature on the relationship between the components of physical activity, physical fitness and academic achievement in adolescents. Methods: The review followed the methodological procedures described by PRISMA and was carried out in the Lilacs, Medline, SciELO, PubMed, Web of Science and Science Direct databases. Quantitative empirical studies published as of 2006 were included. The following descriptors and keywords were used: “Motor activity”, “Physical fitness”, “Physical activity”, “Educational status”, “Academic achievement”, “Academic performance”, and their equivalents in Portuguese and Spanish. Results: The most widely investigated variable was physical fitness (45.5%) followed by physical activity (40.9%), whereas only three studies (13.6%) investigated both. Conclusion: Physical activity and physical fitness are positively associated with the academic achievement of adolescents. In more than 80% of studies the association was considered strong. The physical fitness component most frequently associated with academic achievement was cardiorespiratory fitness. Level of evidence II; Systematic review.

Age-friendly cities and communities have emerged as a significant policy, participative and governance response to ageing and its spatial effects. This paper argues that it has important benefits in mobilizing older people, placing age on the urban agenda and building recognition across politicians, policy makers and programme managers. Based on the experience of Belfast (UK), the analysis suggests, however, that it needs to be understood within wider urban restructuring processes, the importance of the property economy and how planning practices favour particular groups and modes of development. Drawing on demographic data, policy documents and in-depth interviews, it evaluates the relationship between age and urban regeneration, research-based advocacy and central-local relations in health and place-based care. The paper concludes by highlighting the importance of knowledge in competitive policy arenas and the need to focus on the most excluded and isolated old and where and how they live.

The ability to ‘age in place’ is dependent on a range of inter-personal, social and built environment attributes, with the latter being a key area for potential intervention. There is an emerging body of evidence that indicates the type of built environment features that may best support age friendly communities, but there is a need to expand and consolidate this, while generating a better understanding of how on how research findings can be most effectively be translated in to policy and practice. The study is based on two case study cities, Curtiba (Brazil) and Belfast (UK), which have highly contrasting physical, social and policy environments. The study deploys a mix methods approach, mirrored in each city. This includes the recruitment of 300 participants in each city to wear GPS and accelerometers, a survey capturing physical functioning and other personal attributes, as well as their perception of their local environment using NEWS-A. The study will also measure the built environments of the cities using GIS and develop a tool for auditing the routes used by participants around their neighbourhoods. The study seeks to comparatively map the policy actors and resources involved in healthy ageing in the two cities through interviews, focus groups and discourse analysis. Finally, the study has a significant knowledge exchange component, including the development of a tool to assess the capacities of both researchers and research users to maximise the impact of the research findings. The HULAP study has been designed and implemented by a multi-disciplinary team and integrates differing methodologies to purposefully impact on policy and practice on healthy ageing in high and low-middle income countries. It has particular strengths in its combination of objective and self-reported measures using validated tools and the integration of GPS, accelerometer and GIS data to provide a robust assessment of ‘spatial energetics’. The strong knowledge exchange strand means that the study is expected to also contribute to our understanding of how to maximise research impact in this field and create effective evidence for linking older adult’s physical activity with the social, built and policy environments.