BackgroundAn increasingly passive life-style in the Western World has led to a rise in life-style related disorders. This is a major concern for all segments of society. The county council of the municipality of Svendborg in Denmark, created six Sport Schools with increased levels of suitable physical activities, which made it possible to study the health outcomes in these children whilst comparing them to children who attended the ‘normal’ schools of the region using the design of a “natural experiment”.MethodsChildren from the age of 6 till the age of 10, who accepted to be included in the monitoring process, were surveyed at baseline with questionnaires, physical examinations and physical and biological testing, including DXA scans. The physical examination and testing was repeated during the early stage of the study. Every week over the whole study period, the children will be followed with an automated mobile phone text message (SMS-Track) asking questions on their leisure time sports activities and the presence of any musculoskeletal problems. Children who report any such problems are monitored individually by health care personnel. Data are collected on demography, health habits and attitudes, physical characteristics, physical activity using accelerometers, motor performance, fitness, bone health, life-style disorders, injuries and musculoskeletal problems. Data collection will continue at least once a year until the children reach grade 9.DiscussionThis project is embedded in a local community, which set up the intervention (The Sport Schools) and thereafter invited researchers to provide documentation and evaluation. Sport schools are well matched with the ‘normal’ schools, making comparisons between these suitable. However, subgroups that would be specifically targeted in lifestyle intervention studies (such as the definitely obese) could be relatively small. Therefore, results specific to minority groups may be diluted. Nonetheless, the many rigorously collected data will make it possible to study, for example, the general effect that different levels of physical activity may have on various health conditions and on proxy measures of life-style conditions. Specifically, it will help answer the question on whether increased physical activity in school has a positive effect on health in children.

BackgroundThe assessment of Generalised Joint Hypermobility (GJH) is usually based on the Beighton tests, which consist of a series of nine tests. Possible methodological shortcomings can arise, as the tests do not include detailed descriptions of performance, interpretation nor classification of GJH. The purpose of this study was, among children aged 7-8 and 10-12 years, to evaluate: 1) the inter-tester reproducibility of the tests and criteria for classification of GJH for 2 variations of the Beighton test battery (Methods A and B) with a variation in starting positions and benchmarks between methods, and 2) the inter-method agreement for the two batteries.MethodsA standardised three-phase protocol for clinical reproducibility studies was followed including a training phase, an overall agreement phase and a study phase. The number of participants in the three phases was 10, 70 and 39 respectively. For the inter-method study a total of 103 children participated. Two testers judged each test battery. A score of ≥5 was set as the cut-off level for GJH. Cohen's kappa statistics and McNemar´s test were used to test for agreement and significant differences.ResultsKappa values for GJH (≥5) were 0.64 (Method A, prevalence 0.42) and 0.59 (Method B, prevalence 0.46), with no difference between testers in Method A (p = 0.45) and B (p = 0.29). Prevalence of GJH in the inter-method study was 31% (A) and 35% (B) with no difference between methods (p = 0.54).ConclusionsInter-tester reproducibility of Methods A and B was moderate to substantial, when following a standardised study protocol. Both test batteries can be used in the same children population, as there was no difference in prevalence of GJH at cut point 5, when applying method A and B. However, both methods need to be tested for their predictive validity at higher cut-off levels, e.g. ≥6 and ≥7.

The objectives of this prospective cohort study were to report the incidence, prevalence, and duration of traumatic and overuse injuries during a period of 2.5 years and to estimate the odds of injury types. In all, 1259 schoolchildren, aged 6-12, were surveyed each week with an automated mobile phone text message asking questions on the presence of any musculo-skeletal problems and participation in leisure-time sport. Children were examined and injuries classified as overuse or traumatic. The overall injury incidence and prevalence were 1.2% and 4.6% per week, with 2.5 times more overuse than traumatic injuries in lower extremities, and mean injury duration of 5.3 and 4.8 weeks, respectively. A reverse pattern was found for upper extremities, with 3.1 times more traumatic than overuse injuries and mean durations of 3.3 and 5.2 weeks, respectively. Grade level, school type, leisure-time sport, and seasonal variation were associated with the risk of sustaining lower extremity injuries. Only grade level was associated with upper extremity injuries. The magnitude of overuse and traumatic limb injuries emphasizes the need for health professionals, coaches, and parents to pay special attention in relation to the growing and physically active child.

The objectives of this prospective school cohort study were to describe the epidemiology of diagnosed musculoskeletal extremity injuries and to estimate the injury incidence rates in relation to different settings, different body regions and injury types. In all, 1259 schoolchildren, aged 6-12, were surveyed weekly during 2.5 years using a new method of automated mobile phone text messaging asking questions on the presence of any musculoskeletal problems. All injuries were clinically diagnosed. Physical activity was measured from text messaging and accelerometers. A total number of 1229 injuries were diagnosed; 180 injuries in the upper extremity and 1049 in the lower extremity, with an overall rate of 1.59 injuries per 1000 physical activity units [95% confidence interval (CI) 1.50-1.68]. Upper extremities accounted for a rate of 0.23 (95% CI 0.20-0.27) and lower extremities accounted for 1.36 (95% CI 1.27-1.44). This study has added a wide overall perspective to the area concerning incidence and incidence rates of musculoskeletal extremity injuries in schoolchildren aged 6-12 years, including severe and less severe, traumatic, and overuse injuries. The understanding of injury epidemiology in children is fundamental to the acknowledgement and insurance of the appropriate prevention and treatment.

AbstarctSpinal pain and physical inactivity are critical public health issues. We investigated the prospective associations of physical activity intensity with spinal pain in children. Physical activity was quantified with accelerometry in a cohort of primary school students. Over 19 months, parents of primary school students reported children’s spinal pain status each week via text-messaging (self-reported spinal pain). Spinal pain reports were followed-up by trained clinicians who diagnosed each child’s complaint and classified the pain as non-traumatic or traumatic. Associations were examined with logistic regression modeling using robust standard errors and reported with odds ratios (OR). Children (n = 1205, 53.0% female) with mean ± SD age of 9.4 ± 1.4 years, participated in 75,180 weeks of the study. Nearly one-third (31%) of children reported spinal pain, and 14% were diagnosed with a spinal problem. Moderate intensity physical activity was protectively associated with self-reported [OR(95%CI) = 0.84(0.74, 0.95)], diagnosed [OR(95%CI) = 0.79(0.67, 0.94)] and traumatic [OR(95%CI) = 0.77(0.61, 0.96)] spinal pain. Vigorous intensity physical activity was associated with increased self-reported [OR(95%CI) = 1.13(1.00, 1.27)], diagnosed [OR(95%CI) = 1.25(1.07, 1.45)] and traumatic [OR(95%CI) = 1.28(1.05, 1.57)] spinal pain. The inclusion of age and sex covariates weakened these associations. Physical activity intensity may be a key consideration in the relationship between physical activity behavior and spinal pain in children.