Reduced relative skeletal muscle mass in older Americans is a common occurrence that is significantly and independently associated with functional impairment and disability, particularly in older women. These observations provide strong support for the prevailing view that sarcopenia may be an important and potentially reversible cause of morbidity and mortality in older persons.

BackgroundThe purpose was to: 1) perform a systematic review of studies examining the relation between physical activity, fitness, and health in school-aged children and youth, and 2) make recommendations based on the findings.MethodsThe systematic review was limited to 7 health indicators: high blood cholesterol, high blood pressure, the metabolic syndrome, obesity, low bone density, depression, and injuries. Literature searches were conducted using predefined keywords in 6 key databases. A total of 11,088 potential papers were identified. The abstracts and full-text articles of potentially relevant papers were screened to determine eligibility. Data was abstracted for 113 outcomes from the 86 eligible papers. The evidence was graded for each health outcome using established criteria based on the quantity and quality of studies and strength of effect. The volume, intensity, and type of physical activity were considered.ResultsPhysical activity was associated with numerous health benefits. The dose-response relations observed in observational studies indicate that the more physical activity, the greater the health benefit. Results from experimental studies indicate that even modest amounts of physical activity can have health benefits in high-risk youngsters (e.g., obese). To achieve substantive health benefits, the physical activity should be of at least a moderate intensity. Vigorous intensity activities may provide even greater benefit. Aerobic-based activities had the greatest health benefit, other than for bone health, in which case high-impact weight bearing activities were required.ConclusionThe following recommendations were made: 1) Children and youth 5-17 years of age should accumulate an average of at least 60 minutes per day and up to several hours of at least moderate intensity physical activity. Some of the health benefits can be achieved through an average of 30 minutes per day. [Level 2, Grade A]. 2) More vigorous intensity activities should be incorporated or added when possible, including activities that strengthen muscle and bone [Level 3, Grade B]. 3) Aerobic activities should make up the majority of the physical activity. Muscle and bone strengthening activities should be incorporated on at least 3 days of the week [Level 2, Grade A].

We employed a whole body magnetic resonance imaging protocol to examine the influence of age, gender, body weight, and height on skeletal muscle (SM) mass and distribution in a large and heterogeneous sample of 468 men and women. Men had significantly (P < 0.001) more SM in comparison to women in both absolute terms (33.0 vs. 21.0 kg) and relative to body mass (38.4 vs. 30.6%). The gender differences were greater in the upper (40%) than lower (33%) body (P < 0.01). We observed a reduction in relative SM mass starting in the third decade; however, a noticeable decrease in absolute SM mass was not observed until the end of the fifth decade. This decrease was primarily attributed to a decrease in lower body SM. Weight and height explained approximately 50% of the variance in SM mass in men and women. Although a linear relationship existed between SM and height, the relationship between SM and body weight was curvilinear because the contribution of SM to weight gain decreased with increasing body weight. These findings indicate that men have more SM than women and that these gender differences are greater in the upper body. Independent of gender, aging is associated with a decrease in SM mass that is explained, in large measure, by a decrease in lower body SM occurring after the fifth decade.

Abstract:Leaders from the Canadian Society for Exercise Physiology convened representatives of national organizations, content experts, methodologists, stakeholders, and end-users who followed rigorous and transparent guideline development procedures to create the Canadian 24-Hour Movement Guidelines for Children and Youth: An Integration of Physical Activity, Sedentary Behaviour, and Sleep. These novel guidelines for children and youth aged 5-17 years respect the natural and intuitive integration of movement behaviours across the whole day (24-h period). The development process was guided by the Appraisal of Guidelines for Research Evaluation (AGREE) II instrument and systematic reviews of evidence informing the guidelines were assessed using the Grading of Recommendations Assessment, Development, and Evaluation (GRADE) approach. Four systematic reviews (physical activity, sedentary behaviour, sleep, integrated behaviours) examining the relationships between and among movement behaviours and several health indicators were completed and interpreted by expert consensus. Complementary compositional analyses were performed using Canadian Health Measures Survey data to examine the relationships between movement behaviours and health indicators. A stakeholder survey was employed (n = 590) and 28 focus groups/stakeholder interviews (n = 104) were completed to gather feedback on draft guidelines. Following an introductory preamble, the guidelines provide evidence-informed recommendations for a healthy day (24 h), comprising a combination of sleep, sedentary behaviours, light-, moderate-, and vigorous-intensity physical activity. Proactive dissemination, promotion, implementation, and evaluation plans have been prepared in an effort to optimize uptake and activation of the new guidelines. Future research should consider the integrated relationships among movement behaviours, and similar integrated guidelines for other age groups should be developed.

Moderate-to-vigorous physical activity (MVPA) is essential for disease prevention and health promotion. Emerging evidence suggests other intensities of physical activity (PA), including light-intensity activity (LPA), may also be important, but there has been no rigorous evaluation of the evidence. The purpose of this systematic review was to examine the relationships between objectively measured PA (total and all intensities) and health indicators in school-aged children and youth. Online databases were searched for peer-reviewed studies that met the a priori inclusion criteria: population (apparently healthy, aged 5-17 years), intervention/exposure/comparator (volumes, durations, frequencies, intensities, and patterns of objectively measured PA), and outcome (body composition, cardiometabolic biomarkers, physical fitness, behavioural conduct/pro-social behaviour, cognition/academic achievement, quality of life/well-being, harms, bone health, motor skill development, psychological distress, self-esteem). Heterogeneity among studies precluded meta-analyses; narrative synthesis was conducted. A total of 162 studies were included (204 171 participants from 31 countries). Overall, total PA was favourably associated with physical, psychological/social, and cognitive health indicators. Relationships were more consistent and robust for higher (e.g., MVPA) versus lower (e.g., LPA) intensity PA. All patterns of activity (sporadic, bouts, continuous) provided benefit. LPA was favourably associated with cardiometabolic biomarkers; data were scarce for other outcomes. These findings continue to support the importance of at least 60 min/day of MVPA for disease prevention and health promotion in children and youth, but also highlight the potential benefits of LPA and total PA. All intensities of PA should be considered in future work aimed at better elucidating the health benefits of PA in children and youth.Key words: physical activity, body composition, cardiometabolic biomarkers, fitness, behavioural conduct, bone health, academic achievement, quality of life, well-being, children.Résumé : L'activité physique d'intensité moyenne à vigoureuse (« MVPA ») est essentielle à la prévention des maladies et à la promotion de la santé. D'après de récentes données, l'activité physique (« PA ») pratiquée à d'autres intensités telles que légères (« LPA ») s'avère aussi importante, mais il n'y a pas d'évaluation rigoureuse de ces faits. Cette analyse documentaire systématique a pour objectif d'examiner la relation entre l'activité physique mesurée objectivement (totale et à chacune des intensités) et des indicateurs de la santé chez des enfants et des jeunes d'âge scolaire. On a cherché dans des bases de données en ligne pour identifier des études révisées par des pairs et présentant a priori les critères d'inclusion suivants : population (apparemment en santé, sujets âgés de 5 à 17 ans), intervention/exposition/comparateur (volume, durée, fréquence, intensité et types de mesure objective de PA) et le résultat (composition c...