As researchers explore the benefits of using pedometers to assess physical activity they are discovering that intensity of physical activity may be estimated from steps per minute (SPM). The purpose of this study was to determine the SPM and kilocalories (kcals) expended associated with moderate physical activity in middle school students (12 - 14 years old). Methods: Ninety-three (49 boys, 44 girls) middle school youth between the ages of 12 and 14, walked on a treadmill at four different speeds (4.0, 4.8, 5.64, and 6.4 km/h) for three minutes at each speed. Each participant wore a pedometer in order to obtain their steps per minute and a heart rate monitor to record their heart rate level during each test speed. Results: Moderate physical activity was reached, on average, by girls and boys at 122 SPM (5.64 km/h) and 115 SPM (4.8 km/h), respectively. At this SPM rate boys and girls expended 232.55 kcals and 176.66 kcals per hour. This study augments previous studies that explored ways to assess activity levels using SPM calculations.

Name of diploma thesis: Physical activity and body composition in patients with ankylosing spondylitis Prepared by: Bc. Lucie Srovnalíková Supervisor: PhDr. Andrea Levitová, Ph.D. Target: The findings the size of physical activity and body composition in the groups of patients with ankylosing spondylitis with different duration of disease and subsequent comparison of the size of physical activity with selected health recommendations for a healthy population. Methods: The sample consists of participants (10 women and 36 men, n = 46, 42.8 ± 11.3 years old) with clinically diagnosed disease ankylosing spondylitis who have been outpatiently visiting Rheumatology institute in Prague. The sample was divided into three groups according to the duration of disease (1st group 0-6 years, 2nd group 7 -14 years, 3rd group 3-15 years). Accelerometer ActiGraph GT3X was used for determine the size of weekly physical activity. Bioelectrical impedance using a BIA 2000 was used to assess the body composition. Results: From the perspective of the physical activity health recommendations all three groups met health recommendation for minimum amount of moderate-intensity physical activity throughout the week (150 minutes). Neither group, however, did not meet health recommendation for minimum average daily number of...

L'activité physique a un impact important sur la santé populationnelle, et les comportements de transport constituent une partie substantielle de l'activité physique totale. Ce travail de thèse a pour objectif d'améliorer les mesures de l'activité physique liées au transport et d'utiliser ces nouvelles mesures dans des études de cas empirique sur l'activité physique liée au transport des adultes âgés de 35 à 83 ans résidant en Ile-de-France. Méthodes: Des données GPS et d'accéléromètre ont été collectée dans le cadre de " RECORD étude GPS " pour 236 participants. L'Enquête Globale Transport a recueilli des données sur une population de 21332 participants sur une période d'un jour. Les méthodes statistiques utilisées incluent Random Forests, des régressions binomiales négatives; et des systèmes d'information géographique. Résultats Les unités de temps plus courtes ont donné lieu à des estimations d'activité physique beaucoup plus importantes. Nous avons observé 18,9 min T-APMV par jour en moyenne dans cet échantillon représentatif de l'Ile-de -France. Les participants ayant un niveau d'éducation plus élevé ont plus de T-APMV que les participants moins instruits. Les personnes ayant un revenu du ménage plus élevé ont moins T-APMV par jour. Conclusion Ce travail renforce les recommandations de la littérature d'une harmonisation plus poussée des indicateurs de l'activité physique basés sur l'accéléromètre. Des interventions concernant les modes de transport peuvent avoir un effet important sur l'activité physique. / Background Physical activity has an important impact on various health outcomes, and transport accounts for a substantial part of total physical activity. This PhD work aimed to improve measures of transport-related physical activity and to report empirical findings on the transport-related physical activity of adults aged 35 to 83 years living in Ile-de-France. Methods The RECORD GPS Study collected GPS and accelerometer data for 236 participants over a 7-day period, resulting in the observation of 7425 trips. The Enquête Globale Transport) collected data over one day, resulting in the observation of 82084 trips for 21332 participants. The methods used include random forest prediction models, geographical information systems, and negative binomial regressions. Results Shorter epochs (time units) resulted in considerably larger estimates of moderate-to-vigorous physical activity MVPA. This finding supports calls from the literature for further harmonization of accelerometer-based indicators of physical activity. We observed an average 18.9 minutes of daily T-MVPA (95% confidence interval: 18.6; 19.2 minutes). Participants with a higher level of education did more T-MVPA than their less educated counterparts. In contrast, people with a higher household income did less T-MVPA per day. Conclusion This PhD work was the first study to combine a very detailed dataset - including GPS, accelerometer, and mobility behaviour data - and a large-scale transport survey. Transport interventions could have an important impact on physical activity for this population.