This study was designed to identify possible risk factors about physical activity in middle-aged disabled African American women (AAW) aged 45 to 64 years. Disabled middle-aged AAW has a disproportionate prevalence of obesity and chronic illness than nondisabled women. Most disabled middle-aged AAW leads a sedentary lifestyle, and they do not meet the recommended physical activity (PA) guidelines. Little is known about this group, and a social ecological model was used to explain PA patterns. Data were extracted from the 2009 Behavioral Risk Factor Surveillance System (N = 1,599) for women who responded yes to indicate that they needed specialized equipment. This cross-sectional quantitative study used univariate and multivariate analysis to assess the relationship between age, education, and income among middle-aged disabled AAW. A general linear model revealed younger disabled AAW (ages 45 to 54) engaged in more physical activity time per week than did their older counterparts (estimate = 76.012, p = .001). Individuals with less education reported more minutes of physical activity than college graduates (estimate = 142.522, p = .001). Respondents with annual incomes from $35,000-$49,999 (estimate = 184.590, p = .000) were more physically active than their more affluent counterparts. Smoking, demographic variables, and emotional well-being did not affect minutes of moderate physical activity. This research may contribute to positive social change by suggesting that programs intended to increase physical activity among disabled AAW be targeted toward those who are older, are more educated, and have higher incomes.

No description available.

Thesis (MA)--University of Stellenbosch, 2011. / Please refer to full text to view abstract.

We investigated the relationship between calcium and protein intake and bone loss over a one-year period in 99 early postmenopausal women (1-36 months) aged 51.3 �� 0.31 years. Bone mineral density (g/cm��) of the left hip (total hip, femoral neck, greater trochanter) and lumbar spine (L1-L4) as well as body composition were assessed using dual energy x-ray absorptiometry. Dietary intake of calcium and protein was assessed using a 100-item Block Food Frequency Questionnaire. A physical activity questionnaire was also completed by the subjects to estimate energy expenditure. Paired t-tests revealed that there were no significant differences between baseline and month 12 physical characteristics except for percent fat which increased from 31.99 �� 0.60% to 32.44 �� 0.61% (p=.009). At month 12, bone mineral density decreased significantly at the femoral neck (-0.97 �� 0.31%) and total hip (-0.55 �� 0.24%). The average calcium, protein and calcium to protein ratio intake for the group was 1129.88 �� 46.22mg/day, 57.88 �� 1.93g/day and 20.10 �� 0.71m/g, respectively. Partial correlation analyses showed no significant relationships between change in bone mineral density and average intakes for calcium, protein, or the calcium to protein ratio. After adjusting for hormone replacement status, lean body mass and months post menopause, analysis of covariance revealed that there were no significant differences between groups when intakes of calcium, protein and the calcium to protein ratio were separated into "above recommended" and "below recommended" categories (above or below 1000/1500mg/day, 50g/day, 20:1 mg/g/day, respectively). Our results suggest that consuming adequate amounts of calcium and protein does not appear to significantly slow bone loss after 12 months in early postmenopausal women. / Graduation date: 2003

Decreasing mortality rates and increasing life expectancy are contributing factors in a trend currently referred to as the "graying" of America. Some members of this aging population will require caregiving support from their families. Because women tend to outlive men, adult daughters generally assume this important role for their widowed mothers. As the health of the care recipient declines, the caregiver often suffers from stress or frustration. Some current research links health declines with decreases in elders' abilities to reciprocate instrumentally for care received. Other research suggests elders compensate for their inabilities to give instrumental aid such as advice and money by continuing to give socioemotional aid such as support and love. It is not known how caregiver stress levels relate to the exchange of socioemotional aid. Thus, this study examined the association among care given, perceived reciprocity, and frustration with daughters' caregiving. The question asked was: Does perceived socioemotional aid moderate the impact of the level of caregiving on frustration with caregiving for daughters? Social exchange theory was the perspective utilized for this research. This theory posits that an individual's desire to reciprocate is due to a general moral norm of obligation and that when people can/do reciprocate, the relationship costs decline. The sample for this study consisted of 164 dependent-mother/caregiving-daughter pairs. Frequencies, means, and standard deviations of background characteristics of all study participants were reported. A correlation matrix showed the relationships among variables. A series of multiple regressions were performed to examine the relationships among the variables as well as the predicted interaction. Results indicated that increased care given to mothers was a significant predictor of increased frustration with caregiving for daughters, and increased perceived socioemotional aid to daughters was a significant predictor of decreased frustration with caregiving for daughters. There was no interaction effect, however. That is, the effect of the amount of care given on frustration was not moderated by socioemotional aid from care recipients. Limitations, implications, and recommendations for further research are discussed. These recommendations include the need for additional research in the area of lifespan or generalized reciprocity and intergenerational relationships. / Graduation date: 1997

Thesis (M.S.)--University of Michigan, 2002. / eContent provider-neutral record in process. Description based on print version record. Includes bibliographical references (leaves 51-61).

Thesis (M.S.)--University of Michigan, 2002. / Includes bibliographical references (leaves 51-61).

Introduction: Cardiovascular disease affects a greater proportion of females than it does males, and is responsible for an estimated 52 percent of female deaths per annum, globally. Due to the loss of oestrogen associated with the menopause, post-menopausal females are at elevated risk for hypercholesterolaemia which is a primary risk factor for cardiovascular disease. It has not yet been conclusively established whether resistance training can be used to ameliorate hypercholesterolaemia. Aim: This randomized controlled trial investigated what effect 12 weeks of progressive resistance training would have on plasma lipoproteins in a sample of post-menopausal females. Methods: Caucasian women (n=30 intervention and n=18 control) between the ages of 55 and 65 years who were not taking hormone replacement therapy were recruited. Participants did not smoke, were sedentary, were not taking any form of cholesterol-lowering medication, had at least one cholesterol abnormality at baseline but were otherwise healthy and able to participate in a strength training programme. Following extensive medical pre-screening, information dissemination and voluntary consent, the sample was divided into two groups. The exercise sample undertook 12 weeks of resistance training on five days of the week. The control group received no intervention. Measurements were obtained at baseline and every four weeks thereafter and included measures of strength, biochemistry (oestradiol, testosterone, full blood lipid profile, glycated haemoglobin and sex hormone binding globulin), anthropometry, morphology and self-reports (dietary intake, energy expenditure and the profile of mood states questionnaire). Results: There was no change to low density lipoprotein cholesterol, high density lipoprotein cholesterol, triglyceride content or total cholesterol as a result of the intervention. Back, chest and leg strength increased significantly (p<0.01) (increases of 51 percent, 35 percent and 43 percent respectively from baseline); waist circumference dropped (p<0.01) by 5 percent overall and diastolic blood pressure decreased significantly (-9 percent, p<0.01) in the exercise cohort but no change was noted in the matched control. Dietary intake, energy expenditure and body mass remained unchanged in both samples. Morphology (sum of skinfolds, estimated body fat content and girth measures) did not change and nor did other biochemical measures (HbA1c and sex hormone binding globulin) or hormone levels (oestradiol and testosterone). Despite the lack of overall change, an important finding was noted in individual results where a clear indication of ‘responders’ and ‘non-responders’ emerged. Conclusion: Overall mean results suggest that 12 weeks resistance training undertaken five days of the week was ineffective in reducing hypercholesterolaemia in this sample. Despite there being no identifying characteristics determined in this sample, evidence of responders and non-responders to the intervention indicates that reliance on mean data may not be sufficient when analysing data from exercise interventions. Therefore, while progressive resistance training had a positive effect on strength, waist circumference and diastolic blood pressure, it did not positively influence the plasma lipoproteins in this cohort of post-menopausal women. / Maiden name: Kelly, Janet Erica

The main purpose of this study was to assess the effect of progressive resistance training on the blood lipid profile in post-menopausal women. Thirty-four female subjects aged 50 to 75 years were selected from the population of Grahamstown, South Africa. All participants were previously sedentary and possessed at least one lipid profile abnormality but were otherwise healthy. Pre-tests included a sub-maximal stress Electrocardiogram, measures of stature, mass, central and limb girths as well as an oral glucose tolerance test (OGTT) and a total blood lipid profile. Participants took part in a 24-week progressive resistance training programme, consisting of three supervised sessions per week, each lasting 45 minutes and were not permitted to lose more than 10% of initial body mass during the 24-week study. All pre-test measures, excluding the stress ECG and the OGTT, were repeated every four weeks for the duration of the study. Results were that body mass, body mass index and waist-to-hip ratio did not change. Girth measures at mid-humerus, chest, waist, hip, mid-quadricep and mid-gastrocnemius all decreased significantly (p=0.05). LDL-cholesterol increased significantly over the course of 24 weeks (3.61mmol.L-1 to 4.07mmol.L-1) as did total cholesterol (5.81mmol.L-1 to 6.24mmol.L-1). Triglyceride concentration remained unchanged and HDL-cholesterol decreased significantly between the pre-test measure (1.55mmol.L-1) and the measure after six months (1.42mmol.L-1). It can be concluded that the blood lipid profile in a sample of post-menopausal women was not positively affected by a progressive resistance training programme over a 24 week period. / Maiden name: Kelly, Janet Erica

Submitted by Maike Costa (maiksebas@gmail.com) on 2016-02-05T14:33:59Z No. of bitstreams: 1 arquivototal.pdf: 1146190 bytes, checksum: 0a43ed25bde19c7667c471fb5d1710ca (MD5) / Made available in DSpace on 2016-02-05T14:34:00Z (GMT). No. of bitstreams: 1 arquivototal.pdf: 1146190 bytes, checksum: 0a43ed25bde19c7667c471fb5d1710ca (MD5) Previous issue date: 2014-06-18 / Coordenação de Aperfeiçoamento de Pessoal de Nível Superior - CAPES / The following research is centered on the construction of the female body in contemporary society, from the development of an ethnographic experience in a women’s fitness gym, located in a popular neighborhood in the city of João Pessoa, during the period from December 2012 to December 2013. The objectives of the study are to investigate how the body is built on the practices and discourses of a women’s fitness center, which control mechanisms, and profiles of femininity constituted in everyday fitness facility. Moreover, it is also a main interest of this study to examine the practices of an organized sociability, as to understand the socio anthropological construction of the body in the context of those health centers. The research involves middle-aged adult women attending a women's fitness club and the results are structured into main axes of analysis, namely: the morality of practices around the body, the represented tangible types and the not stated performance identified by body movements. The study revealed that the corporeality is constituted by a broad network of meanings that involves my own body as revealed the survey. Therefore, the femininity stands out and pervades the maternal, the marital, the media and the religious fields, such as the changes that happen during the middle-aged period; a dynamic of permanent construction between subjects and the social environment. / A pesquisa que se segue tem como eixo central a construção do corpo feminino na atual sociedade, a partir do desenvolvimento de uma experiência etnográfica em uma academia de ginástica só para mulheres, localizada em um bairro popular da cidade de João Pessoa, no período entre os meses de dezembro de 2012 a dezembro de 2013. Os objetivos do estudo são investigar de que maneira o corpo é construído nas práticas e nos discursos da academia de ginástica só para mulheres, quais os mecanismos de controle que influenciam tal construção, e os perfis de feminilidade constituídos no cotidiano da academia de ginástica. Além disso, também é de interesse deste estudo examinar as práticas de sociabilidade organizadas, para assim, compreender a construção sócio antropológica do corpo no contexto da academia. A pesquisa envolve mulheres adultas de meia-idade, frequentadoras de uma academia de ginástica feminina e os resultados estão estruturados em três amplos eixos de análise, quais sejam: as práticas de moralidade em torno do corpo, os tipos corpóreos representados e o plano do nãodito identificado pela performance dos movimentos corporais. O estudo revelou que a corporeidade está constituída a partir de uma ampla rede de significações. Destaca-se, portanto, uma feminilidade que permeia os campos maternal, midiático, religioso, matrimonial e as mudanças ocorridas no período da meia-idade feminina, numa dinâmica de construção permanente entre sujeitos e o meio social.