Firefighting is a strenuous occupation requiring high levels of physical fitness. Inadequate levels of fitness can put firefighters and risk of overexertion and injury. Therefore ensuring that firefighters maintain role specific fitness levels throughout their career is critical to both firefighter and public safety. The aim of this thesis was to investigate the minimum cardiorespiratory, strength and muscular endurance demands UK firefighting and to recommend minimum physical employment standards to ensure the operational effectiveness and safety of firefighting personnel working in the UK fire & rescue service. The first study developed a task analysis protocol to identify the minimum acceptable performance requirements of the critical and most physically demanding tasks in UK firefighting, identifying 2 distinct roles (firefighter and incident commander) with 8 critical tasks identified for firefighter and 2 for the incident commander role. The second study investigated the physical demands of performing these critical tasks to the minimum acceptable performance requirement. Cardiorespiratory fitness standards were derived for those undertaking both firefighting and incident command roles. Following this, the validity and reliability of a firefighter simulation test was assessed to determine its appropriateness as a criterion test of operational fitness. Whilst there was a strong inverse correlation between the test completion time and cardiorespiratory fitness and the simulation was highly reliable, the error associated with the simulation suggests that it may not be suitable to use as a standalone fitness test and should be used in conjunction with gym-based cardiorespiratory fitness assessments. The final study assessed the sensitivity and specificity of common and replicable gymbased physical ability tests to predict firefighting performance in order to recommend strength and muscular endurance standards. Each of the gym-based physical ability tests and associated standards were effective at predicting effective firefighting performance.

The aim of this study was to assess the physical activity, attitudes towards physical education, and health related fitness at two points, one year apart (Phase One and Phase Two). Three hundred and ninety four secondary school pupils of mixed ethnicities from National Curriculum school years 7, 8 and 9 (mean age ± S.D. = 12.9 ± 0.81 years) participated in phase one of the study. Two hundred and sixty seven pupils (from the original 394 participants) from National Curriculum school years 8, 9 and 10 (mean age ± S.D. = 13.7 ± 0.79 years) took part in phase two one year later. Physical activity was measured using the four by one-day physical activity recall questionnaire (Cale, 1993). Attitude was measured using the Pre-Adolescent Attitude towards Physical Education Questionnaire (PAAPEQ) (Shropshire, 1997). Five components of health related fitness were measured in a randomly selected sub-sample (35%) of the overall sample: body composition (measured using skinfold measures and body mass index); cardiovascular endurance (measured using the twenty metre multistage fitness test, Brewer et al., 1988); flexibility (measured using the sit and reach test); muscular strength (measured using hand grip dynamometry); and muscular endurance (measured using situps). Results of repeated measures ANOVA revealed a significant decrease in energy expenditure between phase one and phase two (p<0.01) and young people’s energy expenditure was higher during weekends (especially Saturdays) than during school days (p<0.01). Young Asians were found to expend less energy than white and black pupils (p<0.01) and boys expended more energy than girls (p<0.01). No main effect according to school year was found (p>0.05) although a significant ‘time’ by ‘days’ of the week interaction was revealed; pupils in Year 8 were more active on school days than those in Years 7 and 9 (p<0.05). Non-parametric analyses conducted on time spent in moderate physical activity (MPA) and vigorous physical activity (VPA) indicated that: MPA and VPA decreased between phases one and two; Asians consistently spent less time in MPA than white and black pupils (p<0.01); boys engaged in more MPA and VPA than girls (p<0.01). However, the difference in mean reported time for boys and girls decreased between phases one and two. Percentages of the whole sample meeting optimal activity guidelines and percentages classified as active or moderately active decreased between measurements for the whole sample. With regard to attitudes towards PE, results from MANOVA revealed a significant ‘school year’ x ‘ethnicity’ x ‘gender’ interaction (p<0.05). Attitudes of black males became more positive with age whereas the attitudes of other groups followed an age related decline. Significant main effects were found according to school year (p<0.01) and ethnicity (p<0.05). Attitude towards PE became less favourable with school year. Asian pupils had more positive overall attitudes than white and black pupils but univariate analysis revealed that Asian pupils had a less positive attitude towards their PE teacher (p<0.05). Furthermore, Pearson’s product moment correlations indicated weak yet significant positive relationships between total attitude towards PE and energy expenditure (p<0.01), time spent in moderate activity (p<0.05) and time spent in vigorous activity (p<0.01). Results of repeated measures ANOVA conducted on health related fitness data revealed that, for all groups, body fat (p<0.05) and muscular endurance (p<0.01) increased between phases one and two. In both phases, significant positive relationships were found between muscular endurance and energy expenditure (p<0.01) and vigorous activity (p<0.05 and p<0.01 for phases one and two respectively). Therefore, young people who were more active had greater levels of muscular endurance. No further consistent findings were made. Findings indicate that generally young people’s physical activity decreases with age and that girls are less active than boys although as young people age the physical activity gap between the genderes narrows. Findings also lend support to the idea that cultural differences may influence physical activity levels and attitudes towards PE. Furthermore, associations between physical activity and attitude towards PE exist and therefore, attitude may be used to predict physical activity behaviour. Ethnicity, age, and attitude towards PE should be considered in the development of future interventions to increase young people’s physical activity levels. However, as the current study did not reveal strong associations between physical activity and health related fitness, further research is required in the area.

Title: Preparedness of graduates of Fitness Institute, s.r.o. education for entering the profession. Objectives: The main goal of this diploma thesis is to evaluate, how the graduates of the courses Fitness Instructor and Nutrition Counselor are prepared for the performance of the coaching and counseling profession and to deliver recommendations for innovations in the teaching of these courses. Methods: There is used mixed type of sociological research. The practical part of the diploma thesis uses a quantitative method of electronic questioning and a qualitative method of in-depth semi-structured interview. The respondents are graduates of the courses Fitness Instructor and Nutritional Consultant from Fitness Institut, s.r.o. The electronic questionnaire is processed using descriptive statistics and interviews using phenomenological interpretive analysis. Results: Graduates rate courses positively and they are able to find a job in the labour market. The most popular form of graduates'application in practice is on the basis of a trade licence. Better evaluation was recorded in Nutrition Counselor course. Keywords: education, fitness, health, employement of graduates

The principle aims of this work were two fold; firstly to identify the current dietary intakes (specifically dietary glycaemic carbohydrate (CHO)) and physical activity (PA) and cardiorespiratory fitness (CRF) levels of a UK, postpubertal, adolescent population (n = 105) and assess the relationship between these factors, adiposity and cardiometabolic health. Diet and health relationships were assessed whilst accounting for energy misreporting and controlling for levels of PA and CRF. The effect of excluding dietary misreporters on the associations between glycaemic CHO and health was assessed whilst comparing an established technique (the Goldberg equation) to a novel approach (the ratio of energy intake (EI) to energy expenditure (EE)), which utilised RT3 accelerometry data (EI:EE(RT3)). Associations of PA and metabolic risk factors were also assessed whilst comparing two child specific PA thresholds for the assessment of PA subcomponents. Secondly, the impact of a flexible, ad libitum, low GI dietary intervention on cardiometabolic health was examined in an „at risk‟, overweight, postpubertal, adolescent population. Glycaemic index (GI) but not glycaemic load (GL) was shown to be associated significantly with anthropometric measures (body mass index (BMI), waist circumference (WC)) and adiposity (body fat percentage (BF%)) in this general group of post-pubertal adolescents from Bedfordshire. When adjusting for dietary intake, CRF was also associated with adiposity but PA was not. The prevalence of misreporting varied depending on the method used to assess the validity of dietary intakes; between 23% and 31% increasing to 62.1% (in overweight) of adolescents under reported energy intakes and up to 11.1% over reported. The novel application of a triaxial accelerometer to measure EE resulted in more under and over reporters being identified than when compared to the widely used Goldberg equation. Increased dietary GI was associated with increased odds of having a high WC; however, associations between GL and other risk factors were less clear; no associations with risk were observed. Excluding dietary misreporters from analysis had important implications for these associations. Only after removal of misreporters by EI:EE(RT3) was a borderline significant positive association between GL and blood glucose (BG) revealed using multiple analysis of covariance (MANCOVA), that was not present in prior analyses. Increased GI (moderate vs low GI intake) was significantly associated with reduced high density lipoprotein cholesterol (HDL) and increased triglyceride (TG) levels (borderline significant) after removal of misreporters. In addition, using different PA thresholds to assess PA intensity resulted in different relationships between PA subcomponents and metabolic risk factors. Regardless of the threshold used, evidence suggested that limiting sedentary (SED) behaviour and engaging in moderate to vigorous PA (MVPA) is beneficial for blood pressure (BP) in this adolescent population. Additionally, irrespective of the threshold utilised, higher levels of vigorous PA (VPA) were associated with reduced odds of having a high clustered risk score and the associations observed between CRF and risk factors were stronger than those observed with PA. Despite a lack of significant improvement in individual metabolic risk factors as a result of the low GI (LGI) dietary intervention, there was a significant reduction in clustered risk score for the LGI group at week 12. A borderline significant improvement in glycated haemoglobin (HbA1c) was also observed as a result of the LGI intervention compared to those in the control group. Conversely, there appeared to be an unfavourable effect of the LGI diet on fasting insulin levels and thus the diet‟s impact on health overall is unclear. The small sample size of this randomised controlled trial (RCT) means that caution is required when interpreting the results. These data suggest that future research in this age group should target improvements in CRF and a lower dietary GI to reduce adiposity. Controlling for dietary misreporting appears to have a significant impact on associations of glycaemic CHO and cardiometabolic health and should be an important consideration of future research. The low GI intervention may be an effective approach for reducing glycaemic CHO, whilst maintaining a healthy macronutrient intake, in comparison to more restricted dietary regimens published in the literature. However, the impact of this regime needs to be confirmed utilising a larger sample of adolescents. This may provide a useful approach for future research aiming to assess the impact of reduced GI and GL.

Darbo objektas: rekreacinių paslaugų pasiūlos vertinimas sveikatingumo centruose. Darbo tikslas. Ištirti rekreacinių paslaugų pasiūlos vertinimą sveikatingumo centruose. Darbo problema: rekreacinių paslaugų pasiūla sveikatingumo centruose. Darbo uždaviniai: 1. Išanalizuoti rekreacinių paslaugų pasiūlos vertinimo sveikatingumo centruose teorinius aspektus; 2. nustatyti rekreacinių paslaugų sveikatingumo centruose naudojimosi dažnį; 3. nustatyti dažniausiai sveikatingumo centruose pasirenkamas rekreacines paslaugas; 4. nustatyti rekreacinių paslaugų kokybės sveikatingumo centruose vertinimą vartotojų nuomone. Darbo metodai: mokslinės literatūros šaltinių analizė, anketinė apklausa, aprašomoji statistinė analizė. Išvados. 1. Paslaugų pasiūla ir jų kokybė yra svarbus veiksnys, sukuriantis vartotojams/ klientams vertę, dėl kurios jie naudojasi pasirinktos sporto paslaugas teikiančios įmonės paslaugomis. Paslaugos kokybę sudaro kliento pasitenkinimas sveikatingumo centre gaunamomis paslaugomis. Nėra universalių ir absoliučiai patikimų paslaugos rezultato vertinimo rodiklių. 2. Vyrai dažniau nei moterys sveikatingumo centruose lankosi kasdien (p<0,05). Moterys dažniau nei vyrai sveikatingumo centruose lankosi savaitgaliais (p=0,001). Vyrai dažniau nei moterys sveikatingumo centruose naudojasi rekreacinėmis paslaugomis vakariniu metu (p=0,000). Moterys ir vyrai praleidžia tą patį laiką sveikatingumo centruose (p=0,130). 3. Sveikatingumo centrai pasirenkami pagal įvairius... [toliau žr. visą tekstą] / Object: assessment of recreation services suply in health (fitness) centers. Purpose: to investigate quality of recreational services supply assessment in health (fitness) centers. Problem: supply of recreational services in health (fitness) centers. Tasks: 1st – to analyze theoretical aspects of recreational services supply in health (fitness) centers. 2nd- to set the frequency of recreational services use. 3rd – to set most often selected recreational services in health (fitness). 4th – to set recreational services quality assessment in health (fitness) centers by users. Working methods: analysis of scientific literature, questionnaire survey, mathematical statistics. Conclusions. 1. Service supply and quality is an important factor creating consumer / customer value, which is used for sports company providing services selection. Quality of the service consists of client satisfaction within services provided in wellness center. There is no universal and absolutely reliable service outcome indicators for evaluation . The main problem of evaluation performance is their intangibility. 2. Men are more likely than women doing to health centers daily (p< 0.05). Women are more likely than men to attend health centers on weekends (p=0.001). Men are more likely than women in health centers using recreational services (p = 0.000). Women and men spend the same amount of time in health centers (p=0.130). 3. Health centers are chosen according to various criteria (p = 0.442). Men... [to full text]

Relation of Lifestyle and Physical Fitness of Sporting and Non-Sporting Pupils at General Grammar School This thesis compares the lifestyle standards of the Pupils at General Grammar School, who do sports regularly with the lifestyle standards of those who don't. Furthermore, it identifies the impact of this on their physical fitness and preferences associated with the healthy lifestyle. The thesis examines and compares the difference in the physical fitness and lifestyle of boys and girls. The work has two parts - theoretical basis and research. The theoretical part defines health, physical fitness and preferences associated with the healthy lifestyle. The research evaluates the results of the physical fitness testing and processes the survey whose objective was to determine the quality of lifestyle of Pupils at General Grammar School. . Keywords: physical fitness, lifestyle, UNIFITEST 6-60, pubescence, health, physical activity

The purpose of this study was to test the reliability and validity of the Turkish version of the Service Quality Assessment Scale (SQAS). The participants of this study constituted of 338 male (53.1%) and 298 female (46.9%) health-fitness club&rsquo / s members. The Confirmatory Factor Analysis (CFA) was used to examine the factor structure of the SQAS instrument, which assess the service quality of health-fitness clubs. Six-factor model of SQAS was analyzed based on the Maximum Likelihood (ML) estimation method. The goodness-of-fit indices of the model were admissible: for the expectation model Root Mean Square Error of Approximation (RMSEA) was = .067, Standardized Root Mean Square Residual (SRMR) was = .056, and both the Comparative Fit Index (CFI), the Incremental Fit Index (IFI), besides the Non-Normed Fit Index (NNFI) was = .95. For the perception model RMSEA was = .059, SRMR was = .054, and both the CFI, the IFI, as well as the NNFI was = .96. It was concluded that all of the goodness-of-fit indices of both the expectation and perception model were admissible, with the perception model slight better than the expectation model. The composite reliability and variance extracted was also calculated for expectation and perception model. Analysis indicated that CR values were all above .70 for both expectation model (.74 to 1.00) and perception model (.73 to 1.00). The variance extracted values with the exception of Child Care were comparatively lower than the .50 standard. The present study demonstrated that the SQAS with six-factor model appears to be a reliable and valid instrument to measure the service quality of health-fitness clubs.

Customer satisfaction is the key for the accomplishment of health care and fitness companies. It is a process beginning with identifying customer vision management and ending with customer loyalty and retention. The purpose of this study was to test the reliability and validity of Turkish version of the Customer Satisfaction Scale (CSS) for health care and fitness clubs. The sampling group that was the customers of the private health care and fitness centers consisted of 150 female (47.3 %) and 167 male (52.7 %), totally 317 people. Principal component analysis (PCA) was performed for the factor analysis of the items. Five factors emerged which accounted for 65.7 % of the variance related with social and intellectual improvement, physical and psychological satisfaction, facility attractivity, staff attitudes and competence and cleanness of the center. Internal consistency method was used to test reliability. Cronbach alpha values indicated highly reliable results. For all items= .92 Factor 1= .88, factor 2= .89, factor 3= .80, factor 4= .81, factor 5= .81 The present study demonstrated that Customer Satisfaction Scale is a reliable and a valid instrument to measure customer satisfaction of the members of health care and fitness clubs in Turkey.

Background: The South African National Defence Force (SANDF) like other Defence Forces of the world, conducts medical classification on their members. This medical classification has, as one of the components, an Oral Health Fitness (OHF) classification which is done according to North Atlantic Treaty Organisation (NATO) standards. The aim of the Oral Health Fitness classification is to standardize dental readiness, assess oral health, prioritize dental care, minimize the number of dental emergencies (DE), and emphasize the importance of good oral health to all active duty and reserve forces. Medical classification is conducted by the South African Military Health Services (SAMHS). Aim: The aim of the study was to evaluate the dental emergency outcomes of the Oral Health Fitness classification of the SAMHS in Area Military Health Unit Gauteng (AMHU GT), South Africa Objectives: To determine dental emergency rate for the SAMHS, analyse the dental emergencies and to make recommendations regarding dental emergencies to the SAMHS Methods: A cross-sectional retrospective record analyses of members of the SANDF that received an OHF classification of 1 and 2 in AMHU GT in 2009. The AMHU GT members were followed up for a year to determine if they developed dental emergencies. Data analysis included frequency tables, chi-square tests and logistic regression analysis. The level of significance was set at p<0.05. Results: The dental emergency rate for AMHU Gauteng was 307/1000 per year. The type of dental emergencies were: 58.5% dental restorations, 13% extractions and related complications, 4.3% crown and bridge, 3.9% emergency root canals, 9.9% recementations, 3.6% denture related problems while other emergencies were 6.8%. Patients were more likely to experience a dental emergency if they were white, female, of OHF 2 classification and older than fifty years of age. Conversely they were least likely to experience a dental emergency if they were black, male, of OHF 1 classification and in the age group 31-40. Conclusion: The dental emergency rate of 307/1000 per year for the SANDF is high compared to military health units from other countries and it was influenced by race, age and gender. The types of dental emergencies were mainly preventable. / Dissertation (MChD)--University of Pretoria, 2012. / Community Dentistry / Unrestricted

From late of 2019, human is struggling with a new and mutated virus by the name of Covid-19. The speed of prevalence and death caused by it has been very high. It became a trigger to make this area the first and most important issue at this time. Since physical activity can improve immune system, the purpose of this study is the study of the correlation between the number of health/fitness club members and health/fitness numbers with Covid-19 prevalence and death. We assessed 31 European countries from 4 aspects including the number of members of health/fitness clubs, health/fitness club numbers, Covid-19 prevalence, and Covid-19 death. All of the numbers were evaluated per 1 million individuals. To examine the correlation, Person correlation and Linear Regression were used. The results of this study showed that, statistically, there is no relationship between the number of health/fitness club members and Covid-19 prevalence. Also, there is no relationship between the number of clubs and Covid-19 prevalence. However, there was a negative correlation between the number of health/fitness club members and health fitness club numbers with Covid-19 death. In conclusion, based on the results of this study, although physical activity cannot decrease Covid-19 prevalence dramatically, it can surely reduce the number of death caused by Covid-19.