BACKGROUND: Periodontal disease is a major chronic disease worldwide and one of the most prevalent oral pathologies. Some factors that may lead to periodontal disease include poor nutrition, chronic illness, poor lifestyle choices, smoking, and excessive alcohol consumption. Previous studies have also revealed a biological link between diabetes or obesity and periodontal health status. Because physical activity can reduce the risk of diabetes and obesity, it would follow that physical activity may also lead to improved periodontal health. However, to date, there has been limited research on the effects of physical activity on periodontal disease risk. Our investigation answers the following question: Do people who are more physically active have better periodontal health than those who are inactive? OBJECTIVE: The purpose of our research initiative was to evaluate the prevalence of periodontal disease among people who are physically inactive versus those who are physically active using data from NHANES. METHODS: In this study, we utilized the publicly available NHANES 2011-2012 datasets of 9756 observations before exclusions. Our study included individuals (30-80 years of age) consisting of 49.4% male and 50.6% female who provided demographic data, periodontal and dentition examination data, and self-reported smoking and physical activity data (Table 3). There were a total of 3327 observations meeting our inclusion criteria. Weighted prevalence estimates and odds ratios (OR) were calculated for physical activity adjusted by age, gender, race, education level, and economic status. Physical activity was categorized by domains of transportation physical activity, occupation physical activity, leisure time physical activity, and sedentary behavior. Physical activity was also categorized into a dichotomous total amount of physical activity by adding the three major physical activity domains. RESULTS: We observed higher rates of periodontal disease in men, in older adults, smokers, and individuals with diabetes mellitus. We also observed that individuals with higher total physical activity and leisure time physical activity and lower amount of total sedentary activity had lower periodontal disease rates. After adjusting for confounders, lower sedentary time was associated with lower periodontal disease rates (OR 1.18; 95% CI (Confidence Interval) 1.01,1.38; p=0.0416), but total physical activity and leisure time was not significantly associated with periodontal disease (OR 1.00; 95% CI 0.79,1.28; p=0.98) (OR 1.14; 95% CI 0.81,1.61; p=0.42) (Table 5). CONCLUSION: Our findings indicate sedentary time is associated with higher rates of periodontal disease. Future prospective longitudinal studies and strategies are needed to investigate implications further and define the magnitude of the association between physical activity and periodontal disease.

This research seeks to determine the relationships between the quality of physical education (PE) programs provided by state departments of education (DOE), obesity rates, and sedentary behaviors described as physical inactivity in adolescents ages 10-17 years old. A modified rubric based on the “Let’s Move Active Schools Assessment” was created and used to quantitatively and qualitatively evaluate the PE programs and physical activity (PA) opportunities provided by websites of the state’s DOE. A total of fourteen states were chosen to be assessed due to having either the highest or lowest obesity or physical inactivity rates. It was believed that the states with the highest obesity prevalence would have the highest inactivity and the lowest quality PE programs, and that those with lowest obesity prevalence would have lowest physical inactivity and high quality PE programs. After assessing the chosen states, no correlation was found between the quality of PE program as determined from the created rubric and the obesity or sedentary behavior rates of the state. The highest grade of all states assessed was 23 out of 27 with the lowest score being 7. The average scores of the states with the highest obesity was greater than the average for those states with the lowest inactivity, indicating that the quality of PE programs as provided by the DOE are not exclusively related to obesity and physical inactivity prevalence. Other determining factors such as nutrition, state funding, local policies, and societal factors may be more involved in the health of children than what is popularly believed. The data show that efforts are being made to decrease obesity throughout schools and the departments of education, however the efficiency of such efforts to increase physical activity and health are low. While states may post plans for PE and create standards for teaching, local levels of education are not required to enforce the policies or teach the curriculum suggested. Including students with special conditions and providing physical activities outside the school building is also lacking although it may seem like measures are being taken to provide such opportunities. More evaluations must be completed to get a stronger understanding of how to fix inadequate physical education and activity programs provided by the states’ DOEs. Reviewing each DOE efforts as well as that of the community and individual school districts would help gain insight into where roadblocks reside and how to overcome destructive policies to offer better physical activity and education to children.

Bakgrund: Enligt Världshälsoorganisationens rekommendationer för fysisk aktivitet, bör vuxna med cancer följa samma rekommendationer som friska. Det är dock få som uppnår detta i samband med cancerbehandling trots studier som visar på flertalet fördelar. Det behövs mer kunskap om hur de som inte uppnår rekommendationerna kan stödjas. Syftet: Att utforska fysiskt inaktiva kvinnors samt fysioterapeuters uppfattning om vad som skulle kunna stödja kvinnor med bröstcancer att utöva fysisk aktivitet under pågående kurativ onkologisk behandling. Metod: Explorativ intervjustudie där sju individer intervjuades med semistrukturerade intervjuer, tre kvinnor med bröstcancer och fyra fysioterapeuter verksamma inom området. Intervjuerna spelades in och transkriberades. Dataanalysen genomfördes med induktiv kvalitativ innehållsanalys. Resultat: Analysen resulterade i två kategorier som byggs upp av tre subkategorier från intervjuerna med kvinnor med bröstcancer. Från intervjuerna med fysioterapeuterna identifierades tre kategorier. Kategorierna är desamma som subkategorierna. Slutsats: Samtliga kvinnor uttrycker på olika sätt vikten av ett socialt stöd för att motivera till och underlätta utövande av fysisk aktivitet. Fysioterapeuterna beskriver att deras interventioner upplevs ge kvinnorna en ökad trygghet och bekräftelse. / Background: According to the World Health Organization's recommendations for physical activity, adults with cancer should follow the same recommendations as healthy people. However, few achieve this during cancer treatment, despite studies that show a number of benefits. More knowledge is currently needed on how to support those who do not meet the recommendations. Aim: To explore the perception of physically inactive women and physiotherapists about what could support women with breast cancer to exercise during ongoing curative oncological treatment. Method: Exploratory interview study where seven individuals were interviewed with semi-structured interviews, three women with breast cancer and four physiotherapists active in the field. The interviews were recorded and transcribed. The data analysis was implemented with inductive qualitative content analysis. Results: The analysis resulted in two categories that are made up of three subcategories from the interviews with women with breast cancer. From the interviews with the physiotherapists, three categories were identified. The categories are the same as the subcategories. Conclusion: All women express in different ways the importance of social support to motivate and facilitate the implementation of physical activity. The physiotherapists describe that their interventions are perceived to give the women increased security and confirmation.

Previous research showed that in 2010, only 23% of adults and 81% of teenagers worldwide did not meet the recommendations for physical activity. Physical inactivity is related to increased risk of poorer health and suffering from lifestyle diseases. Football Fitness is a relatively new concept of organized physical activity with moderate and high intensity. The training form combines strength and fitness to suit all ages and gender, regardless of previous soccer experience or physical ability. Being part of a group and establishing social relations have been shown to be related to improved well-being and was one of the main factors for participation. The purpose of the study was, therefore, to investigate whether participation in Football Fitness was related to positive changes in mental health and well-being, and to strive to explore and create an understanding of women's experiences of participation. Method The women (N = 18) aged 15 to 54 years participated in a 6-week intervention, 2 workouts per week, in 90 minutes. The following inclusion criteria were used to carry out the selection: (1) should be less physically active than 150 minutes a week; (2) had not played organized football in the last 10 years and (3) were not diagnosed with any clinical mental health diagnosis. The study was conducted with a mixed method through an experimental design that involved three times to measure women's perceived well-being, current physical functions, social capital and whether participation in Football Fitness felt meaningful. Furthermore, focus group interviews were conducted after the intervention was completed. Quantitative data was analyzed by Bayesian repeated measures analysis of variance (R-ANOVA) and a one pair sample t-test was used as statistical tests in the study and performed in JASP. Qualitative data were analyzed through qualitative content analysis with an inductive approach. Results The result of the quantitative analysis showed that Football Fitness had a positive impact on women's well-being (BF10 = 3659,057), and social capital (BF10= 831.785) over time. Furthermore, the result showed that women who participated felt that it was meaningful to participate in Football Fitness (BF10 = 2.570e + 6). The analysis showed support for the null hypothesis that Football Fitness should give effect to women's current functions (BF10 = .0576). The qualitative result showed that women experienced comfort, solidarity, satisfaction, and happiness during participation, which created added value for women without previous experience of football. Conclusion The result of the present study supports the hypothesis that Football Fitness contributes to positive changes in psychological health and well-being. The women who participated in the study experienced comfort, solidarity, satisfaction, and happiness in participation, which are factors that contribute to increased health and well-being. The result of the study showed that women valued group training where they had the opportunity to create social relationships in context with the training and that it was positive with an including leader and a group that contributed to a feeling of comfort. These factors contributed to the fact that women who participated felt that participation in Football Fitness added value. Participating in Football Fitness added value to the women without precious football experience which indicates that further investigations regarding the association between Football Fitness and lifestyle predictors.

Les travaux de thèse présentés dans ce manuscrit ont pour but d’étudier les effets de différents niveaux d’activité physique, jusqu’à l’inactivité extrême sur des acteurs du dialogue inter-organe comme l’adiponectine et les microARNs, et sur le métabolisme, notamment dans le muscle ou le foie. Nous démontrons que l’inactivité physique extrême, dans le cadre d’un bedrest de 60 jours, augmente les marqueurs de l’inflammation hépatique, prémices du développement d’une stéato-hépatite non alcoolique. Nos données montrent que des exercices réguliers peuvent limiter les altérations métaboliques induites par l’inactivité physique. Nous montrons, ensuite qu’indépendamment des effets de l’activité et l’inactivité physique sur la masse grasse, les concentrations circulantes d’adiponectine sont inversement associées avec le niveau d’activité physique. Nous montrons notamment que les variations des taux circulants d’adiponectine totale avec le niveau d’activité physique sont principalement dû aux variations de la forme de haut poids moléculaire, et ne sont pas expliquées par des variations d’expression de l’adiponectine dans le tissu adipeux ou musculaire. Nous montrons également une relation inverse entre l’insulinémie plasmatique à jeun et les récepteurs de l’adiponectine, et un de ses effecteurs (APPL1) dans le muscle supportant l’amélioration de la sensibilité à l’adiponectine musculaire. Au cours d’une intervention contrastée et modérée sur le niveau d’activité physique chez l’homme et la souris, nous avons pu montrer que la transition d’un statut actif vers inactif augmentait le niveau d’expression de miR-148b dans le muscle, participant à la dégradation du métabolisme. Notre étude de modulation de l’expression de miR-148b in vitro dans les myotubes humains, montre son implication dans la voie de signalisation de l’insuline, et suggère que l’accumulation de miR-148b dans le tissu musculaire peut participer à l’altération de la sensibilité à l’insuline qui est caractéristique des comportements sédentaires persistants. L’ensemble de ces résultats démontrent que l’étude des acteurs de la signalisation inter-organe est cruciale pour comprendre les mécanismes mis en jeu par les comportements actifs et inactifs, et leurs effets sur la santé / Current lifestyle changes, notably sedentary behavior, are associated with chronic diseases, while regular activity improves metabolic functions The purpose of my work is to examine the effects of different level of physical activity, until extreme inactivity on cross-talk mediators, such as adiponectine and microRNAs, and on metabolism, notably in muscle or liver. We demonstrate a significant increase of hepatic markers under severe physical inactivity (60d bed-rest), showing the onset of a development of NASH. Our data support that regular exercise can limit these physical inactivity-induced metabolic alterations. We demonstrate that independently of effects of physical activity and inactivity on fat mass, adiponectin plasma concentrations were negatively related to physical activity level. Our data highlight that variations in total plasma adiponectin with physical activity level are mainly due to changes in HMW adiponectin plasma concentrations, and are unlikely explained by variations in expression of adiponectin in adipose tissue and muscle. We also show an inverse relation between fasting insulin plasma concentrations with both adiponectin receptors, and one of its downstream effector (APPL1) in the muscle, suggesting an improvement of adiponectin muscular sensitivity. During a contrasted and moderate physical activity intervention in human and mice, we show that transition from activity toward inactivity results in muscle miR-148b content increase, leading to muscle metabolism alteration. Our study on miR-148b expression modulation in vitro in human myotubes, show its involvement in insulin signaling pathway in muscle, suggesting that miR-148b accumulation in muscle could participate in the whole body insulin sensitivity degradation, which is a feature of persistent sedentary behavior. Altogether, these results demonstrate that the study of cross-talk actors is crucial to understand the mechanisms involved in active and inactive behaviors, and their effects on health

Introdução: Inatividade física é fator de risco para doenças não transmissíveis (DNTs). Dentre essas, destaca-se que a obesidade (central e adiposidade na região da cintura) é fator de risco independente para mortalidade. O International Physical Activity Questionnaire (IPAQ) tem sido utilizado para investigar a epidemiologia da atividade física, com o objetivo de padronizar a investigação. Objetivos: Verificar a prevalência de atividade física segundo diferentes critérios e a associação com obesidade na população adulta de Porto Alegre/RS. Método: Este é um estudo transversal de base populacional, representativo da população adulta (18 a 90 anos) de Porto Alegre. É parte do estudo de Síndrome de Obesidade e Fatores de risco para doença cardiovascular (SOFT Study). Atividade física foi avaliada utilizando o IPAQ versão curta. Características demográficas e socioeconômicas foram investigadas. Obesidade foi determinada por índice de massa corporal P30 kg/m2 e adiposidade central pela circunferência da cintura. Características demográficas (cor da pele - auto-referida e categorizada em branca ou não-branca; idade - calculada a partir das datas de nascimento e entrevista), socioeconômicas (escolaridade - avaliada pelo número de anos completados na escola; ter trabalhado no mês precedente à entrevista, e status marital – categorizado em solteiro, separado ou viúvo, e casado ou com companheiro) e características de estilo de vida (consumo abusivo de bebidas alcoólicas – definido para mulheres que consumiram P15 gramas/dia ou homens que consumiam P30 gramas/dia 12, tabagismo – categorizado em fumante atual, ex-fumante e não tabagistas. O módulo de amostras complexas foi utilizado para considerar o efeito do desenho, c2 de Pearson para analisar a relação entre exposição de interesse e obesidade. Taxas de prevalência e intervalo de confiança (IC 95%) foram calculados com o modelo de Regressão de Cox com tempo igual a um. Resultados: Entre os critérios de baixo nível de atividade física, dos 1858 adultos 30,5% eram insuficientemente ativos conforme o protocolo do IPAQ, 25,5% realizavam menos do que 150 minutos por semana, 38,6% despendiam menos do que 1000 kcal por semana e 34,5% passavam seis horas ou mais sentados por semana. Diferenças estatisticamente significativas entre os sexos, com maior prevalência entre os homens, foram detectadas para atividades vigorosas P150 min/sem (26,9% vs. 14,2%), deslocamento P150 min/sem (51,1% vs. 43,8%), prática por tempo igual ou superior a 1000 minutos por semana (18,9% vs. 14,2%) e permanência sentado por semana maior ou igual a seis horas/dia (37,4% vs. 32,4%). A relação inversa com idade foi confirmada em todos os critérios de atividade física para as mulheres e na maior parte dos critérios para os homens. Exceção constitui comportamento sedentário, associado à idade apenas entre os homens e com maior prevalência entre os mais jovens. Ao analisar a associação de alto nível de atividade física com obesidade, identificou-se na amostra que 25% eram muito ativos, 21% eram obesos e 29% tinham obesidade central. Homens e mulheres, respectivamente, apresentaram diferenças significativas quanto à prevalência de obesidade (17,5 vs. 23,5%, p=0,006), obesidade central (17,5 vs. 37,3%, p<0,001), mas não em relação a alto nível de atividade física (26,3 vs. 24,7%, p=0,5). A relação inversa de alto nível de atividade física com idade foi confirmada para homens (p<0,001) e mulheres (p<0,001), mas associação independente de alto nível de atividade física com menor risco de obesidade só foi caracterizada para mulheres (p=0,01). Conclusão: As prevalências de atividade física variam com a definição, mas os critérios do IPAQ e a duração maior ou igual a 150 minutos/semana se assemelham. As prevalências identificadas pelo IPAQ em Porto Alegre são semelhantes as descritas para o Brasil. A atividade física de alto nível é menos propensa a viés de aferição. E a associação com obesidade deve reproduzir a realidade. Na população de Porto Alegre a associação entre atividade física de alto nível e obesidade não foi confirmada para homens. Entre as mulheres, a associação foi significativa e independente de outros fatores de confusão. / Introduction: Physical inactivity is a risk factor for non-communicable diseases (NCD). Among them, central obesity and waist adiposity stand out as an independent risk factor for mortality. The International Physical Activity Questionnaire (IPAQ) has been used to assess physical activity epidemiology, aiming to standardize the investigation. Objective: To assess the prevalence of physical activity according to different criteria and its association with obesity in adults in the city of Porto Alegre, south Brazil. Methods: This is a cross-sectional population-based study, representative of the adult population (18-90years old) of Porto Alegre. It is part of the Study of Obesity and Risk Factors (SOFT study). Physical activity was assessed using the short version of IPAQ. Obesity was determined by body-mass index P 30kg/m2, and central adiposity by waist circumference. Demographic (skin color, self referred and categorized in white or non-white; age, calculated from birth and interview dates), socioeconomic (education, defined as number of years in scholl; working during the month prior to the interview; marital status, categorized in single, divorced or widowed, and married), and life style (abusive alcohol consumption, defined as P15g/day for women and P 30g/day for men; smoking, categorized in current smokers, non-smokers, and ex-smokers) characteristics were investigated. The SPSS complex samples module was used to consider the design effect. Pearson’s chi-square test was used to analyze the relation among obesity and the variables of interest. Prevalence rates and 95% confidence intervals were calculated using Cox regression with time set to 1. Results: Using the different criteria for low physical activity, 30.5% of 1858 adults were insufficiently active according to the IPAQ protocol, 25.5% performed less than 150 minutes of physical activity per week, 38.6% spent less than 1000kcal per week, and 34.5% spent six hours or more sitting per week. Statistically significant differences were detected between men and women, with a higher prevalence for men, for P150min/week of vigorous activities (26.9 vs. 14.2%), P 150min/week of walking (51.1 vs. 43.8%), P 1000min/week of practice (18.9 vs. 14.2%), and P 6h/day sitting (37.4 vs. 32.4%). Inverse correlation with age was confirmed in al criteria of physical activity for women, and on most criteria for men. An exception was sedentary behavior, associated to age only among men and with higher prevalence among young individuals. Analyzing the association of high level of physical activity with obesity, we identified that 25% of the sample were very active, 21% were obese and 29% ha central obesity. Men and women had significant differences regarding obesity (17.5 vs. 23.5%, p= 0.006) and central obesity (17.5 vs. 37.3%, p<0.001) prevalence, but not regarding high level of physical activity (26.3 vs. 24.7%, p=0.5). The inverse association of high physical activity level with age was confirmed for men (p<0.001) and women (p<0.001), but association independent of high physical activity level with less risk of obesity was only confirmed for women (p=0.01). Conclusion: Prevalence of physical activity varies according to definition, but IPAQ criteria and duration P 150min/week are similar. The prevalences identified by IPAQ in Porto Alegre are similar to those described in Brazil. High level physical activity is less prone to reporting bias, and its association with obesity should reproduce reality. In the population of Porto Alegre the associations between high level physical activity and obesity was not confirmed for men. Among women, the association was positive and independent of other confusion factors.

<p>Physical inactivity has become a global health concern and is among the 10 leading causes of death and disability. This has led to increased concern for chronic diseases of lifestyle (CDL).&nbsp / Studies have revealed that regular physical activity is effective in combating several CDL such as cardiovascular disease, diabetes, cancer, hypertension and obesity. Physiotherapists are in a&nbsp / position to combat inactivity and effectively promote physical activity to their clients. Studies however have shown that participation in physical activity among physiotherapists could have an&nbsp / impact on the promotion of physical activity and their health practices. This study therefore sought to establish the relationship between physical activity levels of physiotherapists and their&nbsp / physical&nbsp / activity promotion strategies and barriers to promoting physical activity. Sequential Mixed Method Design was used in this study. Data was collected by means of a self administered&nbsp / questionnaire and a total of 92 physiotherapists voluntarily answered the questionnaire. A focus group discussion comprising of 10 purposively selected physiotherapists was conducted. The&nbsp / questionnaire assessed physical activity levels&nbsp / and physical activity promoting strategies of the participants while the focus groupdiscussion looked at the barriers to promoting physical&nbsp / activity. The Statistical Packages for Social Sciences (SPSS) version 18 was used for data capturing and analysis. Descriptive statistics were employed to summarize demographic information&nbsp / as means, standard deviation, frequencies and percentages. Inferential statistics (chi-square) was used to test the associations between different categorical variables (p&lt / 0.05). For the qualitative data, focus group discussions were used to collect data. Tape recorded interviews were transcribed verbatim, field notes typed, sorting and arranging data was done and themes&nbsp / &nbsp / were generated. Thematic analysis was then done under the generated themes. Ethical issues pertaining to informed consent, anonymity, confidentiality and the right to withdraw from the&nbsp / study were respected in this current study. The findings in the current study revealed that a big number of the participants were physical active both at work and recreation domains. However,&nbsp / there was no statistically significant association between physical activity and the demographicvariables. The results in this study revealed that the majority of participants were good&nbsp / physical activity promoting practices, although there was no significant association between physical activity levels and the physical activity promoting practices. The finding in this study revealed that discussing physical&nbsp / activity and giving out information regarding physical activity to their clients were the most common methods used in promoting physical activity. However, participants also highlighted barriers they&nbsp / ace in promotion of physical activity such as policies on physical activity, cultural influence, nature of work, time management as well as environmental barriers. The study demonstrates the&nbsp / need for all stakeholders to come up with solutions to break the barriers to promotion of physical activity. In return it will bring about enormous health&nbsp / benefits to the general population.</p>

<p>Across the world, physical inactivity was found to be associated with cardiovascular and chronic diseases of lifestyle which often leads to an increased rate of various physical disabilities andpremature death. To combat these high incidences of chronic diseases of lifestyle, WHO strongly encourages people to become physically active on a daily basis to reduce the risk of&nbsp / premature death. Running has thus become the preferred choice of physical activity by thousands of people to help improve their overall health and wellbeing. Apart from the health benefits&nbsp / that running provides, it can also predispose the runner to potential injury especially when runners follow an inappropriate training programme and have inadequate knowledge about factors causing injury. Therefore, baseline data about the prevalence, incidence of injury and the identification of the aetiological factors associated with running injuries are needed to develop and&nbsp / implement preventative programmes to allow runners to optimally perform in training and races without injury. In South Africa, there is limited research available on the incidence of injury in runners yet there is an annual increase in participation in races such as Two Oceans and Comrades marathon which could lead to an increase in the number of running injuries.Thus, the purpose of this study was to determine the incidence of injuries and identify the various risk factors that are associated with injuries in road runners at a local athletic club. Methods: A prospective cohort study design over a 16 week period using quantitative research methods was used. A sample of 50 runners had consented to participate in the study. The participants had to complete a self-administered questionnaire and clinical measurements of BMI, Q-angle, leglength, muscle strength of lower leg and ROM of hip and knee were recorded. The participants had&nbsp / to complete an injury report form to record any new injuries sustained over the 16 week period of the study. Statistical Package for Social Sciences (SPSS) version 18 and software SAS v9 (SAS Institute Inc., Cary, NC, USA) was used for data capturing and analysis. Descriptive and inferential statistics were done to summarize the data and was expressed as frequencies, percentages, means and standard deviations. Injury prevalence and cumulative incidence was calculated as a proportion rate along with 95% confidence interval. The Poisson regression model was used to analyse the association between running injury and the independent variables of interest such as demographics, anthropometric measurements, training methods, running experience and&nbsp / previous injury. The alpha level was set as p&lt / 0.05. Results: The study found that the majority (92%) of the participants (n=46) sustained running injuries in the past prior to the study. A total of 16 participants sustained a number of 50 new injuries over the 16 week study period. Thus the prevalence rate of injuries was 32%. The incidence rate of injuries for this study was 0.67 per&nbsp / 1000km run at a 95% confidence interval of 0.41, 1.08. Furthermore, the most common location of new injuries reported were the calf (20%) and the second most common location was the&nbsp / knee (18%). PFPS was the most common type of knee injury diagnosed, followed by lumbar joint sprain. The results showed that none of the identified factors (running distance, stretching, age, Q-angle, BMI, running experience, leg-length discrepancy and previous running injuries) were directly associated with running injuries. However, a marginal significance was found for&nbsp / running distance (p = 0.08) and leg length discrepancy (p = 0.06). Conclusions: The study found a high prevalence and incidence rate of injury thus the need for preventative programmes have been highlighted. There was no statistical significance found between the identified factors and risk of injury however, there was clinical relevance found between factors identified. One major&nbsp / limitation was the small sample of participants and the short duration of study period. Thus, future research is needed to further determine possible factors associated with running injuries over a longer period and including a larger sample. The results of the study will be made available to all the stakeholders (runners, coaches and medical team) to implement in athletic club. </p>

Cardiovascular disease (CVD) is the leading cause of death among women in the US, and African American women (AAW) have a disproportionately high rate of deaths from CVD. Physical inactivity plays a major role in CVD development. It has been reported that some rural women have low rates of physical activity; 39% of White women and 57% of women of color are reported to be physically inactive. Rural AAW have a high mortality and morbidity rate related to CVD and a high rate of physical inactivity. The purpose of this study was to describe rural AAW’s perception of wellness in conjunction with their stage of change for engaging in exercise. A questionnaire was designed to obtain demographic information and reliable and valid questionnaires were used to measure perceived wellness and current stage of change for exercise. Using a descriptive, cross-sectional design, a convenience sample of 162 rural AAW was recruited from four rural churches in Selma, Alabama. A one-time meeting was conducted and questionnaires were completed by the participants. Statistical analyses including independent samples t-tests and one-way and two-way ANOVA’s were conducted to determine if there were associations among demographic characteristics, self-reported presence of CVD, perceived wellness, and stage of change for exercise. Findings indicated that there was no relationship between perceived wellness and stages of change for exercise among rural AAW; no relationship was found between perceived wellness and CVD, or CVD and stage of change for exercise. However, 51.3% of the sample reported they were physically active, and 21.6% planned to increase their activity within 30 days. Annual household income and employment status were positively correlated with perceived wellness, suggesting a greater sense of wellness is related to income and employment among these rural AAW. These findings have implications for nursing practice in the areas of facilitating health promoting behaviors and development of exercise and wellness programs for rural AAW.

This study utilized data from the Hispanic Established Populations for Epidemiologic Studies of the Elderly (H-EPESE) at two different time points, seven years apart, to examine the relationship between physical illness and depressive symptoms in elderly Mexican Americans. The two physical illnesses studied are coronary artery disease and type II diabetes due to their high prevalence among Mexican Americans. The relationship between physical illness and depressive symptoms is examined longitudinally and prospectively, in both directions. In addition, the relationship between depressive symptoms and three behavioral health risk factors: alcohol use, cigarette smoking, and physical inactivity, at baseline is examined. The roles of gender, acculturation, nativity, and locus of control are examined as moderators of the key relationships studied. Additionally, self-rated health at baseline is examined as a predictor of physical illness and mortality at follow-up. / text