No description available.

The rate of obesity has risen dramatically over recent years and is an epidemic in many countries. School pupils and university students are no exception to this. The negative effects physically, mentally and emotionally of being overweight are detrimental to one’s quality of life. It is therefore critical to encourage pupils and students to participate in physical activity. Formalised sport is a key component of encouraging physical activity. The habits learnt in childhood and early adulthood are often carried through for the rest of one’s life. The benefits of participating in sport need to be promoted extensively to the students, as research has shown students that participate in sport are not only healthier but achieve better academic results. This study examined the constraints to students’ participation in formalised sport. The empirical data was collected by means of a survey, using self-administered questionnaires distributed to students on the three Summerstrand campuses at the Nelson Mandela Metropolitan University in Port Elizabeth. Two hundred and eighty three usable questionnaires were received. Time and scheduling was found to be the most constraining factor to participation in sport. I am too busy with my university studies attracted the highest mean score of all the items on the questionnaire. It is recommended that: • sport organisers at NMMU emphasise to the students the benefits of regular participation in physical activity; • the effectiveness of the current NMMU sport programmes and accessibility be further investigated as only 18 per cent of the students in 2011 were participating in sport programmes at NMMU; • time management skills be taught to the NMMU students as the Time and scheduling constraint was the most profound constraint to participation in formalised sport; • NMMU academic staff work more closely with the staff at the University Sport Bureau to promote regular sport participation and to disseminate sport related information that could promote being more actively involved in sport; and • relevant introductory sport programmes and more internal leagues be offered, that gently introduce various sport codes to the students.

No description available.

Eight adolescent males (14 to 18 years old) were evaluated before and after 50 minutes of exercise on a bicycle ergometer at 60 percent of their maximal heart rate to investigate the relationship between blood magnesium status and the derangement of other serum electrolytes in the etiology of "sports anemia." Criteria of assessment included changes in serum concentration and total serum content of magnesium, sodium, potassium, calcium, and red blood cell magnesium concentration, urinary magnesium excretion, hematocrit, hemoglobin, mean corpuscular volume, red blood cell count, osmotic fragility, reticulocytosis, and spherocytosis. A significant reduction in serum sodium concentration was found at post-exercise, whereas, serum calcium and potassium concentrations rose 3.8 percent and 7.7 percent, respectively. Total serum content of magnesium and sodium was significantly reduced by 4.9 percent and 9.0 percent, respectively, at post-exercise. Red blood cell magnesium dropped 3.1 percent at post-exercise. Following a one-hour recovery, serum magnesium concentration had fallen significantly (10.3 percent) and red blood cell magnesium concentration was 2.6 percent higher than the pre-exercise concentration. Although there was no evidence of red blood cell hemolysis, red cells did show spherocytosis and a tendency toward increased osmotic fragility. In addition, the changes observed in total serum magnesium content were significantly correlated to changes in total serum calcium at post-exercise and to total serum potassium content at recovery. The spherocytosis and decreased osmotic resistance appear to result from the impairment of magnesium-dependent adenosine triphosphatase, which is responsible for the active transport of sodium and potassium across the erythrocyte membrane. / Graduation date: 1984

No description available.

No description available.

These studies investigated the plasma lipid profile of endurance athletes and their ability to clear intravascular triglycerides (TG). Study I was a cross-sectional determination of the relationship between cholesterol fractions and weekly running mileage. Study II examined the relationships between the changes in total and HDL-cholesterol (HDL-C) and body composition during a training program. Study III employed an intravenous fat tolerance test (IVFTT) and a post-heparin TG clearance to indirectly assess lipoprotein lipase activity in three different training groups. Finally, Study IV examined the effects of a 12-week training program on TG clearance in trained subjects. In Study I there were significant correlations between HDL-C and percent body fat (r = -0.36, p < .001) and miles run per week (r = 0.50, p < .001), the latter relationship remaining significant when statistically adjusted for age, alcohol consumption, or relative body composition. With the increased weekly running mileage in Study II, HDL-C increased by 5.0 mg/dl (p < .01), and total cholesterol remained unchanged. All components of body composition changed significantly, but only the change in lean weight significantly correlated with the change in HDL-C (r = 0.46, p < .025). In Study III the rate of Intralipid clearance correlated with fat weight (r = -0.66, p < .001), fasting TG (r = -0.39, p < .05), and V̇O₂ max (r = 0.64, p < .001). The heparin-induced fractional clearance of TG's correlated to V̇O₂ max (r = -0.51, p < .01) and fat weight (r = 0.47, p < .01). While the runners and the untrained subjects were similar in body composition and lipid profile, when divided into groups, the elite runners were leaner, had higher HDL-C (p < .05), and were able to clear Intralipid (p < .01) and plasma TG's (p < .05) faster than the other groups. There was a trend towards a more favorable lipidprofile and enhanced TG clearance in Study IV, but only V̇O₂ max (p < .05) and post-heparin fractional clearance of TG's (p < .05)improved significantly. These data suggest that endurance trained subjects have higher HDL-C, lower TG, and an enhanced capacity to clear the intravascular compartment of TG's. These changes cannot be explained solely by the body composition or diets of the athletes and must be due in part to changes evoked by their chronic training.

No description available.

No description available.

No description available.