Browsing by Author "Flores, Pedro Miguel"
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- Associative study between handgrip strength, body composition and functional fitness in healthy elderliesPublication . Forte, Pedro; Pássaro, Madalena Fernandes; Pinto, Pedro Miguel Ferreira; Ferreira, Luís; Flores, Pedro Miguel; Monteiro, A.M.Poor handgrip strength is associated with [1,2]. As far as our understanding goes, [1] elderly’s disability independent elderlies trend to have high levels of quality of life . Even more, body composition and functional fitness presents [2] association with quality of life . OBJECTIVE: Thus, the aim of this study was to assess the associations between body composition, functional fitness and handgrip strength. METHODS: It was hypothesized that handgrip strength is associated with elderly’s body composition and functional fitness. Forty-eight elderly subjects (10 males and 38 females) with 69.61 (± 4.21) years old volunteered for this study. All the procedures were in accord to the Helsinki’s declaration regarding human research. The handgrip strength was measured with a digital mechanical dynamometer (CAMRY, New York, USA). The functional fitness was assessed by the functional fitness [3] test . The body composition was evaluated by a bioimpedance balance (Tanita, BC-601, Illinois, USA). The spearmen’s test allowed to assess the significant associations between the handgrip strength, functional fitness and body composition.
- Asthma prevalence in adolescent students from a Portuguese primary and secondary schoolPublication . Flores, Pedro Miguel; Teixeira, José Eduardo; Leal, Anna Kosmider; Branquinho, Luís; Fonseca, Rui Brito; Silva-Santos, Sandra; Batista, Amanda; Encarnação, Samuel Gonçalves; Monteiro, A.M.; Ribeiro, Joana; Forte, PedroAsthma is one of the most prevalent chronic diseases worldwide, with a considerable increase, especially in children. It is considered the main cause of childhood morbidity, school absenteeism, and limitations in sports practice. The causes are multifactorial, and their prevalence varies from region to region, thus verifying a great disparity in the estimates of the prevalence of asthma. In this sense, the objective of this study is to investigate the prevalence of asthma, its control, as well as the frequency of associated symptoms, in adolescents who attended the 3rd cycle of basic education and secondary education in schools in the municipalities of Paços de Ferreira, Paredes, and Penafiel. The sample consisted of 1222 (587 males and 635 females) (p = 0.17) aged between 12 and 17 years. The instruments used to diagnose asthma-associated symptoms were the standard questionnaire of the “International Study of Asthma and Allergies in Childhood—ISAAC” and to check whether asthma was controlled, the “Test for Asthma Control” questionnaire was used. The results reveal a high prevalence of adolescents with asthma (8.9%) with a significant percentage that did not have the disease under control (38%). There was also a considerable percentage of adolescents who, despite not having asthma, have many symptoms associated with the disease. These results may be associated with environmental factors.
- Body image perception in elderly populationPublication . Flores, Pedro Miguel; Malheiro, Maria Alexandra; Monteiro, A.M.Body image perception can be defined as the individual representation of body appearance that undergoes through changes throughout life involving biopsychosocial factors. Body satisfaction refers to the assessment of each individual body as well as its attitudes and thoughts. With the stereotype of aging associated with disease, sexual impotence, mental illness, uselessness and loneliness among other factors, the elderly population is often negatively influenced with their body perception. Thus, with increasing age, morphological changes become more evident leading to a dissatisfaction with elderly’s body image. Physical activity represents an important factor to improve physical and physiological well-being, health, autonomy of elderly and as a consequence the positive body image increase. Despite the recognition of the importance of physical activity benefits, inactivity is prevalent in people over 65 years of age. To counteract this inactivity, professionals who deal with the elderly population must promote physical activities in elderly care institutions and make this a regular practice to give this population quality of life and to improve body perception and satisfaction.
- A comparison of physical fitness by competitive levels in youth basketball playersPublication . Forte, Pedro; Ferreira, Luís; Flores, Pedro Miguel; Soares, Carlos; Moreira, Carlos; Monteiro, A.M.Some basketball teams use train two teams at the same time. Even more, some younger players train and compete in a higher competitive level. The aim of this study was to compare the physical fitness (PF) between under sixteen (U16) and under eighteen (U18) basketball players. Body mass and height were assessed with a bioimpedance balance and a stadiometer. The strength levels were assessed for upper limbs by the number of push-ups (per 30s) and lower limb’s with a horizontal jump without preparatory race (in centimetres). Coordination was measured by dribbling 5 barriers in the diagonal with a distance of 1m (The first barrier at a distance of 8m from the start and the last at 1m of the basket). The speed was measured with a 20 meters sprint test (seconds). The seat and reach flexibility test and the up the back test in centimetres measured the flexibility. One way ANOVA assessed the statistical differences between groups. The significance level was 5%. Only significant different were founded between U16 and U18 players in weight. No significant differences were founded between groups in anthropometrics, strength, speed, coordination and flexibility. In this team, no significant differences in physical fitness between U16 and U18 competitive levels were founded. Thus, youngers basketballers should be encouraged to train and compete in a higher competitive level.
- A comparison of physical fitness by competitive levels in youth basketball playersPublication . Forte, Pedro; Ferreira, Luís; Flores, Pedro Miguel; Soares, Carlos; Moreira, Carlos; Monteiro, A.M.Some basketball teams use train two teams at the same time. Even more, some younger players train and compete in a higher competitive level. The aim of this study was to compare the physical fitness (PF) between under sixteen (U16) and under eighteen (U18) basketball players. Body mass and height were assessed with a bioimpedance balance and a stadiometer. The strength levels were assessed for upper limbs by the number of push-ups (per 30s) and lower limb’s with a horizontal jump without preparatory race (in centimetres). Coordination was measured by dribbling 5 barriers in the diagonal with a distance of 1m (The first barrier at a distance of 8m from the start and the last at 1m of the basket). The speed was measured with a 20 meters sprint test (seconds). The seat and reach flexibility test and the up the back test in centimetres measured the flexibility. One way ANOVA assessed the statistical differences between groups. The significance level was 5%. Only significant different were founded between U16 and U18 players in weight. No significant differences were founded between groups in anthropometrics, strength, speed, coordination and flexibility. In this team, no significant differences in physical fitness between U16 and U18 competitive levels were founded. Thus, youngers basketballers should be encouraged to train and compete in a higher competitive level.
- A Deep Learning Neural Network to Classify Obesity Risk in Portuguese Adolescents Based on Physical Fitness Levels and Body Mass Index Percentiles: Insights for National Health PoliciesPublication . Forte, Pedro; Encarnação, Samuel Gonçalves; Monteiro, A.M.; Teixeira, José Eduardo; Hattabi, Soukaina; Sortwell, Andrew; Branquinho, Luís; Amaro, Bruna; Sampaio, Tatiana; Flores, Pedro Miguel; Silva-Santos, Sandra; Ribeiro, Joana; Batista, Amanda; Ferraz, Ricardo; Rodrigues, FilipeThe increasing prevalence of overweight and obesity among adults is a risk factor for many chronic diseases and death. In addition, obesity among children and adolescents has reached unprecedented levels and studies show that obese children and adolescents are more likely to become obese adults. Therefore, both the prevention and treatment of obesity in adolescents are critical. This study aimed to develop an artificial intelligence (AI) neural network (NNET) model that identifies the risk of obesity in Portuguese adolescents based on their body mass index (BMI) percentiles and levels of physical fitness. Using datasets from the FITescola® project, 654 adolescents aged between 10–19 years old, male: 334 (51%), female: n = 320 (49%), age 13.8 ± 2 years old, were selected to participate in a cross-sectional observational study. Physical fitness variables, age, and sex were used to identify the risk of obesity. The NNET had good accuracy (75%) and performance validation through the Receiver Operating Characteristic using the Area Under the Curve (ROC AUC = 64%) in identifying the risk of obesity in Portuguese adolescents based on the BMI percentiles. Correlations of moderate effect size were perceived for aerobic fitness (AF), upper limbs strength (ULS), and sprint time (ST), showing that some physical fitness variables contributed to the obesity risk of the adolescents. Our NNET presented a good accuracy (75%) and was validated with the K-Folds Cross-Validation (K-Folds CV) with good accuracy (71%) and ROC AUC (66%). According to the NNET, there was an increased risk of obesity linked to low physical fitness in Portuguese teenagers.
- A influência da atividade física desportiva na perceção corporal numa população da região do Vale do SousaPublication . Flores, Pedro Miguel; Ferreira, Luís; Moreira, Carlos; Alves, Emília; Soares, Carlos; Monteiro, A.M.; Forte, PedroO corpo é um loco inesgotável de transformações onde prolifera a criatividade e é transformado pelo indivíduo para representar e inserir-se na sua cultura. Várias são as estratégias que visam a alteração da condição corporal. Entre elas, demarca-se a prática desportiva e/ou de exercício físico. Assim, o objetivo principal deste estudo foi comparar os níveis de satisfação com a imagem corporal entre indivíduos sedentários, praticantes de atividade física, formal ou recreativa, e desportistas. A amostra foi constituída por 899 indivíduos, dos quais 273 eram sedentários (sem qualquer tipo de atividade física desportiva), 494 sujeitos eram considerados ativos (com uma frequência de exercício físico de pelo menos duas vezes por semana) e 132 sujeitos eram considerados desportistas (praticantes de pelo menos uma atividade desportiva formal). A idade média do grupo dos sujeitos sedentários foi de 32,40 (± 10,10) anos, do grupo dos ativos foi de 28,7 (±9,9) anos e dos desportistas foi de 28,9 (±9,8) anos de idade. O instrumento utilizado para avaliar o grau de satisfação com a imagem corporal foi o questionário Body Image Satisfaction Questionnaire (BIS) de Lutter et al (1986), traduzido e adaptado para a população portuguesa por Abrantes (1998). Após análise da normalidade e homogeneidade das distribuições, foi utilizada a análise inferencial não paramétrica. O teste de Mann-Whitney permitiu realizar a comparação de médias entre os grupos. Foi considerado o nível de significância de 5%. RESULTADOS: Os principais resultados indicam que independentemente do tipo de prática desportiva a que as pessoas aderem, a satisfação com a imagem corporal é significativamente.superior à dos sedentários. Os sedentários apresentaram uma satisfação com a imagem corporal de 3,35 (±0,64), os ativos de 3,62 (±0,56) e os desportistas de 3,75 (±0,63). Verificaram-se diferenças significativas entre os sedentários e os sujeitos ativos (p<0,001), entre os sedentários e os desportistas (p <0,001) e entre os ativos e os desportistas (p= 0,016). CONCLUSÕES: Este estudo permitiu verificar que os sujeitos sedentários apresentaram uma menor satisfação com a imagem corporal e uma menor prevalência de indivíduos com uma boa satisfação com a imagem corporal. Desta forma, pode-se concluir que os sujeitos mais ativos são os que apresentam maior satisfação com a imagem corporal.
- Motor activities to improve maths performance in pre-school children with typical developmentPublication . Flores, Pedro Miguel; Coelho, Eduarda; Mourão-Carvalhal, Isabel; Forte, PedroPoor maths skills are associated with negative outcomes throughout life, such as lower academic qualifications, decreased professional success and socio-economic results. Mathematical skills emerge continuously throughout childhood and those that children acquire in pre-school are crucial for activities that support analytical thinking, problem-solving and reasoning and argumentation skills. Many of these activities are related to motor skills, since certain cognitive and motor areas of the brain are activated simultaneously when solving maths problems. Of all motor skills, visuomotor integration skills have been documented as those that are most consistently positively and significantly associated with maths performance in pre-school children. These skills are influenced by visual perception (spatial and attention skills), fine motor coordination and gross motor skills. Early intervention can improve visuomotor integration skills in pre-school children. Of all skills that make up visuomotor integration, spatial skills, in addition to being the first skills to influence numerical knowledge and the recognition of geometric shapes, are also those skills that form part of the majority of programs and activities to be worked on with pre-school children for the development of mathematical concepts. However, most intervention programs or activities to develop spatial skills are carried out in the classroom, usually through activities involving handling small objects. In this sense and given the significant association between visuomotor integration skills and gross motor skills, the main objective of this study was to list a set of activities to develop spatial skills, with a strong involvement of gross motor skills, in a classroom, playground or home context.
- Obesity status and physical fitness levels in male and female portuguese adolescents: a two-way multivariate analysisPublication . Encarnação, Samuel Gonçalves; Rodrigues, Filipe; Monteiro, A.M.; Gouili, Hatem; Hattabi, Soukaina; Sortwell, Andrew; Branquinho, Luís; Teixeira, José Eduardo; Ferraz, Ricardo; Flores, Pedro Miguel; Silva-Santos, Sandra; Ribeiro, Joana; Batista, Amanda; Forte, PedroObesity and decreasing fitness levels among the youth are growing concerns in Portugal, similar to other developed countries, with implications for health and psychomotor development. Understanding the influence of health determinants such as sex and age are crucial for developing effective public health strategies. This study aimed to analyze the association between sex and chronological age with obesity status and physical fitness in Portuguese adolescents. A total of 170 adolescents (85 males and 85 females) were evaluated for body mass index, abdominal adiposity, aerobic fitness, abdominal resistance, upper limb resistance, lower limb power, and maximal running speed in a 40 m sprint using the FITescola® physical fitness battery, a Portuguese government initiative. The general model, analyzed using Pillai’s trace, showed a significant effect of age and sex on body mass index, abdominal circumference, aerobic fitness, abdominal resistance, upper limb resistance, lower limb power, and maximal running speed (V = 0.99, F (7) = 10,916.4, p < 0.001, partial η2, sex = 0.22; age = 0.43, sex and age interaction = 0.10). Boys had higher physical fitness levels than girls in most tests, but both sex groups had a significantly higher proportion of non-fit adolescents, with boys showing the highest number of participants classified as non-fit.
- Perception of satisfaction with body image in adolescents from Paredes Secondary SchoolPublication . Flores, Pedro Miguel; Malheiro, Alexandra; Monteiro, A.M.Body image is part of the mechanism of personal identity that can be given as a mental representation of the body itself, reflecting the way individuals think, feel, and behaves in relation to their physical appearance. The perception of an individual’s body image changes due to intrinsic and extrinsic factors and, in adolescence, due to the formation of their identity, the influence of social media and network can be very determinant in their body image perception that have beauty and aesthetics standards difficult to achieve. Sports physical activity (SPA) proves to be a way to maintain or achieve the ideal physical shape, thus it increases the body satisfaction and the perception of body image (PSIC). The main objective of the current study is to evaluate the relationship between the practice of AFD and PSIC in adolescence, Paredes high school. It was concluded that the perception and satisfaction of body image varied according to the practice of physical sports activity in male students. In females, the practice of sports physical activity did not influence the perception and satisfaction of their body image.