Abstract Background Despite reports of reduced physical fitness in children with congenital heart disease (CHD), no specific performance evaluations for activities of daily living have been conducted. Objectives The aim was to compare the activities of daily living, quality of life, posture, physical fitness and physical activity levels of children with CHD with healthy controls (HC). Methods The study included 30 children aged 6-14 diagnosed with moderate or severe CHD and 30 age-sex-matched HC. The sociodemographic and clinical data of […]

Abstract Background: Evidence points to anthropometric and fitness variables as associated factors with children’s blood pressure. Analysing these factors in a single context is a relevant possibility of identifying the weight that each factor can present for the development of arterial hypertension. Objective: Identify the possible associations between anthropometric measurements, body composition, moderate-vigorous physical activity (MVPA) and cardiorespiratory fitness (CRF) with blood pressure in children. Methods: Correlational study with a quantitative approach. Sample: 215 schoolchildren aged 6-12 years selected by […]

Abstract Background Atrioventricular conduction time ( AVCT ) is influenced by autonomic input and subject to physiological remodeling. Objective To evaluate beat-by-beat AVCT and RR-interval variability in athletes and healthy sedentary subjects. Methods Twenty adults, including 10 healthy sedentary (Controls) and 10 elite long-distance runners (Athletes), age, weight and height-adjusted, underwent maximal metabolic equivalent (MET) assessment, and 15-min supine resting ECG recording seven days later. The interval between P-wave and R-wave peaks defined the AVCT . Mean (M) and standard […]

Abstract Background Physical fitness is an important determinant of quality of life (QoL) in heart failure with preserved ejection fraction (HFpEF) patients. However, how the different physical fitness components correlate with the specific dimensions of QoL in HFpEF patients remains unknown. Objective To evaluate the association between different physical fitness components and QoL dimensions in HFpEF patients, and, assess which physical fitness components were independently associated to QoL. Methods Patients with HFpEF were assessed for physical fitness [dynamic balance and […]

Cardiovascular diseases are currently the major health problem and are directly involved in more than 17 million deaths each year, which represents 50% of all deaths from noncommunicable diseases. In addition to their effects on individual well-being, cardiovascular diseases are responsible for a high economic impact. A recently published study showed that in Brazil, only four diseases – arterial hypertension, myocardial infarction, atrial fibrillation and heart failure – reached an estimated total financial cost of 56.2 billion reais in the […]

Does Sweden and Brazil have the same problem? Low or decreasing PA levels often correspond with a high or rising gross national product. In high-income countries, 26% of men and 35% of women were insufficiently physically active, as compared to 12% of men and 24% of women in low-income countries. This drop is partly due to inactivity during leisure time and sedentary behavior at home or during work. Also, an increase in car, bus and train use has contributed to […]

Abstract Background: The practice of exercise in short bouts repeated throughout the day may be an alternative strategy to lift people out of physical inactivity. Objective: to evaluate if accumulated exercise, as occurs in continuous exercise training, improve endothelial function in rat aorta. Methods: Wistar male rats were divided into three groups: continuous exercise (CEx, 1 hour on the treadmill) or accumulated exercise (AEx, 4 bouts of 15 minutes / day) for 5 days/week for 8 weeks, or sedentary (SED). […]