Muscle fiber size is activity-dependent and clinically important in ageing, bed-rest, and cachexia, where muscle weakening leads to disability, prolonged recovery times, and increased costs. Inactivity causes muscle wasting by triggering protein degradation and may simultaneously prevent protein synthesis. During development, muscle tissue grows by several mechanisms, including hypertrophy of e...

OBJECTIVE To use cluster analysis to create patterns of overall activity and inactivity in a diverse sample of Chinese youth and to evaluate their use in predicting overweight status. RESEARCH METHODS AND PROCEDURES The study populations were drawn from the 1997 and 2000 years of the longitudinal China Health and Nutrition Survey, comprised of 2702 and 2641 schoolchildren in the 1997 and 2000...

BACKGROUND Physical inactivity is among the leading risk factors for non-communicable diseases. Saudi Arabia has just begun to address physical inactivity as recent studies have shown an alarming prevalence of insufficiently physically active adults. Saudi women are identified as among the most overweight/obese and least active worldwide. With an increase in the number of women in office based ...

In recent years a plethora of epidemiologic evidence accumulated supports a strong, independent and inverse, association between physical activity and the fitness status of an individual and mortality in apparently healthy individuals and diseased populations. These health benefits are realized at relatively low fitness levels and increase with higher physical activity patterns or fitness statu...

The aim of this study was to verify the prevalence of physical inactivity and associated factors among adolescents commuting to school. This was an epidemiological study based on secondary data from a sample of 4,207 adolescents (14-19 years). Data were collected through a previously validated questionnaire (GSHS-WHO). Adolescents were classified as "inactive in commuting" when they reported no...

The aim of this study was to evaluate the prevalence of physical inactivity and associated factors in adult women (20-60 years) in São Leopoldo, Rio Grande do Sul, Brazil. A cross-sectional population-based study was carried out in 40 census tracts of the city. Physical inactivity was defined as no leisure-time physical activity or light-intensity activities no more than once a week. Of the 1,0...

Family scholars have focused on the onset of sexual activity early in the life course, but little is known about the cessation of sexual activity in relationships in later life. We use event-history analysis techniques and logistic regression to identify the correlates of sexual inactivity among older married men and women. We analyze data for 1,502 married people from the National Social Life,...

The increasing prevalence of chronic disease in Oman is a public health challenge. Available evidence in Oman on physical inactivity, the fourth leading risk factor for chronic disease, calls for urgent action to reduce physical inactivity as part of a key strategy to address chronic disease in Oman. The public health implications of this evidence for Oman are considered in light of recommendat...

Physical inactivity has reached epidemic levels in developed countries and is being recognized as a serious public health problem. Recent evidence shows a high percentages of individuals worldwide who are physically inactive, i.e. do not achieve the WHO's present recommendation of 150 minutes of moderate to vigorous intensity per week in addition to usual activities. Living in sedentary lifesty...