Causes of Sickness Absenteeism in Europe—Analysis from an Intercountry and Gender Perspective

This study aims to extract and explain the territorially varied relation between socioeconomic factors and absence rate from work due to own illness or disability in European countries in the years 2006–2020. For this purpose, several causes were identified, depending on men and women. To explain the absenteeism and emphasize gender as well as intercountry differences, geographically weighted regression was applied. For men, there were five main variables that influenced sickness absence: body mass index, the average rating of satisfaction by job situation, employment in the manufacturing sector, social benefits by sickness/health care, and performing health-enhancing physical activity. For women, there were five main variables that increased the absence rate: the risk of poverty or social exclusion, long-standing illness or health problems, employment in the manufacturing sector, social protection benefits, and deaths due to pneumonia. Based on the conducted research, it was proven that the sickness absence observed in the analyzed countries was highly gender and spatially diverged. Understanding the multifactorial factors playing an important role in the occurrence of regional and gender-divergent sickness absence may be a good predictor of subsequent morbidity and mortality as well as be very useful to better prevent this outcome.

Physical education and health enhancing physical activity – a European perspective

This article reviews recent literature on the contribution of curriculum physical education to health-enhancing physical activity within the context of European countries. Recommended goals for student physical activity are discussed within a curriculum framework based on five ‘forms’ (concept, designed, implemented, results and effects). The study used a 'rapid reviewing' method, in which sources were identified and analysed using systematic reviewing techniques, but subsequent stages were adapted to facilitate flexible and practical interpretation. Results show that physical education lessons tend not to reach a putative 50% threshold of moderate-to-vigorous intensity. Given that the average time allocated for physical education in Europe is 100 minutes per week, strategies are needed to increase the intensity and duration of physical activity in lessons if they are to make a more meaningful ‘direct’ contribution to the European and WHO daily target of sixty minutes of moderate to vigorous physical activity. The authors therefore consider the plausibility of introducing an 'Active Schools' concept, in which physical education lessons designed to equip students with the prerequisite knowledge, skills, attitudes, and values supportive of a physically active lifestyle are augmented by other school-based contexts which provide the opportunity to actually meet the recommended guidelines for physical activity participation.

NAFLD and Physical Exercise: Ready, Steady, Go!

Along with the increase in obesity and type 2 diabetes, the non-alcoholic fatty liver disease (NAFLD) incidence is escalating, thus becoming a leading cause of liver cirrhosis and a significant burden of liver-related outcomes. Since there is no pharmacotherapy available to address the NAFLD, the most effective solutions seem to be lifestyle changes centered on physical activity. Exercise could mediate its beneficial effects directly on the liver and indirectly via extrahepatic pathways, forming a dose-response relationship with NAFLD in terms of prevalence and disease severity. Health-enhancing physical activity (HEPA) levels are mainly needed to exert beneficial effects in obese subjects, while even a small amount of exercise can be beneficial for lean individuals to prevent NAFLD. This mini-review addresses three major points regarding physical activity and NAFLD: prevention, treatment, and extrahepatic benefits, offering recommendations on type and intensity of exercise in liver disease.

Politik zur Bewegungsförderung in Deutschland

Zusammenfassung Hintergrund Da Bewegungsmangel eine entscheidende Ursache für nichtübertragbare Erkrankungen ist, wurden sowohl von der Weltgesundheitsorganisation (WHO) als auch von Wissenschaftlerinnen und Wissenschaftlern weltweit verschiedene Tools zum Monitoring und Audit bewegungsfördernder Politik entwickelt. Allerdings wurden diese Tools bisher noch nicht genutzt, um systematisch und umfassend Daten zu bewegungsfördernder Politik in Deutschland zu erheben und zu analysieren. Ziel der Arbeit Die Studie hat zum Ziel, die politischen Anstrengungen zur Bewegungsförderung in Deutschland in einem systematischen Überblick darzustellen. Material und Methoden Die Erhebung wurde im Rahmen des Projekts „Policy Evaluation Network“ (www.jpi-pen.eu) unter Nutzung des Health-Enhancing Physical Activity (HEPA) Policy Audit Tools (PAT) der WHO durchgeführt. Datenquellen waren Erhebungen der WHO für das European Union Physical Activity Monitoring Framework, eigene Recherchearbeiten sowie eine Expertenbefragung. Ergebnisse Die Ergebnisse zeigen das Spektrum der relevanten Akteure und bieten einen Überblick über aktuelle politische Maßnahmen sowie die Bereiche Surveillance, Evaluation und finanzielle Förderung. Darüber hinaus identifizieren sie wichtige Erfolge der aktuellen deutschen Politik sowie bestehende Herausforderungen. Diskussion Im internationalen Vergleich fällt auf, dass andere Länder im Gegensatz zu Deutschland messbare nationale Ziele für die Förderung von Bewegung formuliert haben. Hervorzuheben ist, dass Deutschland zu der Minderheit der Staaten mit spezifischen Bewegungsempfehlungen für Menschen mit nichtübertragbaren Erkrankungen zählt. Eine besonders hohe Relevanz hat die Weiterentwicklung von Strukturen für Bewegungsförderung in Deutschland.

Determinants Associated with Participation in Physical Activity Among Patients with Prostate Cancer

Purpose Physical activity (PA) has been evaluated for reducing side effects of cancer treatment and improving quality of life. Understanding the factors that affect participation in PA is essential to improve strategies for health promotion. We evaluated the determinants of PA among prostate cancer patients. Methods Ninety patients were divided into 'inactive or minimally active' or 'health enhancing physical activity' groups, based on their PA levels measured using the International Physical Activity Questionnaire (IPAQ). IPAQ score was used as the dependent variable. Clinical characteristics, including demographics, difficulties in urination or defecation, socioeconomic status, physical status and functions were used as the independent variables. Univariate and multivariate logistic regression analyses were performed. Results Univariate logistic regression analyses identified that urination and defecation difficulties were associated with lower PA. Multivariate logistic regression analyses revealed that urinary difficulties were associated with lower PA. Conclusion Knowledge of the factors that influence PA will allow physicians to identify patients who are expected to have less PA and intervene early. Urinary difficulties had a statistically significant association with lower PA, representing a barrier to PA. Early intervention is needed to overcome urinary difficulties considering the importance of PA in achieving optimal health outcomes.

Building of training sessions in the health-enhancing physical activity

The article analyzes the recommendations for the building of training sessions in the health-enhancing physical activity (HEPA), offers directions for further improvement this process. As you know, the effectiveness of health-enhancing physical activity is determined by the factors: the use of means and methods adequate for age and fitness, the optimal physical load and the peculiarities of its alternation with rest. Ultimately, the implementation of these requirements is carried out through the rational building of various structural elements as microcycles, mesocycles, macrocycles, training session. However, in our opinion, some of the theoretical provisions of the planning of training sessions, in contrast to sports training, have not been sufficiently studied. Research aim is to study the peculiarities of building training sessions in health-enhancing physical activity. Objectives: Analyze of specialists recommendations on the characteristics of the load used in the building of health-enhancing sessions. Study the peculiarities of the building selective and complex sessions. It was found that the recommendations regarding the duration of the training load for building of health-enhancing physical activity are sufficiently developed. However characteristic classification for sports practice is not used when planning the value of loads in separate sessions. This refers to a classification that takes into account the phase of physical performance in which the session was ended. It classification include low, medium, significant and large loads. In our opinion, this negatively affects the quality of planning both sessions and microcycles. It is revealed that there is a need to further improve the building complex training sessions with a consistent solution of tasks and the development of methodological conditions for the use of means and methods in complex training sessions with a parallel solution of tasks.

Changes in Physical Fitness during Summer Months and the School Year in Austrian Elementary School Children—A 4-Year Longitudinal Study

Even though physical fitness is an important component in children’s health and well-being, there has been a decline in physical fitness over the last several decades. The present study examined potential differences in the development of physical fitness during the academic year and summer vacation in Austrian elementary-school children. A total of 214 children (52.3% boys) completed the German motor test in the fall (after summer vacation) and spring (prior to summer vacation) of every grade throughout their elementary school years. This resulted in eight assessments of cardio-respiratory endurance, muscular fitness, flexibility, speed, agility, and balance over a 4-year period. As expected, physical fitness increased with age but the improvement in cardio-respiratory endurance and muscular fitness was more pronounced during summer vacation (p < 0.01), while the improvement in speed was more pronounced during the academic year (p < 0.01). These results indicate an influence of weather conditions on health-enhancing physical activity in addition to structural and social support. Particularly in geographical regions with cold winters and shorter days, health-enhancing physical activity may be limited. Accordingly, schools need to provide additional opportunities to ensure an adequate amount of physical activity that stimulates the development of physical fitness.

What About the Environment? How the Physical Activity–Related Health Competence Model Can Benefit From Health Literacy Research

Research cultivates a multitude of frameworks, models, and theories with different determinants internal and/or external to the individual contributing to the understanding and explaining of physical activity levels. The physical activity–related health competence (PAHCO) model can be located at the interface between research of health literacy and physical activity. Because of its primary person orientation, however, the model has not yet undergone discussions on the relevance of the environment. Encouraged by the developments in the area of health literacy, the goal of the present perspective article was to stimulate some initial reflections on potential solutions for the competence–environment relationship within the PAHCO model. We extracted three potential solutions for this issue. Dubbed the solution of integration, we first discussed that the PAHCO model could be placed into overarching, more holistic, and abstract models of health-enhancing physical activity, such as the capability approach or the socioecological model. Applying a solution of elaboration, researchers could second substantiate existing components of the PAHCO model, such as control competence or self-regulation competence, by further explanations. Characterizing the solution of extension, it would third be possible to introduce (a) separate competence component(s) that highlight(s) the manageability of the environment, for instance, by establishing a (socio)ecological competence. The article concludes with a short overview of potential empirical approaches, given their potential to assist researchers in identifying preferences for the theoretical advancement and to put the development on a stronger evidence base.

Public health considerations regarding golf during the COVID-19 pandemic: a narrative review

BackgroundGolf is a sport played worldwide by >60 million people from a variety of backgrounds and abilities. Golf’s contribution to physical and mental health benefits are becoming increasingly recognised. Countries have adopted a range of restrictions to playing golf during the COVID-19 pandemic.AimsThe purpose of this narrative review was to (1) explore the literature related to the possible health benefits and risks of playing golf during the COVID-19 pandemic and (2) provide recommendations on golf-related activity from the relevant available literature.ResultsGolf can provide health-enhancing physical activity. Regular physical activity is associated with physical/mental health, immune system and longevity benefits. Sense of belonging and life satisfaction significantly improved when golfing restrictions were relaxed after the first lockdown in the UK. Golf is an outdoor sport, where social distancing is possible, and if rules are followed, risk of COVID-19 transmission is likely to be low.ConclusionsPolicy-makers and governing bodies should support the promotion of golf because participation brings wide ranging benefits for physical health and mental well-being. When effective risk reduction measures are used, the benefits of playing golf in most circumstances outweigh the risk of transmission.