PURPOSE:
We addressed three questions:
1) Is there a dose-response relation between physical activity and health?
2) Is there a dose-response relation between cardio respiratory fitness and health?
3) If both activity and fitness have a dose-response relation to health, is it possible to determine which exposure is more important?
METHODS:
We identified articles by (restricted from 1/1/90 to 8/25/00) using keywords related to physical activity, physical fitness, and health. An author scanned titles and abstracts of 9831 identified articles. We included for thorough review articles that included three or more categories of activity or fitness and a health outcome and excluded articles on clinical trials, review papers, comments, letters, case reports, and nonhuman studies. We used an evidence-based approach to evaluate the quality of the published data. RESULTS: We summarized results from 67 articles meeting final selection criteria. There is good consensus across studies with most showing an inverse dose-response gradient across both activity and fitness categories for morbidity from coronary heart disease (CHD), stroke, cardiovascular disease (CVD), or cancer; and for CVD, cancer, or all-cause mortality. CONCLUSIONS: All studies reviewed were prospective observational investigations; thus, conclusions are based on Evidence Category C. 1) There is a consistent gradient across activity groups indicating greater longevity and reduced risk of CHD, CVD, stroke, and colon cancer in more active individuals. 2) Studies are compelling in the consistency and steepness of the gradient across fitness groups. Most show a curvilinear gradient, with a steep slope at low levels of fitness and an asymptote in the upper part of the fitness distribution. 3) It is not possible to conclude whether activity or fitness is more important for health. Future studies should define more precisely the shape of the dose-response gradient across activity or fitness groups, evaluate the role of musculoskeletal fitness, and investigate additional health outcomes.
PERFORMANCE PHENOTYPES. A total of 10 articles from case–control studies were published in the polymorphism, which consists of the presence/absence of a 9-base pair (bp) repeat sequence in exon 1, were investigated in ironman triathlon The fast finishers of the triathlon showed a higher number of j9/j9 genotypes compared with the controls. The nitric oxide genotypes were also investigated for association in this athlete group, and a significant linear trend of increasing frequency of the genotypes among turtles of the triathlon finishers from fastest to slowest was observed. The same linear trend was observed for the combined +9/+9 and GG multivariate genotype groups.
health and fitness 