Human interaction with nature represents one of the basic pillars of healthy behavior. This can be strengthened by physical activity (PA) in nature, also called green exercise or outdoor PA. The aim ...of the work is to assess the impact of PA in nature on selected psychologically beneficial aspects of mental health. Subsequently, the paper discusses the following questions: 1) Are there any differences in the impact on mental health between outdoor and indoor PA?; 2) What are the recommendations for the minimum doses of PA in nature to improve or strengthen mental health? Despite large amounts of original research and many meta-analyses, as well as systemic reviews, we cannot clearly point to a convincing effect of PA in nature on mental health compared to indoor PA. Reviewed material points out the problem of heterogeneous study design, lack of quantitative findings and gaps in the evidence for long-term effects of PA in nature on mental health. Due to discrepancies in terminology, uniform conclusions could not be properly reached. There is a lack of meta-analytical studies specifying the type and intensity of PA in nature required to achieve an effect for a particular indicator of mental health.
(1) Background: Joint and back pain are enormous and important clinical and public health problems that significantly affect people of all ages. Although the epidemiology of pain in the general ...population is well documented, less information is available in athletes. While in the general population joint and back pain have predominantly functional origin, in athletes, pain is a consequence of not only functional, but very often structural changes in the spine, joints, and related tissues. Depending on the sports specialization, character of the training activity, exercises, training load, and many other factors, athletes are exposed to various injuries accompanied by pain. (2) Aim: This study is aimed at evaluating the prevalence of spinal and limb injuries, and back pain and joint pain among athletes of various specializations. A questionnaire survey on back pain, quality of life, and physical activity will be used to collect data from Slovak athletes. The outcomes of the survey will be compared to a physically active group. This article presents a study protocol that aims to evaluate the relationship between back pain and injury prevalence in athletes of various specializations.
Background: Back pain is one of the most common health problems not only in the general population but also in athletes. However, there is a lack of evidence-based findings on the dose-response ...effect of athletic training on back pain and injuries. The aim of this study was to determine whether training experience affects the intensity of back pain and the number of injuries in moderate-to-high performance team sport athletes. Methods: A total of 147 male soccer players (age 27.8 ± 5.9 y; training experience 17.2 ± 5.6 y) and 179 male ice hockey players (age 29.2 ± 5.9 y; training experience 20.5 ± 6.1 y) were asked to complete questionnaires focusing on back pain and injuries: Oswestry Disability Index (ODI) and McGill Pain Questionnaire (MPQ). Results: Spearman correlation analysis revealed significant positive associations between length of training experience and the occurrence of thoracic pain (p=0.005), low back pain (p=0.016), thoracic injuries (p=0.006), and ODI (p=0.007) in soccer players. In hockey players, training duration was significantly correlated with low back pain (p<0.001) and injuries (=0.006), ODI (p<0.001), affective dimension (p<0.001), evaluative dimension (p=0.002), miscellaneous dimension (p=0.027), and total MPQ (p=0.029). Conclusions: The results of this study suggest that the length of training experience is another important factor influencing low back pain. Therefore, it is necessary to focus more attention on more experienced players and to include significantly more compensatory exercises and recovery time in their training process.
(1) Background: The aim of the research was to expand the current knowledge about the diets of female university students in relation to the frequency of their sports activity (SA). We were ...specifically interested in the eating frequency, the distribution of the amount of food during the day, including breakfast in the diet, and the timing of dinner before bedtime. (2) Methods: The sample in this cross-sectional research consisted of 1055 female freshmen university students from the two universities in eastern Slovakia. Data were obtained through a set of selected questions from a questionnaire battery. (3) Results: We found a significant rank–order correlation between the frequency of meals during the day and the level of SA, as well as between the consumption of breakfast and SA. Furthermore, we found a significant indirect dependence on the distribution of meals during the day and SA. The results indicate a better dietary pattern of the more active female students in terms of the frequency of meals. (4) Conclusions: “The healthy behaviour”, which includes proper diet and regular SA, was monitored in the cross-sectional research we conducted, the results of which consistently point to opportunities for further improvement. There is a need for universities to develop professionally targeted programmes that will enable novice students to modify their health behaviours during their studies.
The aim of the study was to draw an accurate picture of the current situation in teaching physical education at universities in the Slovak Republic. The authors seek further ways of sustaining and ...developing it as a prerequisite for a healthy lifestyle of the university population. The analysis confirmed that technical universities in Slovakia show a substantially more positive approach towards physical education in their curriculum than social and natural sciences universities. Of the 105 monitored faculties of public universities, physical education is listed as a compulsory subject at 13 out of 27 faculties of technical universities and only at 9 out of 78 faculties with a humanities focus. Physical edu- cation is present at every faculty of technical universities in our research; the situation is much less favorable at all other universities, where as many as 45 faculties do not offer physical education in their curriculum. Among them are faculties that educate future primary and secondary school teachers. We further found that directly affiliated university departments of Physical Education have a better chance of maintaining sport and physical activity at university, whether as compulsory part of the higher education curricula or as extracurricular optional sporting activities.
Steady decline in habitual physical activity in children and youth has resulted in an increase in body weight with age and a decline in functional ability. Hypokinesia in conjunction with poor diet ...and stress levels are prerequisites of lifestyle diseases such as cancer, cardiovascular and metabolic diseases and obesity. In this partial research, being part of the VEGA research No. 1/1343/12 "Selected risk factors of obesity and exercise prevention", we looked at the incidence of health problems related to BMI and physical activity in college students. We calculated BMI based on anthropometric measurements of body height and weight. Using the questionnaire method, we collected data concerning subjectively assessed incidence of health problems and overall representation of physical activity (PA) in the lifestyle of respondents. The study group comprised 1,963 students, including 1,169 female and 794 male undergraduates from two Slovak universities. Health problems with the largest incidence were back pain, alergy, low blood pressure, headache, palpitation and respiratory diseases. Our research confirms that a greater representation of PA in students' lives positively relates to a lower BMI. The results of logistic regression confirm a significant relation between BMI and the following health problems: back pain, palpitation, high blood pressure, obesity, low blood pressure and respiratory illnesses. PA significantly corresponds with the occurence of health problems related to upper respiratory tract and high blood pressure.
The aim of this theoretical article is to point out on the bases of scientific findings the relationship between aerobic physical activity in nature as compensation for the type A behavior. Type A ...behavior as a risk factor for coronary heart disease (CHD) continues to be an important subject of study in today´s society. Physical activities in the nature, also called green exercise, are of significant relevance in the context of human health research, given our present lifestyle. They address mainly the aerobic regime of physical activities as a prevention of many diseases through improvements in cardiovascular system and skeletal muscles. The authors focused on the issues related to the types A and B of personality behavior developed by Mayer Friedman and Ray H. Rosenman. Aerobic exercise activities, as significant prevention of heart diseases, deal with the compensation of precisely the A type risk behavior. The authors clarify this premise on practical examples. Even with the passage of several decades this issue has not been sufficiently researched. Its application in real life is quite justifiable due to increasing environmental changes and sedentary lifestyle. This article points out how different findings need to be linked in practice as a part of the necessary interdisciplinary collaboration of experts in the areas of medicine, psychology and sports.
The aim of the study was to draw an accurate picture of the current situation in teaching physical education at universities in the Slovak Republic. The authors seek further ways of sustaining and ...developing it as a prerequisite for a healthy lifestyle of the university population. The analysis confirmed that technical universities in Slovakia show a substantially more positive approach towards physical education in their curriculum than social and natural sciences universities. Of the 105 monitored faculties of public universities, physical education is listed as a compulsory subject at 13 out of 27 faculties of technical universities and only at 9 out of 78 faculties with a humanities focus. Physical edu- cation is present at every faculty of technical universities in our research; the situation is much less favorable at all other universities, where as many as 45 faculties do not offer physical education in their curriculum. Among them are faculties that educate future primary and secondary school teachers. We further found that directly affiliated university departments of Physical Education have a better chance of maintaining sport and physical activity at university, whether as compulsory part of the higher education curricula or as extracurricular optional sporting activities.
The aim of the study was to draw an accurate picture of the current situation in teaching physical education at universities in the Slovak Republic. The authors seek further ways of sustaining and ...developing it as a prerequisite for a healthy lifestyle of the university population. The analysis confirmed that technical universities in Slovakia show a substantially more positive approach towards physical education in their curriculum than social and natural sciences universities. Of the 105 monitored faculties of public universities, physical education is listed as a compulsory subject at 13 out of 27 faculties of technical universities and only at 9 out of 78 faculties with a humanities focus. Physical edu- cation is present at every faculty of technical universities in our research; the situation is much less favorable at all other universities, where as many as 45 faculties do not offer physical education in their curriculum. Among them are faculties that educate future primary and secondary school teachers. We further found that directly affiliated university departments of Physical Education have a better chance of maintaining sport and physical activity at university, whether as compulsory part of the higher education curricula or as extracurricular optional sporting activities.