Qual Life Res. 2010 Jan 14. [Epub ahead of print]Are youth BMI and physical activity associated with better or worse than expected health-related quality of life in adulthood? The Physical Activity Longitudinal Study.Herman KM, Hopman WM, Craig CL.School of Kinesiology & Health Studies, Queen's University, Kingston, ON, K7L 3N6, Canada, 5ch3@queensu.ca.PURPOSE: Body mass index (BMI) and physical activity (PA) affect health-related quality of life (HRQL); however, the long-term impact of youth BMI and PA on adult HRQL is unknown. We investigated the relationship of youth BMI and PA to adult HRQL 22 years later. METHODS: Subjects included 310 participants aged 7 to 18 in the 1981 Canada Fitness Survey, followed up in 2002-2004. The associations of youth BMI and leisure time PA to adult HRQL were examined, comparing to age- and sex-adjusted Canadian SF-36 norms. RESULTS: Bivariate analyses revealed positive associations between youth overweight and mental aspects of adult HRQL, but little association with physical aspects. In logistic regression adjusting for adult BMI and other covariates, overweight youth were 7 times more likely than healthy weight youth to score at/above the norm on both mental health (MH) and bodily pain, and almost 18 times more likely on the mental component score (MCS). Youth BMI was also positively associated with general health (GH), social functioning, and role emotional. Removing adult BMI from the models led to attenuated associations with mental HRQL and no association with GH. Longitudinal BMI status change was explored, and findings supported the main regression results. Youth PA was not associated with adult HRQL. CONCLUSIONS: Youth overweight conveyed a long-term positive impact on several aspects of adult HRQL, and this impact may be both direct and indirect through BMI change and the effect on adult BMI. Youth PA had no long-term impact on adult HRQL. ..Atividade fisica aumenta entre meninos e diminui entre meninas15 de Janeiro de 2010O nivel de atividade fisica aumentou entre os meninos e diminuiu entre as meninas de Pelotas. Esse foi o resultado de um estudo feito pelos pesquisadores Samuel Dumith, Denise Gigante e Marlos Domingues, do Programa de Pos-Graduacao em Epidemiologia da Universidade Federal de Pelotas, que contou com a colaboracao do pesquisador Harold Kohl, da Universidade do Texas, Estados Unidos. Foram entrevistados 4.120 adolescentes que fazem parte de um projeto chamado Coorte de 1993, que acompanha todos os individuos que nasceram em Pelotas, em 1993. Esses adolescentes foram visitados em suas casas em 2004, quando tinham 11 anos de idade, e em 2008, quando tinham 15 anos.Enquanto a maioria dos estudos mostra que existe um declinio da atividade fisica durante a adolescencia, os resultados do estudo realizado em Pelotas mostram reducao somente para as meninas, de 120 para 90 minutos por semana (reducao de 25% dos 11 aos 15 anos). Por outro lado, os meninos da Coorte de 93 aumentaram sua atividade fisica, passando de 270 minutos por semana em 2004 para 330 minutos por semana em 2008 (aumento de 22%). Dessa forma, o aumento na pratica de atividade fisica entre os adolescentes do sexo masculino pode ser visto como um resultado surpreendente e