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Effects of a 10-Week Physical Activity Intervention on Asylum Seekers’ Physiological Health

Introduction: The rise in armed conflicts has contributed to an increase in the number of asylum seekers. Prolonged asylum processes may negatively affect asylum seekers’ health and lead to inactivity. Studies show that physical activity interventions are associated with improvements in health outco...

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Autores principales: Guerra, Matheus, Garcia, Danilo, Kazemitabar, Maryam, Lindskär, Erik, Schütz, Erica, Berglind, Daniel
Formato: Online Artículo Texto
Lenguaje:English
Publicado: MDPI 2022
Materias:
Acceso en línea:https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC9312819/
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/35884629
http://dx.doi.org/10.3390/brainsci12070822
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author Guerra, Matheus
Garcia, Danilo
Kazemitabar, Maryam
Lindskär, Erik
Schütz, Erica
Berglind, Daniel
author_facet Guerra, Matheus
Garcia, Danilo
Kazemitabar, Maryam
Lindskär, Erik
Schütz, Erica
Berglind, Daniel
author_sort Guerra, Matheus
collection PubMed
description Introduction: The rise in armed conflicts has contributed to an increase in the number of asylum seekers. Prolonged asylum processes may negatively affect asylum seekers’ health and lead to inactivity. Studies show that physical activity interventions are associated with improvements in health outcomes. However, there are a limited number of studies investigating the associations of physical activity on asylum seekers’ health. Methods: Participants (263 males and 204 females), mostly from Syria, were assessed before and after a 10-week intervention for VO(2) max, body mass index (BMI), skeletal muscle mass (SMM), body fat, and visceral fat. Linear mixed models were used to test differences within groups, and a linear regression model analysis was performed to test whether physiological variables predicted adherence. Results: Participants’ VO(2) max increased: males by 2.96 mL/min/kg and females 2.57 mL/min/kg. Increased SMM percentages were seen in both genders: females by 0.38% and males 0.23%. Visceral fat area decreased: males by 0.73 cm(2) and females 5.44 cm(2). Conclusions: Participants showed significant increases in VO2 max and SMM and decreased visceral fat. This study provides an insight into asylum seekers’ health and serves as a starting point to new interventions in which physical activity is used as a tool to promote and improve vulnerable populations’ health.
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spelling pubmed-93128192022-07-26 Effects of a 10-Week Physical Activity Intervention on Asylum Seekers’ Physiological Health Guerra, Matheus Garcia, Danilo Kazemitabar, Maryam Lindskär, Erik Schütz, Erica Berglind, Daniel Brain Sci Article Introduction: The rise in armed conflicts has contributed to an increase in the number of asylum seekers. Prolonged asylum processes may negatively affect asylum seekers’ health and lead to inactivity. Studies show that physical activity interventions are associated with improvements in health outcomes. However, there are a limited number of studies investigating the associations of physical activity on asylum seekers’ health. Methods: Participants (263 males and 204 females), mostly from Syria, were assessed before and after a 10-week intervention for VO(2) max, body mass index (BMI), skeletal muscle mass (SMM), body fat, and visceral fat. Linear mixed models were used to test differences within groups, and a linear regression model analysis was performed to test whether physiological variables predicted adherence. Results: Participants’ VO(2) max increased: males by 2.96 mL/min/kg and females 2.57 mL/min/kg. Increased SMM percentages were seen in both genders: females by 0.38% and males 0.23%. Visceral fat area decreased: males by 0.73 cm(2) and females 5.44 cm(2). Conclusions: Participants showed significant increases in VO2 max and SMM and decreased visceral fat. This study provides an insight into asylum seekers’ health and serves as a starting point to new interventions in which physical activity is used as a tool to promote and improve vulnerable populations’ health. MDPI 2022-06-24 /pmc/articles/PMC9312819/ /pubmed/35884629 http://dx.doi.org/10.3390/brainsci12070822 Text en © 2022 by the authors. https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/Licensee MDPI, Basel, Switzerland. This article is an open access article distributed under the terms and conditions of the Creative Commons Attribution (CC BY) license (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/).
spellingShingle Article
Guerra, Matheus
Garcia, Danilo
Kazemitabar, Maryam
Lindskär, Erik
Schütz, Erica
Berglind, Daniel
Effects of a 10-Week Physical Activity Intervention on Asylum Seekers’ Physiological Health
title Effects of a 10-Week Physical Activity Intervention on Asylum Seekers’ Physiological Health
title_full Effects of a 10-Week Physical Activity Intervention on Asylum Seekers’ Physiological Health
title_fullStr Effects of a 10-Week Physical Activity Intervention on Asylum Seekers’ Physiological Health
title_full_unstemmed Effects of a 10-Week Physical Activity Intervention on Asylum Seekers’ Physiological Health
title_short Effects of a 10-Week Physical Activity Intervention on Asylum Seekers’ Physiological Health
title_sort effects of a 10-week physical activity intervention on asylum seekers’ physiological health
topic Article
url https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC9312819/
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/35884629
http://dx.doi.org/10.3390/brainsci12070822
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