Physical activity was recognized as a determinant of health and longevity in the last half century as a result of epidemiological studies started by Jeremy Morris and systematized by other researchers. Such studies led to recommendations for physical activity at the population level in the last 15 years and more recently revealed that compliance with the recommendations for physical activity may not be sufficient in promoting health and longevity/successful aging if the activity is kept sedentary for prolonged periods. The assessment of physical activity and sedentary behaviors is a requirement in investigation of relations with disease or disease markers, in surveillance and comparison between population groups, in monitoring of interventions, but also in the analysis of several factors that correlate with and/or influence physical activity. Recently new developments provide information about gait that could be important in understanding health outcomes such as falls and the development of algorithms for the assessment of fall risk.

The purpose of this seminar is to provide an overview of the highlights of the physical activity evaluation, including properties of the different types of instruments, the methodological challenges in different study populations, a summary of research projects that utilize different types of instruments, and recommendations for future research directions. Since wearable technology provides an unprecedented opportunity to observe, identify and define physical activity in real-world environment, these devices will have a greater emphasis in this seminar.

At the end of the seminar it is intended that the students are able to:

• Recognizing the importance of the assessment of physical activity and sedentary behavior in the context of health promotion and functional independence
• Critically analyze the main limitations and advantages of the different approaches to assess physical activity and sedentary behavior depending on the study objectives and the type of population
• Identify assessment solutions of physical activity and sedentary behavior more appropriate to monitor interventions or clinical research.

 Bibliography: 

Objective measurement of Physical Activity: Best Practices and Future Directions. Medicine and Science in Sports and Exercise 2012, 44, 1, Supplement 1, S1-S89.