Fátima Ruiz

• Professor (Full) at University of the Basque Country

Background: Since children are generally not achieving desirable levels of physical activity (PA), schools can provide an opportunity to increase their active time. This study aimed to describe individual- and social-level variables associated with PA at school recess in a culturally diverse primary school. Methods: This observational cross-sect...

While maternal smoking is associated with lower breastfeeding rates, the intention to breastfeed is simultaneously related to higher breastfeeding success. This study aimed to i) analyse the association between maternal smoking and breastfeeding success in a cohort of women who intended to breastfeed and ii) characterise smokers according to a set...

Background Even if women have intention to breastfeed, they do not always achieve a successful breastfeeding. Aim This study aims to analyse factors affecting breastfeeding prevalence among mothers that intended to breastfeed. Methods This is a prospective observational study involving 401 pregnant women that intended to breastfeed (asked at the...

Objectives To analyze the prevalence of weight gain during lockdown for the COVID-19 pandemic in Spain and associated factors in a sample of adults. Methods This cross-sectional study included 1029 adults recruited online through social media, website and newsletter of the Spanish Society of Community Nutrition (SENC) in a snowball procedure. The...

Background: Lockdown due to COVID-19 influenced food habits and lifestyles with potential negative health impact. This study aims to identify patterns of change in eating habits and physical activity during COVID-19 lockdown in Spain and to identify associations with sociodemographic factors and usual habits. Methods: This cross-sectional study...

Physical exercise protects against age-related cognitive decline. Brain-derived neurotrophic factor (BDNF) may mediate some of the cognitive benefits of physical exercise, but the effect of physical exercise on serum BDNF is unclear. Indeed, differential findings have been reported depending on the characteristics of the participants and the intens...

Resumen Fundamentos: El cierre de fronteras, el confinamiento de la población y el distanciamiento físico han sido las principales medidas instauradas en muchos países para contener el alcance y gravedad de la pandemia COVID-19. En este estudio se analizan los cambios en los hábitos alimentarios y en otros estilos de vida durante el periodo de conf...

Bone is influenced by physical activity (PA) throughout life, but childhood and adolescence provide a key opportunity to maximize peak bone mass. Thus, it is important to identify the relationship between PA practiced in childhood and young adulthood to design a promotion plan for bone health. The purpose of this study was to analyze the relationsh...

Frailty is a geriatric syndrome characterized by decreasing functional reserves and increasing vulnerability to falls, injuries and declining health, leading to dependence upon caregivers. Frailty is associated not only with physical decline, but also with cognitive and psychological impairments in aging people. Higher serum adiponectin concentrati...

Background: Myostatin has been proposed as a candidate biomarker for frailty and sarcopenia. However, the relationship of myostatin with these conditions remains inconclusive. Objective: To determine the association of serum myostatin concentration with body composition, physical fitness, physical activity level, and frailty in long-term nursing ho...

The aim of this cross-sectional study was to study the relative importance of dietary habits and aerobic capacity in parameters related to cardiovascular risk in 271 female and 95 male health-science students (mean age = 19.1 ± 1.4 years). In females, fatty-meat consumption predicted triglycerides (β = .649, p < .001) and high-density lipoprotein (...

Understanding the modifiable factors that improve and maximize peak bone mass at an early age is necessary to design more effective intervention programs to prevent osteoporosis. To identify these modifiable factors, we analyzed the relationship of physical activity (PA), physical fitness, body composition, and dietary intake with bone stiffness in...

Osteoporosia osasun-publikoan nabarmenezko garrantzia duen gaixotasuna da. Gero eta gehiago dira gaixotasun hau pairatzen duten pertsonak eta gaur egun arte egindako esku hartzeak ez dira guztiz eraginkorrak. Bizi-ohitura den ariketa fisikoa hezur-dentsitatearen metaketa eta mantentze prozesuen garrantzizko mugatzailea da. Gainera, hezur eta giharr...

A side effect of increased life expectancy is a surge in sequelae of diseases and injuries, which in turn increase the duration of life with disability among the elderly. The aim of this study was to ascertain the physical activity and nutritional parameters that better predict cardiovascular risk in a cohort of older women. A cross-sectional study...

Introducción: la distrofia muscular de Duchenne (DMD), la más comúnmente diagnosticada de estas patologías durante la infancia, limita significativamente los años de vida de los afectados. Se caracteriza por una debilidad muscular progresiva que conduce a graves problemas médicos y a una pérdida de la capacidad funcional, relevante para todas las a...

The aim of the present study was to examine the relationship between objective data of physical activity and markers of oxidative stress in older men and women. Participants were old adults, aged≥60years (61 women and 34 men) who were all capable of performing basic daily activities by themselves and lived on their own. To describe physical activit...

Background: Changing lifestyle habits is considered the principal measure for the control of blood pressure and obesity. The aim of this study was to characterize the eating habits, anthropometric characteristics, physical fitness and blood pressure of students of health science degrees during the first three academic years and to explore the rela...

Abstract We investigated the anthropometric, physiological and maturation characteristics of young players (13-14 years old) associated with being successful in basketball. Body parameters were measured (stature, total body mass, skinfolds and lengths) and physiological capacities were assessed by endurance, sprint (20 m), jump and dribbling tests....

Correlation of plasma antioxidant enzyme activity with the course and outcome in first-episode schizophrenia patients (n=49) was analyzed in order to assess the possible utility of peripheral markers of oxidative stress as prognostic factors. These markers were measured shortly after the onset of schizophrenia, and again 1, 6 and 12 months later. A...

Soccer is a form of exercise that induces inflammatory response, as well as an increase in free radicals potentially leading to muscle injury. Balanced nutritional intake provides important antioxidant vitamins, including vitamins A, C and E, which may assist in preventing exercise-related muscle damage. The purpose of the present study was to dete...

The aim of this study was to examine the metabolic effect of a female soccer match in elite and sub-elite teams. Blood samples were taken (24 h before, immediately after and 18 h after official soccer matches) to determine haematological, electrolytic and hormonal variables, as well as the levels of cell damage and oxidative stress in 14 elite and...

The aim of this study was to measure the effect of nutrition on cell damage, antioxidant enzymes, and cortisol during a two-day ski mountaineering competition. Twenty-one male skiers participated in the study. Creatine kinase (CK), aspartate aminotransferase (AST), alanine aminotransferase (ALT), γ-glutamyl transpeptidase (GGT), lactate dehydrogena...

In soccer, most studies have been conducted on elite adult players and there is less information about young, non-elite players. The objectives of this project were twofold: to evaluate the changes in the anthropometric characteristics and the somatotype of soccer players across different ages and to compare these characteristics to those of the ge...

This study investigated the relationship among sex, attitude toward intelligence, and self‐estimation of multiple intelligences for self and parents among Portuguese adolescents in secondary schools. Two hundred and forty‐two adolescents estimated their own and their parents' IQ scores on each of Gardner's 10 multiple intelligences: verbal (linguis...

The aim of this article was to identify differences in the anthropometric and physiological characteristics of first team and reserve young soccer players (10-14 years old) at both the beginning and end of the soccer season. Body composition was calculated by measuring weight, height, skinfold, limb circumference, and joint diameter. Vo2max was est...

First-year university students represent an important target group for health promotion and disease prevention programs. However, few studies have been carried out to evaluate the relationship between the nutritional pattern of late adolescence and health parameters related to cardiovascular risk, such as body composition and blood pressure. The pu...

The aim of this study was to establish the anthropometric and physiological profiles of young nonelite soccer players according to their playing position, and to determine their relevance for the selection process. Two hundred forty-one male soccer players who were members of the Getxo Arenas Club (Bizkaia) participated in this study. Players, age...

The aim of this paper was to describe the anthropometric and physiological characteristics of young soccer players (14-17 years old) which were associated with their being successful or not as soccer players. Somatotype and body composition was calculated by measuring skinfolds, limb circumferences and joint diameters. VO(2max) was estimated by the...

Prolyl endopeptidase and pyroglutamyl peptidase I are enzymes which participate in the degradation of thyrotropin-releasing hormone (TRH), a hormone which is thought to play an important role in the development of organs and tissues. Here, we have characterized the ontogeny of TRH degrading enzyme activity in the brain cortex, lung, heart, kidney a...

The objective of the present study was to evaluate the practice of regular physical exercise, the anthropometrical and physiological characteristics, and the dietary habits of a group of female nursing students (n=46) and of a control group of female students from other disciplines (n=58) attending the University of the Basque Country. To this end,...

The purpose of this study was to evaluate the dietary practices of soccer players of different ages. The diets of the members of four soccer teams (mean ages of 14.0, 15.0, 16.6 and 20.9 years, respectively) were examined. Our results show that the caloric intake per kilogram of body mass was significantly higher among the youngest players when com...

Several studies have reported that the chronic administration of opioids induces changes in the biosynthesis of endogenous opioid peptides or their precursors in specific brain regions of the adult central nervous system. However, little is known about the catabolic regulation of opioid peptides and its contribution to neuroadaptative changes under...

ARRAY(0xf722df4)

The process of aging is known to involve alterations in the activity of peptidases and proteases. However, the precise changes in the activity of many peptidases in aged tissues have not yet been fully characterized, and both decreases and increases in both peptidase activity and peptide levels have been reported to occur during the aging process....

We have analyzed the activity of prolyl endopeptidase (PEP) in several areas of the rat brain (brain cortex, striatum, brain stem, cerebellum and hypothalamus) and in the pituitary gland during ontogeny. In all of these areas, we observed a reduction in PEP activity during development. However, the temporal profile of these alterations was found to...

The activity of soluble and membrane-bound pyroglutamyl aminopeptidase Type-1 (PAP I) was evaluated in the hypothalamus, hippocampus, thalamus, brain cortex, and pituitary gland of rats after applying certain hydromineral challenges. Compared to euhydrated rats, decreased enzyme activity was found in the hypophysis of rats deprived of water for 48...

ARRAY(0xf645f48)