José A Casajus

• PhD, MD
• Professor (Full) at University of Zaragoza

Aims This study analyzes the effects of a 6-month multicomponent exercise program (MCT) followed by a 4-month detraining period on functional and cognitive status in pre-frail and frail older adults. Methods A total of 108 pre-frail and frail adults aged 65 and older participated in the study. They were assigned by convenience to either a control...

Objectives Obesity and overweight have increased in children and adolescents in Europe in the recent years, accounting for a major global public health problem. The objective of this study was the early detection of metabolic abnormalities in overweight/obese children (8–12 years old) that may ultimately induce impaired glucose metabolism and/or ca...

The popularity of futsal is growing worldwide, leading to a greater professionalization of the sport and requiring coaches to have a deeper knowledge of its competitive demands. Advanced tracking systems allow for monitoring the physical demands associated with external load, which may aid coaches in understanding critical aspects to maximize sport...

Obesity and cancer are two of the most significant global public health concerns worldwide. Exercise in preventing and managing these diseases has become a prominent area of research, and BSc sport and exercise science (SES) graduates are among the professionals involved in designing exercise programs for these populations. The aims of the present...

Nutrition and exercise play a pivotal role in counteracting the effects of aging, promoting health, and improving physical fitness in older adults. This perspective study examines their interplay, highlighting their combined potential to preserve muscle mass, cognitive function, and quality of life. The objective is to address gaps in the current u...

Resumen Objetivos La obesidad y el sobrepeso en la infancia y/o adolescencia han aumentado considerablemente en los países europeos, durante los últimos años, representando actualmente un importante problema de salud pública mundial. El objetivo de este estudio es la detección precoz en un grupo de niños con sobrepeso/obesidad (8–12 años) de las a...

The combination of nutrition and exercise plays a pivotal role in counteracting the effects of ageing, promoting health, and improving physical fitness in older adults. However, the high prevalence of malnutrition in this population is a critical challenge, often un-derestimated in scientific research. This perspective report examines the interplay...

Physical activity measured by accelerometry (PA-accelerometry) is used as an indicator of physical capacity in chronic diseases. Currently, only fragmented age ranges of reference percentile curves are available for European children and adolescents. This study aimed to provide age- and sex-specific percentiles for physical activity measured by hip...

Purpose To determine the association between lower-body strength and lower-body power capacities with sprint swimming performance in adolescent competitive swimmers. Methods A total of 44 front crawl swimmers (27 males and 17 females) performed anthropometric assessments, lower-body strength tests (half squat maximum isometric strength, dynamic ha...

Background: Physical activity (PA) intensity could play a key role in atherosclerosis risk, but the existing literature shows controversial results. The aim of this study was to analyze the association of different PA levels with the presence of subclinical atherosclerosis in femoral and carotid arteries. Methods: A cross-sectional analysis was con...

PURPOSE Physical activity measured by accelerometry (PA-accelerometry) is used as an indicator of disease severity in chronic diseases. Currently, only fragmented age ranges of reference percentile curves are available for European children. This study aimed to provide age- and sex-specific percentiles for physical activity measured by hip-worn acc...

Background Morbid obesity is a complex chronic condition characterized by a body mass index of 40 kg/m² or higher. The incidence of the condition is on the rise in developed countries, and bariatric surgery has been proposed as a potential solution to address this trend. Nonetheless, bariatric surgery may also result in adverse effects, including a...

Muscular fitness plays a major role in bone health and body composition in overweight and obese children. It is key that the development of this muscle fitness is affected by absolute isometric strength and dynamic strength. To compare bone health and body composition between overweight/obese children considering muscular fitness (MF) levels, and t...

Objectives The purpose of this study is to examine the effects of applying anodal tDCS (2 mA for 20 min) over the scalp from T3 (anodal-tDCS) to Fp2 (cathodal-tDCS) on the perceptual, physiological and performance responses during maximal incremental and constant-load exercise (CLE) in trained cyclists. Methods Eleven male cyclists performed maxim...

Objectives Bone mass progressively increases to peak during childhood and adolescence, which determines future bone health. Bone formation–resorption processes are assessed using bone markers. However, studies on the impact of obesity on bone turnover markers at this age are limited, and results are inconsistent. The objective of this study was to...

Summary Background Underweight and obesity are associated with adverse health outcomes throughout the life course. We estimated the individual and combined prevalence of underweight or thinness and obesity, and their changes, from 1990 to 2022 for adults and school-aged children and adolescents in 200 countries and territories. Methods We used data...

Supplementation is crucial for improving performance and health in phenylketonuria (PKU) patients, who face dietary challenges. Proteins are vital for athletes, supporting muscle growth, minimizing catabolism, and aiding muscle repair and glycogen replenishment post-exercise. However, PKU individuals must limit phenylalanine (Phe) intake, requiring...

Proteins play a pivotal role in supporting athletes by promoting muscle hypertrophy and minimizing protein catabolism during exercise. They stimulate muscle protein synthesis, aiding in the repair of exercise-induced muscle damage and serving as an energy source, particularly for post-exercise glycogen replenishment. In individuals with phenylketon...

Aging leads to physiological changes affecting body composition, mediated by lifestyle. However, the effectiveness of organized physical activities (OPAs) in attenuating or delaying these age-related transformations remains an area of limited understanding. The primary objectives of this study were threefold: (I) to comprehensively assess the evolu...

Resumen Objetivos En la infancia y adolescencia se produce un aumento de masa ósea, hasta alcanzar un pico máximo, determinante para la salud ósea. Los marcadores óseos evalúan los procesos de formación-resorción ósea. Sin embargo, los estudios sobre la influencia de la obesidad en los marcadores de recambio óseo en esta edad, son escasos y los re...

The COVID-19 pandemic has created many challenges to ensure a safe environment for competitive sport. While modern medicine has already developed effective protocols for the treatment and prevention of the disease, there are seriousconcerns about hosting a sporting event of the scale of the Olympic Games, where more than 11000 athletes from over 20...

Achieving a high quality of life in older adults can be difficult if they have limited physical function. The aims of this study were to evaluate the relationship between baseline values and variations in body composition, fitness, and nutritional status on health-related quality of life (HRQoL) and to describe the effects of a 6-month multicompone...

The objective of this longitudinal study was to analyze changes in physical activity, sedentary time, sleep, anxiety, mood, and perceived health as a result of COVID-19 pandemic in a cohort of Spanish university students, both during the home confinement and one year after. Additionally, we analyzed the associations between physical activity, seden...

Non-communicable diseases (NCDs), including coronary heart disease, stroke, hypertension, type 2 diabetes, dementia, depression and cancers, are on the rise worldwide and are often associated with a lack of physical activity (PA). Globally, the levels of PA among individuals are below WHO recommendations. A lack of PA can increase morbidity and mor...

The world is changing even faster than ever and has modified people’s lives [...]

Optimal growth and development in childhood and adolescence is crucial for lifelong health and well-being1–6 . Here we used data from 2,325 population-based studies, with measurements of height and weight from 71 million participants, to report the height and body-mass index (BMI) of children and adolescents aged 5–19 years on the basis of rural an...

Introduction: Suspected preterm labor (SPL), defined as the presence of regular and painful uterine contractions and cervical shortening, represents a prenatal insult with potential long-term consequences. However, despite recent evidence demonstrating suboptimal neurodevelopment at 2 years in this population, it remains underestimated as a signifi...

This paper aims to elaborate a decision tree for the early detection of adolescent swimmers at risk of presenting low bone mineral density (BMD), based on easily measurable fitness and performance variables. The BMD of 78 adolescent swimmers was determined using dual-energy X-ray absorptiometry (DXA) scans at the hip and subtotal body. The particip...

Objectives Prevention of disability in all its forms is a major public health challenge and promoting a healthy lifestyle with sufficient physical activity (PA) may be a way forward. In contrast to long-term deprivation of usual activities, usually linked to critical injuries or conditions, little is known about shorter periods of those limitations...

The aim was to compare changes in body composition, physical fitness, and bone biomarkers in female children and adolescent football players with different Vitamin D levels. Twenty-two players were classified into two groups according to 25(OH)D concentrations: 11 with deficient/insufficient 25(OH)D levels (IVD; <30 ng/mL) and 11 with sufficient 25...

Some studies suggest that being an apolipoprotein e4 (APOE e4) carrier increases the risk of atherosclerosis, and others suggest that cardiorespiratory fitness (CRF) could play a key role in atherosclerotic prevention. Our aim was to analyze the association of APOE e4 with carotid atherosclerosis and the association of CRF with atherosclerosis in A...

This study aimed: To analyze the effects of 6-month multicomponent training (MCT) and 4-month detraining on functional capacity and frailty among older adults with/at risk of frailty and to analyze the influence of frailty status on training and detraining adaptations. A total of 106 older adults (80.5 ± 6.0 years) were divided into a control (CON)...

Objective: To determine the link between physical fitness and body composition with nocturnal and nap time in Spanish older adults. Methods: Eight hundred thirty older adults underwent several tests. Sleep was measured using Jenkins Sleep Scale. Nocturnal sleep was categorized (<7, 7–9, and >9 hours), and nap time (no nap, 1–30 minutes, and >30 min...

The aims of this study were (1) to analyse the effects of a 6‐month multicomponent training (MCT) on the physical fitness of older adults with or at risk of frailty; (2) to study the consequences of a 4‐month detraining period; (3) to analyse the influence of frailty status on the training and detraining adaptations. A total of 102 robust, frail an...

Physical exercise effects and ageing on fitness may be influenced by nutritional status. This study investigates the effects of a 6‐month multicomponent exercise training (MCT) on nutritional status and evaluates if this type of exercise could affect differently body composition and physical fitness depending on the nutritional status of older adul...

There is a clear disconnect between the physical activity (PA) health-related bene ts and Physical Activity on Prescription (PAP) role in Primary Health-care (PHC) settings. This study aims to assess the self-perception of nurses and general practitioners (GPs) toward PAP in Madrid PHC settings. From a list of 3,850 GPs and 3,547 nurses, a total of...

Metabolic syndrome (MetS) is a cluster of medical conditions associated with several health disorders. MetS and frailty can be related to prolonged physical deconditioning. There is a need to know whether there is concordance between the different ways of diagnosing it and to know their prevalence in Spanish older adults. Thus, the aims of this stu...

1) Investigar la asociación entre algunos factores de la edad temprana con masa corporal magra (MCM) y fuerza de extremidades en una cohorte de niños españoles. Se observaron asociaciones positivas en niñas entre tabaquismo materno (β=0.163;β=0.238), EG (β=0.162; β=0.230) y PN (β=0.170; β=0.276) con IMLG/IMCMT, respectivamente. En niños, IMC matern...

Background: Scientific evidence regarding the effectiveness of physical activity (PA) in the prevention and treatment of chronic diseases is increasing. Healthcare systems are trying to increase exercise prescription treatments. However, it is not clear if health professionals are sufficiently trained. Aim: to analyze the contents related to PA and...

Background and Aims This study aims to examine associations of food portion sizes (PS) with markers of insulin resistance (IR) and clustered of metabolic risk score in European adolescents. Methods 495 adolescents (53.5% females) from the HELENA study were included. The association between PS from food groups and HOMA-IR index, VO2 max, and metabo...

Introduction The multiple benefits of physical activity (PA) compared to the current lack of adherence to this behavior in older people makes it necessary to identify the factors related to its long-term dropout, therefore, the aim of this study was: (i) to study the evolution of behavior change for PA through stages of change (SoC) after 8 years a...

Objectives: The aim was to evaluate general changes and investigate the association between diet quality, physical activity (PA), and sedentary time (ST) during COVID-19 lockdown and the subsequent 7-month changes in health-related behaviours and lifestyles in older people. Participants: 1092 participants (67-97y) from two Spanish cohorts were i...

Early life is critical for the programming of body composition. The literature links perinatal factors with fat mass development and its future effects (e.g., obesity); however, little evidence exists between early life factors and lean body mass (LBM). This study follows up on a cohort of 416 Spanish children at ages six to eight, previously evalu...

The aim of this study was to explore the differences among between adherence to physical activity (PA) and sociodemographic variables, body composition, and physical fitness levels in older adults (>65 years). A number of 2712 participants (2086 female; 76.92%) ranging from 65 to 92 years, participated in the study. Stages of change (SoC) for PA fr...

(1) Background: Childhood obesity is an important public health problem. Children with overweight or obesity often tend to show the pediatric inactivity triad components; these involve exercise deficit disorder, pediatric dynapenia, and physical illiteracy. The aim of the study was to examine the influence of an active video games (AVG) interventio...

Depression is estimated to be the second leading cause of disability in the United States and is associated with a 52% increased risk of death. Lifestyle components may have an important role in depression pathogenesis. The aims of this study were to analyze the association of meeting the physical activity (PA) recommendation guidelines and depress...

This systematic review was conducted to examine the cost-effectiveness of exercise interventions in community-dwelling older adults. A systematic search for articles published in English or Spanish was carried out in PubMed, Web of Science and Cochrane Library that covered the period from the respective start date of each database to October 2021....

The introduction of carbon fiber plate shoes has triggered a plethora of world records in running, which has encouraged shoe industries to produce novel shoe designs to enhance running performance, including shoes containing conductor elements or “grounding shoes” (GS), which could potentially reduce the energy cost of running. The aim of this stud...

Background Lean / Fat Free Body Mass (LBM) is metabolically involved in active processes such as resting energy expenditure, glucose uptake, and myokine secretion. Nonetheless, its association with insulin sensitivity / resistance / glucose tolerance and metabolic syndrome remains unclear in childhood. Methods The current investigation aimed to ex...

Objectives: Previous research has shown that the finger flexors´ occlusion threshold (OT) could be different among sport climbers when expressed as a percentage of their maximum finger force (OT%), and that there is no association between the OT% and the climbers´ ability level. The aim of the present study was to evaluate the possible association...

The IOC recently published its framework on fairness, inclusion and non-discrimination based on gender identity and sex variations. This framework is drafted mainly from a human rights perspective, with less consideration for medical/scientific issues. The framework places the onus for gender eligibility and classification entirely on the Internati...

Background: Regucalcin, or senescence marker protein-30 (SMP30), is a Ca2+-binding protein with multiple functions reported in the literature. Physical exercise has been shown to improve aging markers; nevertheless, SMP30 in humans has not been extensively researched. Older adults experience a decline in functional capacity and body composition. T...

Objectives Degenerative diseases are associated with lower healthy life expectancy and higher mortality. Physical activity (PA) has demonstrated a fundamental role in the prevention and control of several pathologies associated to the aging process. The aim of this study was to analyze the association of PA with the prevalence of sarcopenia, osteop...

[This corrects the article DOI: 10.3389/fpsyg.2020.01426.].

Millions of consumer sport and fitness wearables (CSFWs) are used worldwide, and millions of datapoints are generated by each device. Moreover, these numbers are rapidly growing, and they contain a heterogeneity of devices, data types, and contexts for data collection. Companies and consumers would benefit from guiding standards on device quality a...

The present study investigated the associations between physical activity (PA) and physical fitness (PF) with lean body mass (LBM) and evaluated whether PA mediates the association between PF and LBM. 279 children (150 boys) aged 7.5 ± 0.3 years participated in the study. PA was assessed by accelerometry and PF with handgrip and the standing long j...

Introduction: Recent original research and meta-analyses suggest that acute caffeine supplementation improves exercise performance in team-sport athletes (TSA). Nonetheless, most of the studies testing the effects of caffeine on TSA included samples of male athletes, and there is no meta-analysis of the performance-enhancing effects of caffeine on...

Background Childhood obesity is one of the most important public health problems. Active video games (AVGs) have been proposed as an attractive alternative to increase energy expenditure and are being investigated to determine their effectiveness against childhood obesity. Objective The aim of this study is to summarize the existing research and d...

The aim of this study was to evaluate the level of knowledge that Spanish medical students had about current global physical activity (PA) recommendations provided by the World Health Organization (WHO). A total of 334 medical students (2nd-6th degree years) from 29 Spanish universities completed a questionnaire of knowledge about WHO’s global PA r...

BACKGROUND Childhood overweight and obesity have become a major global health problems and have been shown to be negatively related with cardiorespiratory fitness (CRF) level in school children and adolescents. Exercise, specifically multi-component training, is effective on CRF improvement but the main challenge is to ensure adherence to exercise...

Background: Childhood overweight and obesity have become a major global health problems and have been shown to be negatively related with cardiorespiratory fitness (CRF) level in school children and adolescents. Exercise, specifically multi-component training, is effective on CRF improvement but the main challenge is to ensure adherence to exercis...

Purpose This study aimed to examine the association between leisure-time physical activity (PA) and risk of long-term sickness absence (LTSA). Design Data on LTSA (≥3 consecutive weeks during a 1-year follow-up) were acquired from the Danish Register for Evaluation of Marginalization and linked to a questionnaire via personal identification number...

Background: Physical fitness levels and the amount of accumulated adipose tissue (fatness) relate to current and future individuals' heath status. Nevertheless, the interrelationships of their combined patterns with polypharmacy and the types of medications consumed have not been sufficiently investigated. Methods: This cross-sectional study was...

Physical activity (PA) reduces the risk of cognitive decline (CD) in the general population. However, little is known about whether the presence of the apolipoprotein E epsilon 4 allele (APOE e4) could modify this beneficial effect. The aim of this systematic review was to analyze and synthetize the scientific evidence related to PA levels and CD r...

Background A validated, standardized, and feasible test to assess muscle power in older adults has recently been reported: the sit‐to‐stand (STS) muscle power test. This investigation aimed to assess the relationship between relative STS power and age and to provide normative data, cut‐off points, and minimal clinically important differences (MCID)...

Long periods of free-movement restrictions may negatively affect cardiorespiratory fitness and health. The present study investigated changes after the COVID-19 confinement in maximal oxygen intake (VO2 max) levels in a sample of 89 Spanish school children aged 12 and 14 years at baseline (49.8% girls). The 20-m shuttle run test served to estimate...

Sport is historically designated by the binary categorization of male and female that conflicts with modern society. Sport’s governing bodies should consider reviewing rules determining the eligibility of athletes in the female category as there may be lasting advantages of previously high testosterone concentrations for transwomen athletes and cur...

A correction to this paper has been published: https://doi.org/10.1007/s40279-021-01467-0

A Correction to this paper has been published: https://doi.org/https://doi.org/10.1007/s00431-021-04107-x

(1) Background: Poor levels of physical fitness and motor skills are problems for today’s children. Active video games (AVG) could be an attractive strategy to help address them. The aim was to investigate the effects of AVG on health-related physical fitness and motor competence in children and adolescents with healthy weight. (2) Methods: Randomi...

Background Physical fitness and body composition are important health indicators, nevertheless their combined pattern inter-relationships and their association with mortality are poorly investigated. Methods This longitudinal study is part of the Spanish EXERNET-Elder project. Person-months follow-up were calculated from the interview date, perfor...

Purpose: Being able to rise from a chair is paramount for independent living and is strongly influenced by the ability of the lower limbs to exert mechanical power. This study assessed minimal thresholds of lower-limb relative muscle power required to perform the sit-to-stand (STS) task in older adults and its association with mobility limitations...

The main objective of this study was to device-assess the levels of physical activity and sedentary behaviour patterns of older adults during the situation prior to the COVID-19 pandemic, home confinement, and phase-0 of the deescalation. We also aimed to analyse the effectiveness of an unsupervised home-based exercise routine to counteract the pot...

[This corrects the article DOI: 10.3389/fpsyt.2020.00729.].

Childhood obesity has become a major global health problem. Vitamin D deficiency and poor cardiorespiratory fitness are highly prevalent in children with overweight or obesity, but little is known about their relationships. In this study, we aimed to analyze the relationship between serum 25-hydroxyvitamin D (25(OH)D) and cardiorespiratory fitness...

We assessed the association between school time and physical fitness in adolescents. The study included 2,024 adolescents, aged 12.5-17.5 years, who participated in the Healthy Lifestyle in Europe by Nutrition in Adolescence study. Health-related physical fitness components were assessed using the physical fitness tests battery. Cardiovascular risk...

BACKGROUND Childhood obesity is one of the most important public health problems. Active video games (AVGs) have been proposed as an attractive alternative to increase energy expenditure and are being investigated to determine their effectiveness against childhood obesity. OBJECTIVE The aim of this study is to summarize the existing research and d...

Frailty is a reversible condition, which is strongly related to physical function and nutritional status. Different scales are used to screened older adults and their risk of being frail, however, Short Physical Performance Battery (SPPB) may be more adequate than others to measure physical function in exercise interventions and has been less studi...

With aging, bone density is reduced, increasing the risk of suffering osteoporosis and fractures. Increasing physical activity (PA) may have preventive effects. However, until now, no studies have considered movement behaviors with compositional data or its association to bone mass and structure measured by peripheral computed tomography (pQCT). Th...

Introduction The prevalence of leisure-time physical activity has increased in recent decades, but values differ significantly among countries. Owing to the improvement of living standards, a higher frequency of leisure-time physical activity is expected in Western countries such as Spain, but there is a lack of research involving large, representa...

Objectives To assess the influence of muscle power and adiposity on all-cause mortality risk and to evaluate the ‘fat but powerful’ (F+P) (or ‘fat but fit’) paradox in older adults. Methods A total of 2563 older adults (65‒91 years old) from the EXERNET multicentre study were included. Adiposity (body mass index (BMI), waist circumference, body fa...

Sedentarism is a risk factor for cardiovascular disease (CVD), but currently it is not clear how a sedentary behavior such as long sitting time can affect atherosclerosis development. This study examined the relationship between sitting time and the prevalence of carotid and femoral subclinical atherosclerosis. A cross-sectional analysis based on a...

From 1985 to 2016, the prevalence of underweight decreased, and that of obesity and severe obesity increased, in most regions, with significant variation in the magnitude of these changes across regions. We investigated how much change in mean body mass index (BMI) explains changes in the prevalence of underweight, obesity, and severe obesity in di...

From 1985 to 2016, the prevalence of underweight decreased, and that of obesity and severe obesity increased, in most regions, with significant variation in the magnitude of these changes across regions. We investigated how much change in mean body mass index (BMI) explains changes in the prevalence of underweight, obesity, and severe obesity in di...

Introduction A vast amount of research has focused on the effects of physical fitness (PF) on mortality, with little research evaluating the effects of PF on future expected health related quality of life (HRQoL). Aim To evaluate how current PF influences future HRQoL measured in a prospective 8-year study in older adults. Methods A total of 617...

Background Skeletal muscle is one of the main components of lean soft tissue mass (LSTM). Low levels in children affect locomotion, posture and increase the risk of metabolic syndrome. Aim (1) To evaluate the association between cross-sectional muscle area (MCSA) of the lower left leg measured by quantitative peripheral computed tomography (pQCT)...

The aim of this study was to evaluate bone health and body composition by dual-energy X-ray absorptiometry (DXA) in individuals with Cornelia de Lange Syndrome (CdLS). Overall, nine individuals with CdLS (five females, all Caucasian, aged 5–38 years) were assessed. Total body less head (TBLH) and lumbar spine (LS) scans were performed, and bone ser...