Sandra Abreu

Sandra Abreu
Universidade de Trás-os-Montes e Alto Douro | utad · Escola de Ciências da Vida e do Ambiente

Ph.D

About

129
Publications
21,055
Reads
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1,430
Citations
Citations since 2017
61 Research Items
1196 Citations
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Introduction
I am currently involved in several research projects in the Research Centre in Physical Activity, Health and Leisure. My main research interest is the impact of diet in Human Health.
Additional affiliations
December 2009 - present
Position
  • Nutritionist

Publications

Publications (129)
Article
Full-text available
Background The lack of instruments to assess the level of physical activity in pregnant women, led to the development of the PPAQ (Pregnancy Physical Activity Questionnaire), a self-administered questionnaire, which has already been translated in several countries and has already been used in several studies. Aim(s) Translate and adapt the PPAQ in...
Article
Introduction Despite the acknowledgement that physical activity is beneficial during pregnancy and may result in positive health outcomes for the newborn child few studies have examined this issue. This research was deemed necessary with the primary objective of identifying possible associations between adherence to American College of Sports Medic...
Article
Full-text available
The objectives of this study were to assess the nutritional status of rural workers from a municipality in Southeastern Brazil and estimate the association of sociodemographic, labor, lifestyle, and dietary pattern factors with obesity and abdominal obesity of men and women of this rural area. This is a cross-sectional, epidemiological study of 740...
Article
Full-text available
Abstract Background Puberty is a period of intense changes in human body and, additionally, participation in sports is viewed as prominent form of physical activity among male adolescent athletes. The current study was aimed to examine the intra-individual changes in body composition and bone tissue during years of maximal growth and the effect of...
Article
Introduction Excessive salt intake is one of the greatest risks to public health, making urgent to propose measures to reduce its intake and bring great benefits to reduce cardiovascular diseases risk. In the Portuguese population, the main source of salt consumption is the salt that is added during food preparation and cooking meals. Purpose The...
Article
Objective The aim of this study was to report the prevalence of adequate sleep and the correlates of sleep duration in Portuguese adolescents aged 12 to 18 years. Methods Cross-sectional analysis with 1017 adolescents (471 girls) aged 14.6±1.8 years. Adolescents self-reported their sleep duration. Results The percentage of adolescents meeting the...
Article
Colorectal cancer is now a frequently treatable illness for most and a chronic disease for many. The number of people living with a diagnosis of colorectal cancer is thus expected to rise. Yet even after successful treatment, colorectal cancer survivors, mostly the elderly, frequently experience health problems and impaired health-related quality o...
Article
Full-text available
This review aims to examine the relationship of sodium and potassium intake and cardiovascular disease (CVD) among older people. Methods: We performed a literature search using PubMed and Web of Science (January 2015 to July 2020) without language restriction. Observational and experimental studies that reported the relationship between sodium, p...
Article
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We estimated the caloric contribution of minimally processed foods, processed culinary ingredients, processed foods and ultra-processed foods in Brazilian farmers' diets and their association with the nutritional profile of the diet. It is an epidemiological study of cross-sectional, analytical and quantitative design with 740 farmers adults of Sou...
Article
Background: To explore the associations between birth weight and body mass index (BMI) from 6 months to 6 years of age, with cardiorespiratory fitness (CRF), physical activity, and sedentary time in adolescence. Methods: Retrospective school-based study with 539 adolescents (292 girls), mean age of 13.94 (1.62) years. Anthropometric data from bi...
Article
Background Vascular function and blood pressure regulation may be impaired by acute hypohydration but data on the association between hypertension and hydration status is scarce. The objectives of this study were to evaluate the hydration status in a sample of university workers and to assess the association between hypertension and hydration statu...
Article
Issue In Portugal, most of the salt consumed comes from the salt added during preparation/cooking. Therefore, it is urgent to introduce mechanisms to allow the quantification of the salt in foods, and the salt added during culinary. Description of the Problem To tackle salt reduction, we considered: having a portable and user-friendly instrument t...
Article
We examined the effects of a 6-month school-based soccer programme on cardiovascular (CV) and metabolic risk factors in overweight children. Methods: 40 boys [8–12 years; body mass index (BMI) >2 standard deviations of WHO reference values] participated in complementary school-based physical education classes (two sessions per week, 45–90 min each)...
Article
Full-text available
Introduction Excessive salt intake is a public health concern due to its deleterious impact on health. Most of the salt consumed come from those that are added when cooking. This study will improve knowledge on the effectiveness of interventions to reduce salt consumption among consumers. Methods and analysis In this randomised clinical trial, we...
Conference Paper
Full-text available
PURPOSE To examine the effects of a 6-month school-based soccer programme on cardiovascular and metabolic risk factors in overweight children. METHODS 40 boys [8–12 years; body mass index (BMI) >2 standard deviations of WHO reference values] participated in complementary school-based physical education classes (two sessions per week, 45–90 min each...
Article
Full-text available
We sought (i) to evaluate the associations of cardiorespiratory fitness (CRF), muscular fitness (MF) and Southern European Atlantic Diet (SEADiet) with atherogenic index of plasma (AIP) and (ii) to investigate de combined association of MF, CRF and SEADiet on AIP in adolescents. A cross-sectional school-based study was conducted on 493 adolescents...
Article
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This study aimed to investigate the association between dairy product consumption and metabolic and inflammatory biomarkers in Portuguese adolescents, and whether the association differed by weight status. A cross-sectional study was conducted during the school year 2011/2012 with 412 Portuguese adolescents (52.4% girls) in 7th and 10th grade (aged...
Article
Full-text available
Background: To assess and compare the ability of body fat percentage (BF%) estimated by 2 methods, bioelectrical impedance analysis (BIA) and by the Slaughter et al equations for triceps and subscapular skinfold thickness (SKF), in identifying unfavorable levels of several biomarkers of cardiometabolic risk. Methods: Cross-sectional school-based...
Article
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Objective: The purpose of this study was to examine the longitudinal associations between cardiorespiratory fitness and health-related quality of life (HRQoL) in a sample of adolescents, and to determine whether changes in cardiorespiratory fitness were associated with HRQoL over a 2-year follow-up. Methods: This is a longitudinal analysis with...
Article
The purpose of this study was to examine the dietary intake of both inpatients and outpatients with schizophrenia in the Portuguese population as a potential key contributing factor to the poor physical health profiles, and understand the relationship of diet quality to other lifestyle factors. Participants of this cross-sectional study completed a...
Article
Background and aims: The long-term relations between excessive adiposity in early childhood and unfavourable cardiometabolic profiles in later ages are not yet completely understood. We aimed to assess the associations between birth weight (BW) and BMI from 6 months to 6 years of age, with biomarkers indicative of low-grade inflammation, insulin r...
Article
Full-text available
Background: Adolescents' physical fitness levels are an important indicator of their lifestyle and seem to have positive consequences in health-related quality of life (HRQoL). Objective: The purpose of this study is to analyse the combined associations of cardiorespiratory fitness and muscular fitness with HRQoL and to assess the differences be...
Article
Full-text available
Purpose: The dietary guidelines for the consumption of a variety of fruits and vegetables have been recognized as an important factor for achieving healthy eating patterns to reduce the risk of chronic disease throughout the lifespan. Our aim is to assess the association between fruit and vegetable variety and low-grade inflammation in adolescents...
Article
Objective The main aim of the present study was to examine the association between the Dietary Inflammatory Index (DII ® ) and academic performance in children. Design School-based cross-sectional study. The DII was calculated based on dietary information obtained from a single 24h dietary recall. Academic performance was assessed by school record...
Article
Introduction: Once often perceived as a death sentence, colorectal cancer (CRC) is now a frequently treatable illness for most and a chronic disease for many. The number of people living with a diagnosis of CRC is expected to rise. Even after successful treatment, CRC survivors, mostly the elderly, frequently experience health problems and impaired...
Article
An appropriated level of motor competence is essential for children´s healthy growth and development and a key factor in the promotion of lifelong active lifestyles and health. The purpose of this study was to examine associations between motor competence and different physical activity intensities (light, moderate, moderate-to-vigorous and vigorou...
Article
In people with schizophrenia several factors are associated with poor quality of life (QoL), namely, lifestyle-related factors and psychological factors. However, there has been little research on the impact of these factors on QoL. Therefore, the relation between lifestyle-related factors, psychological factors, and QoL in people with schizophreni...
Article
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Background/objectives: The dietary inflammatory index (DII) is a tool to measure the diet's inflammatory potential and has been used with adults to predict low-grade inflammation. The present study aims to assess whether this dietary score predicts low-grade inflammation in adolescents. Subjects/methods: The sample comprises 329 adolescents (55....
Article
Background and aims: The associations between fruit and vegetable consumption and high blood pressure among adults are well studied. Nonetheless, data on the influence of a low consumption of fruit and vegetables on cardiovascular disease risk, particularly blood pressure, among healthy adolescents are scarce. Therefore, we aim to analyse the asso...
Article
Background The environmental correlates have been extensively studied in the last years, but most associations with physical fitness (PF) and body composition have been cross-sectional in nature. Objective This study aimed to determine if adolescents’ environmental perceptions associated with PF and body composition in a 2-year follow-up. Subject...
Article
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Background: Physical fitness (PF) and adherence to the Mediterranean diet are important indicators of healthy lifestyles. The purpose of this study is to analyze the independent and combined associations between PF and adherence to Mediterranean diet with health-related quality of life (HRQoL) in adolescents. Methods: This is a cross-sectional a...
Article
Background In adolescence there are several biological and physiological changes associated with overweight and obesity. Objective The purpose of this study was to analyze the associations between health-related quality of life (HRQoL) and body mass index (BMI) in adolescents. Methods This is a cross-sectional analysis of 957 Portuguese adolescen...
Presentation
Full-text available
Football is one of the most popular, affordable, widely practiced team-sports worldwide. It is associated with relatively high energy expenditure and has a high aerobic component. Recent data suggests that carrying out regular football training organized as small-sided games causes significant cardiovascular and muscle adaptations, including muscle...
Article
Full-text available
FreeLink: http://www.tandfonline.com/eprint/YskaA3wAui3C8gc7SvWi/full ------------------------------------------------------ High muscular fitness (MF) and high adherence to the Southern European Atlantic Diet (the SEADiet) have been associated with several positive metabolic outcomes. The purpose of the present study was two-fold: (i) to explore...
Article
Full-text available
Purpose We investigated the combined effect of cardiorespiratory fitness and the clustered score of inflammatory biomarkers (InflaScore) on the cardiometabolic risk score in adolescents. Methods This is a cross-sectional analysis with 529 adolescents (267 girls) aged 12–18 years. The shuttle run test was used to assess cardiorespiratory fitness. Co...
Article
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Purpose: Then objective of this study was to evaluate the ability of several nontraditional cardiometabolic and inflammatory biomarkers in identifying high cardiometabolic risk in adolescents. Methods: A cross-sectional study was conducted with 529 Portuguese adolescents (267 girls) aged 14.3 ± 1.7 years. A clustered cardiometabolic risk score (...
Article
Full-text available
Background: Low muscular fitness (MF) and low-grade inflammation has been linked to insulin resistance (IR). Objective: To evaluate the associations between MF and a clustered score of inflammatory biomarkers on IR and to investigate the combined impact of MF and inflammation on IR in adolescents. Methods: This is a cross-sectional analysis wi...
Data
https://link.springer.com/article/10.1007%2Fs00421-017-3714-x .......................... https://static-content.springer.com/esm/art%3A10.1007%2Fs00421-017-3714-x/MediaObjects/421_2017_3714_MOESM1_ESM.docx ....................... The online version of this article (doi: 10.1007/s00421-017-3714-x) contains supplementary material
Article
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Introduction: Circulating leptin and adiponectin levels have been associated with impaired vascular function, insulin resistance and acute cardiovascular evens. This study aimed to evaluate the associations of leptin, adiponectin and the L/A ratio with a clustering of MRF in 12-18 years-old adolescents. Methods: This is a cross-sectional analysis w...
Chapter
Childhood obesity is a serious public health problem associated with a greater risk of noncommunicable chronic diseases. Although primary preventions of obesity should focus on energy balance, the intake of some foods can also affect the development of childhood obesity. Dairy product (DP) consumption has been shown to have neutral or beneficial ef...
Conference Paper
Full-text available
OBJECTIVE: We aimed to evaluate the ability of several nontraditional cardiometabolic and inflammatory biomarkers in identifying a high metabolic risk in adolescents. SUBJECTS/METHODS: A cross-sectional study was conducted with 529 Portuguese adolescents (267 girls) aged 14.3±1.7 years. A continuous variable of clustered cardiometabolic risk score...
Conference Paper
Full-text available
Introduction: Unhealthy lifestyles are linked to cardiovascular diseases. The aim of this study was to assess the impact of the combined associations of muscular fitness and adherence to the Southern European Atlantic Diet (SEADiet) on the clustering of cardiovascular risk factors in adolescents. Methods: A total of 467 Portuguese adolescents (275...
Article
Full-text available
Purpose: This study examined the independent associations between cardiorespiratory fitness and circulating adiponectin concentration in adolescents, controlling for several potential covariates. Methods: This is a cross-sectional study in Portuguese adolescents. A sample of 529 (267 girls) aged 12-18 years were included and categorized as overw...
Article
This study aimed to investigate whether sedentary time (Sed) and physical activity (PA) are associated with arterial stiffness in individuals with and without metabolic syndrome (MetS). This cross-sectional study comprised 197 individuals (47±13 years; 58% female) from a primary health care centre. Arterial stiffness was assessed using carotid-femo...
Article
Full-text available
Background: Muscular fitness and an adherence to the Southern European Atlantic Diet (SEADiet) have been inversely associated with cardiometabolic risk. Aim: To assess the independent and combined associations of muscular fitness and adherence to the SEADiet on cardiometabolic risk in adolescents. Material and methods: A total of 467 Portuguese ad...
Article
Background: Engaging in physical activity (PA) and reducing sedentary behaviour (SB) are important for health during pregnancy, yet relatively few studies have examined these variables using objective measures and across trimesters during pregnancy. Objective: To determine the amount of objectively assessed PA and SB engaged in whether there was an...
Article
Full-text available
PurposeEvidence suggests that being physically active in combination with a healthy diet contributes to diminish colorectal cancer risk. However, if this is true for colorectal cancer primary prevention, the same is not clear for its recurrence after colorectal cancer treatments. Data on cancer survival are scarce, and there is a need for greater a...
Article
Full-text available
Objectives: To review the effectiveness of Physical Activity (PA) interventions in the workplace to reduce musculoskeletal pain in employees.Methods: Four databases (PubMed, EBSCO, Web of Science, and Cochrane) were searched for trials among employees for the period of January 1990 and March 2013, which included comparison groups that assessed phys...
Data
Partial correlations between Muscular Fitness, MRF and Inflammatory Biomarkers
Article
Full-text available
This study aimed to evaluate the associations between muscular fitness and inflammatory biomarkers and to investigate the relationship between muscular fitness and selected clustered inflammatory biomarkers in adolescents. This is a cross-sectional analysis with 529 adolescents (267 girls) aged 12-18 years. Handgrip strength and standing long jump...
Conference Paper
Full-text available
Introduction: Circulating leptin and adiponectin levels have been associated with impaired vascular function, insulin resistance and acute cardiovascular evens. This study aimed to evaluate the associations of leptin, adiponectin and the L/A ratio with a clustering of MRF (metabolic risk factor) in 12-18 years-old adolescents. Methods: This is a cr...
Conference Paper
Full-text available
Introduction: Recent studies showed that adiponectin levels are inversely associated with fitness. However, to date, there is a lack of knowledge regarding the relationship between cardiorespiratory fitness (CRF) and serum adiponectin levels in adolescents with different weight status. We aimed to examine the independent associations between CRF an...
Conference Paper
Full-text available
Introdução: Doenças crônico-degenerativas são responsáveis pela maior parcela de mortes em países desenvolvidos. A adolescência apresenta-se como uma fase da vida de suma importância para a consolidação de hábitos que tendem a ser mantidos até a vida adulta. Objetivo: O objetivo deste estudo foi investigar as associações entre a aptidão cardiorresp...
Conference Paper
Full-text available
Os níveis de aptidão cardiorrespiratória (ACR), atividade física e adiposidade são reconhecidos como factores que influenciam o estado de saúde geral. Com este trabalho pretendeu-se verificar se existiam diferenças nos níveis de aptidão cardiorrespiratória de adolescentes com diferentes estatutos de adiposidade, tendo em conta o cumprimento, ou não...
Conference Paper
Na pessoa com esquizofrenia é frequente verificar-se a adoção de estilos de vida pouco saudáveis, nomeadamente o sedentarismo e os maus hábitos alimentares. Os indivíduos com esquizofrenia apresentam baixos níveis de atividade física (AF) quando comparados com a população em geral e padrões nutricionais desadequados, com maior ingestão de teor de g...
Article
Background: The role played by dairy product intake during pregnancy on neonatal outcomes has raised interest in the last few years. However, studies on this association remain scarce. Thus, the aim of this study was to determine the association between dairy product consumption during pregnancy and neonatal and maternal outcomes. Methods: A pro...
Conference Paper
Full-text available
Neck circumference (NC) was recently introduced as a predictor of cardiovascular disease (CVD) risk factor. Adipocytokines may have a key role in the development of CVD. Aims: The purpose of this study was to examine the associations between NC and adipocytokines, such as adiponectin and leptin in Portuguese adolescents. Methods: A cross-sectional...
Article
Full-text available
This article reviews the effectiveness of physical activity (PA) interventions at the workplace to reduce musculoskeletal pain among employees and assesses the effect size of these programs using meta-analysis. Four databases (i.e., PubMed, EBSCO, Web of Science, and Cochrane) were searched for research trials, which included comparison groups of e...