Summary
Physical inactivity is worldwide considered the biggest public health problem of the 21st century. Nowadays, it is well documented that the genesis of chronic diseases occurs in early ages –even though the clinical symptoms are not observed until adulthood.
The UP&DOWN study is a 3-yr longitudinal study to carry out in healthy schoolchildren and in adolescents with Down syndrome to assess the impact over time of physical activity and sedentary behaviours on health indicators such as physical fitness, metabolic and cardiovascular disease risk factors, novel inflammation-immunity biomarkers, mental health as well as to identify the psycho-environmental and genetic determinants of an active lifestyle in these populations.
The main objectives in the UP&DOWN study are the following: a) To determine the patterns, interrelationships and impact on health indicators of objectively and subjectively measured physical activity, sedentary behaviours and health-related fitness (including fatness) in healthy primary and secondary schoolchildren and in adolescents with Down syndrome along a 3-yr follow-up; b) To identify the main psycho-social and environmental determinants of physical activity and sedentary behaviours in healthy primary and secondary schoolchildren along a 3-yr follow-up; c) To investigate genotype-lifestyle interactions in healthy primary and secondary schoolchildren and in adolescents with Down syndrome along a 3-yr follow-up; d) To evaluate the effect of physical activity, sedentary behaviours and health-related fitness on traditional and novel cardiovascular disease risk factors through the assessment of inflammatory biomarkers in healthy primary and secondary schoolchildren and in adolescents with Down syndrome along a 3-yr follow-up; e) To develop an on-line tool to collect epidemiological data on lifestyle and health indicators and test its potential application to school evaluation and formative task to school children. Moreover, two complementary objectives are included: f) To evaluate the food intake and hydration habits in the studies cohorts (except for adolescents with Down syndrome) along a 3-yr follow-up; g) To analyze gender differences in all research phenomena, and when possible differences between native and immigrant populations.
Measurements of lifestyle behaviours and health indicators will be performed over a 3-year period in two thousand healthy schoolchildren from primary (n = 1000, Cadiz) and secondary (n = 1000, Madrid) schools, and in two hundred adolescents with Down syndrome (n = 200, Madrid).
Initiatives as the UP&DOWN study will contribute to the development of the Global Strategy on Diet, Physical Activity and Health (WHO), the Spanish Strategy for Nutrition, Physical Activity and the Prevention of Obesity (NAOS Strategy from the Ministry of Health and Consumption, the current Ministry of Health and Social Policy) and the recently launched Integral Plan on Physical Activity and Sport (A+D Plan, Spanish National Sport Council).
