INTRODUCTION Findings from the National Health and Morbidity Survey III (MOH, 2008) indicate a 43.7% prevalence of physical inactivity among Malaysian adults. This sedentary lifestyle can also be observed among children and adolescents. METHODOLOGY A cross-sectional study was conducted to determine factors associated with physical activity levels of four hundred, 13 year-old adolescents in Ku...

Research has shown a negative relationship between perceived body size discrepancies and exercise participation among women. This might be explained from a selfdetermination theory perspective by perceived discrepancies between actual and ideal body size causing individuals to feel less autonomous in the regulation of their exercise behaviour. The aim of this study was to test the mediating rol...

BACKGROUND In general, it is difficult to objectively evaluate the results of an educational program. The semantic differential (SeD) technique, a methodology used to measure the connotative meaning of objects, words, and concepts, can, however, be applied to the evaluation of students' attitudes. In this study, we aimed to achieve an objective evaluation of the effects of radiological technolo...

BACKGROUND Identifying predictors of the course of depressive symptoms from pregnancy through postpartum is important to inform clinical interventions. METHODS This longitudinal study investigated predictors of recovery from prenatal elevated depressive symptoms in the postpartum period. Forty-one pregnant women completed demographic, interpersonal, and psychosocial self-report assessment mea...

OBJECTIVE While the role of nutrition, physical activity and body size on breast cancer risk has been extensively investigated, most of these studies were conducted in Caucasian populations. However, there are well-known differences in tumour biology and the prevalence of these factors between African-American and Caucasian women. The objective of the present paper was to conduct a review of th...

The study of life history variation is central to the evolutionary theory. In many ectothermic lineages, including lizards, life history traits are plastic and relate to several sources of variation including body size, which is both a factor and a life history trait likely to modulate reproductive parameters. Larger species within a lineage, for example tend to be more fecund and have larger c...

BACKGROUND Evidence on interventions for preventing unhealthy weight gain in adolescents is urgently needed. The aim of this paper is to describe the process evaluation for a three-year (2005-2008) project conducted in five secondary schools in the East Geelong/Bellarine region of Victoria, Australia. The project, 'It's Your Move!' aimed to reduce unhealthy weight gain by promoting healthy eati...

The supramolecular structures of a substrate, such as crystallinity, specific surface area, average pore size, and cellulase adsorption capacity, etc., affect the enzymatic hydrolysis of a lignocellulosic biomass. It is unclear which of these factors is most important for efficient hydrolysis. To eliminate the influence of the hemicellulose content and the lignin, sugarcane bagasse samples with...