Agita São Paulo
Colin Higgs, Canada |
 From
left to right: Colin Higgs, Claude Bouchard, unknown participant,
Per-Olof Ostrand, James Skinner |
São Paulo, Brazil was the site of the 27th International Symposium
on Sport Science, organized by Agita São Paulo; and CELAFISCS,
the Centro de estudos do laborat¢rio de aptidão F¡sica
de São Caetano do Sul. With close to 1700 participants and a
major exhibits area, this is the largest and most successful sport science
conference in South America. Held in conjunction with the conference,
the South American Agita network meetings provided a wonderful opportunity
to learn just how much progress has been made in getting South America
- and the world - moving. It also provided an opportunity to see just
how much of a driving force the Matsudos; Victor and Sandra were.
For those who do not know it, the "Agita" movement can best
be described as a South American phenomenon that has spread around the
world. The goal of Agita it to have everyone accumulate 30 minutes of
physical activity every day, and Agita has been very successful. Starting
as Agita São Paulo, the movement expanded to become Agita Brazil,
Agita South America, and ultimately Agita Mundo (the world). In addition,
many South American countries have their own version of Agita, and the
network of South American participants is a vibrant group with a passion
for getting things done, and spreading their message. Agita has mobilized
more than 50 million South Americans to become active, and has been
recognized by the World Health Organization as a model program to increase
physical activity around the world. I enjoyed the meetings, at which
I represented ICSSPE. There was a full and frank exchange of views in
three languages, and the adoption of a long term strategic plan, developed
collaboratively. I would like to thank all of the South American network
participants for their patience and willingness to accommodate my poor
language skills; and especially to my Columbian colleague who sat with
me and did a wonderful job of translating those things I did not understand.
The Conference itself was outstanding, with three of the worlds most
prominent exercise scientists presenting cutting-edge material. Dr.
Claude Bouchard from the Pennington Institute (Baton Rouge, Louisiana)
presented some fascinating (although also quite depressing) information
on the causes and treatment of obesity. Of particular interest was the
rapidly changing field of genetic and epigenetic influences on obesity.
It is quite clear that as greater knowledge of the human genome is incorporated
into obesity research we will find multiple genetic predispositions
to fat storage - genetic dispositions that were very helpful to survival
under conditions of uncertain food supply, but which are maladaptive
for conditions of constant, high quality, high nutrient content, food
availability.
For me, the most fascinating developments were in the field of epigenetics
and obesity. I admit that this was a field about which I was totally
ignorant before arriving in Brazil, and what I learned is making me
completely re-think the whole field. In short, there is now evidence
available that demonstrates that obesity of the mother, at the time
of conception, has an impact on the body composition of offspring even
if the embryo is taken from the mother, and implanted for development,
birth, and weaning in a surrogate mother. Obviously this has not been
done in humans, but if the rat studies hold true for humans the implications
are huge - since the current epidemic of obese mothers is likely to
predispose their offspring to even greater levels of obesity. To make
things a little clearer - this is not evidence that obesity developed
in a mother through over-eating is genetically transferred to the offspring,
but rather that the condition of the mother at the time of conception
impacts the expression of the genetic information in the offspring -
without changing the genes.
Dr. James Skinner of Indiana University, and a long time ICSSPE member
and officer presented equally fascinating information about the genetic
components of fitness. Here too, the new information may require exercise
practitioners to rethink what they do. Based on information collected
in the Quebec Heritage Study, in which families were exposed to a well
controlled and closely monitored exercise programs, there is compelling
evidence that the response to training varies considerably, and is substantially
influenced by genetics. Dr. Skinner reported well documented cases of
"non-responders" individuals who completed the same physical
training regime as others in the study, but who did not improve their
cardio-vascular fitness - while others exposed to the same level of
activity increased VO2 max by up to 40%.
The third international speaker was a giant in our field, Dr. P. O.
strand, who presented an interesting and entertaining history
of exercise physiology, as well as some technical considerations on
the limits to aerobic activity. Listening to the international speakers
presented a wonderful opportunity to reflect on where exercise science
had come from, and where it was going. It made clear to me that our
historic approach of looking at the "average" response of
groups of subjects exposed to a standardized exercise regime will rapidly
give way to investigations of the relationship of specific exercise
to specific genotypes - answering the questions of "who responds
best to what type of activity" or conversely, "for any individual,
what is the optimum type and intensity of activity for maximum performance
or health benefits"? We have entered a new phase of exercise science
where genetics will play an increasingly important - and eventually
central - role in our understanding of the response of the human body
to exercise.
The 27th International Symposium on Sport Science was intellectually
stimulating, remarkably well organized, exceptionally well attended,
and socially a great success - what more could anyone want. Many thanks
to ICSSPE, and to Victor and Sandra Matsudo and their great Agita and
CELAFISCS teams, for the opportunity to attend the symposium, and for
their great hospitality. The future of physical activity as a science
and as a social movement is alive and well in South America.

http://www.icsspe.org/portal/bulletin-january2005.htm
Agita São Paulo
Colin Higgs, Canada
|