| Member's News | No.43 January 2005 |
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