title: [Sedentarism and physical fitness in postmenopausal women].
abstract: BACKGROUND
  The aging process is accompanied by several changes, such as a decrease in physical fitness.
  
  
  OBJECTIVE
  To establish the relationship between a sedentary behavior (sit ≥4 hours/day) and physical fitness in 457 women aged 65 years or older.
  
  
  METHODS
  Physical fitness was evaluated by 8 adapted tests from "Senior Fitness Test" and "Eurofit Testing Battery". ANOVA was used to analyze differences between groups according to the hours of sitting and logistic regression analysis was used to study the association of the sedentary behavior with low fitness, using as reference the 20th percentile of the normative values in Spain (EXERNET Project).
  
  
  RESULTS
  Sedentary women had lower balance, legs and arms strength, arms flexibility, walking speed and endurance (p < 0.05). In addition, those women who sat ≥4 hours/day had higher odds for having low fitness in most of the mentioned tests, regardless of the hours of walking (p < 0.05).
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Sitting for a long time has a negative influence on physical fitness among postmenopausal women independently of walking time.
authors.affiliation: Grupo de Investigación GENUD (Growth, Exercise, Nutrition and Development), Universidad de Zaragoza, España.
authors.forename: Silvia
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Morales
authors.forename: Alba
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Gómez-Cabello
authors.forename: Alejandro
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: González-Agüero
authors.forename: José Antonio
authors.initials: JA
authors.lastname: Casajús
authors.forename: Ignacio
authors.initials: I
authors.lastname: Ara
authors.forename: Germán
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Vicente-Rodríguez
mesh_terms: D000368:Aged; D000375:Aging / Q000502:physiology; D000704:Analysis of Variance; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D016015:Logistic Models; D053580:Muscle Strength; D010807:Physical Endurance; D010809:Physical Fitness / Q000502:physiology*; D017698:Postmenopause / Q000502:physiology*; D012016:Reference Values; D057185:Sedentary Behavior; D016138:Walking / Q000502:physiology