The burden of physical activity on type 2 diabetes public healthcare expenditures among adults: a retrospective study

Background: Determinants of public healthcare expenditures in type 2 diabetics are not well investigated in developing nations and, therefore, it is not clear if higher physical activity decreases healthcare costs. The purpose of this study was to analyze the relationship between physical activity and the expenditures in public healthcare on type 2 diabetes mellitus treatment. Methods: Cross-sectional study carried out in Brazil. A total of 121 type 2 diabetics attended to in two Basic Healthcare Units were evaluated. Public healthcare expenditures in the last year were estimated using a specific standard table. Also evaluated were: socio-demographic variables; chronological age; exogenous insulin use; smoking habits; fasting glucose test; diabetic neuropathy and anthropometric measures. Habitual physical activity was assessed by questionnaire. Results: Age (r = 0.20; p = 0.023), body mass index (r = 0.33; p = 0.001) and waist-to-hip ratio (r = 0.20; p = 0.025) were positively related to expenditures on medication for the treatment of diseases other than diabetes. Insulin use was associated with increased expenditures. Higher physical activity was associated with lower expenditure, provided medication for treatment of diseases other than diabetes (OR = 0.19; p = 0.007) and medical consultations (OR = 0.26; p = 0.029). Conclusions: Type 2 diabetics with higher enrollment in physical activity presented consistently lower healthcare expenditures for the public healthcare system.

The game inside the school: a representation of 5(th) graders physical education classes

Since the beginning of Physical Education entrance in the brazilin public schools, the game has been frequently used as content, and in the course of time that practice seems to be intensified. In spite of many approaches of different purposes to justify its pedagogic usefulness, the game has been used as an indiscriminate way due to the fascination that it provides to the students. The present study searches for a description and analysis of children`s (10-12 years old) attitudes behaviors in games, on Physical Education classes, inside a public school. The study was accomplished with the researcher also attending as a teacher (action research). For the accomplishment of the study 55 children were filmed in four different games, of different kinds (exposed, transformed, and spontaneous). The classes` description and analysis were focused in the attitude axis and it was defined four topics for the discussion: Conflicts, Respect of rules, Expressiveness, and Competitiveness. The relationship between the individual with the game and its culture were pointed as the main characteristics in the configuration of the ludicrous activity atmosphere. It was also possible to observe specific situations of this relationship, once the games were limited to the social games (Piaget category), in a school atmosphere where children have students roles. Due to the obtained results, the study proposes a reflexive practice in which the students notice their own attitudes and try to adapt the game to their needs and not he other way around. In this perspective, the teacher has an important mediator roll, once he will be responsible to point out the students` difficulties and promote discussions in favor to provide teamwork.

Sweeping democracy: considerations on the political relations between Janio Quadros and the National Congress

This article examines the relation between President Janio Quadros and the National Congress during the early 1960`s. Based on the analysis of the discourse of these figures, it proposes that Quadros maneuvered to diminish the legitimacy of the Congress in the public opinion, thus disrespecting its constitutional competencies. Consequently, it shows that not only did the Congress structure political mechanisms in an attempt to recover its credibility with society, but also that this dispute and its results had important effects on President Joao Goulart`s administration and even on the 1964 military coup.