We investigated the consumption of sugar-sweetened beverage (SSB) and its association with obesity and hypertension in a national sample of children and adolescents in China, where many low- and middle-income families live. Data were obtained from a 2014 national intervention program against obesity in Chinese children and adolescents aged 6–17 years. Height, weight, waist circumference, and blood pressure were measured. Information of SSB consumption, socioeconomic status, dietary intake, screen time, and physical activity were self-reported. Multivariate logistic regression was used to assess the association of SSB consumption with obesity and hypertension. A total of 66.6% of the 53,151 participants reported consuming SSB. The per capita and per consumer SSB intake were 2.84 ± 5.26 servings/week and 4.26 ± 5.96 servings/week, respectively. Boys, older children, and adolescents, and individuals with long screen time or high physical activity or low parental education level were more likely to consume SSB. Participants who were high SSB consumers had a higher odds ratio (1.133, 95% CI: 1.054–1.217) than non-consumers for having abdominal obesity after adjustment for age, sex, residence, socioeconomic status, diet, screen time, and physical activity. However, SSB consumption was not associated with general obesity or hypertension in children and adolescents. In conclusion, more than half of the children and adolescents in China consumed SSB, which was independently related to a high risk of abdominal obesity. The results of this study indicated that SSB reduction strategies and policies may be useful in preventing obesity among Chinese children and adolescents.

Background: The relationship between the frequency of high-intensity interval training (HIIT) and the resultant adaptations is largely unclear. Purpose: This study compared the effects of different frequencies of HIIT with those of moderate-intensity continuous training (MICT) on body composition in overweight or obese adults. Methods: Fifty-six overweight or obese (body mass index = 26.4 ± 2.9) men between 18 and 30 yr old (age = 22.8 ± 3.1 yr) were randomly assigned to the following groups: no-intervention control (CON; n = 14), MICT performed thrice weekly (MICT×3/wk; n = 9), HIIT performed thrice weekly (HIIT×3/wk; n = 14), HIIT performed twice weekly (HIIT×2/wk; n = 10), and HIIT performed once weekly (HIIT×1/wk; n = 9). Each HIIT session consisted of 12 × 1-min bouts at 90% heart rate reserve, interspersed with 11 × 1-min bouts at 70% heart rate reserve. Aerobic capacity, body composition, resting heart rate, vascular function, insulin resistance, and biomarkers of metabolic syndrome risk factor were examined at baseline, after 4 wk, and after 8 wk of intervention. Results: Aerobic capacity and percent fat-free mass significantly increased in all exercise groups compared with those in the CON group (CON vs all exercise groups, P < 0.05), whereas body fat mass and systolic blood pressure significantly decreased after 8 wk of intervention in all exercise groups compared with those in the CON group (CON vs all exercise groups, P < 0.05). Body fat mass significantly decreased after 4 wk in all HIIT groups compared with those in the CON group (CON vs all HIIT groups, P < 0.05) but not in the MICT×3/wk group. Conclusion: These novel results demonstrated that performing HIIT once weekly, even with a lower weekly volume of exercise, improved cardiorespiratory fitness, body composition, and blood pressure in overweight/obese adults. Low-frequency HIIT might be a feasible and effective strategy for the prescription of an initial exercise program for inactive, overweight, or obese young men.

Glycemic index and glycemic load of selected Chinese traditional foods

The purpose of this study was to examine the effects of 8-week core training on core endurance and running economy in college athletes. Twenty-one male college athletes were randomly divided into 2 groups: a control group (CON) (n = 10) and a core training group (CT) (n = 11). Both groups maintained their regular training, whereas CT attended 3 extra core training sessions per week for 8 weeks. The participants were assessed before and after the training program using sensory organization test (SOT), sport-specific endurance plank test (SEPT) and 4-stage treadmill incremental running test (TIRT). Compared with the pre-test, significant improvements were observed in post-test SOT (78.8 ± 4.8 vs. 85.3 ± 4.8, p = 0.012) and SEPT (193.5 ± 71.9 s vs. 241.5 ± 98.9 s, p = 0.001) performances only in CT. In the TIRT, the post-test heart rate values were lower than the pre-test values in CT in the first 3 stages. In stage 4, the post-test oxygen consumption (VO₂) was lower than that in pre-test in CT (VO₂: 52.4 ± 3.5 vs. 50.0 ± 2.9 ml/kg/min, p = 0.019). These results reveal that 8-week core training may improve static balance, core endurance, and running economy in college athletes.

Mindfulness-based intervention (MBI) as a psychological treatment is adopted in the sports field, but its effect during competition has not been explored. This study investigated the acute effect of a brief MBI on athletes’ cognitive function after a 45-min, lab-based soccer protocol. In a single-blind randomized counter-balanced crossover design, 17 male soccer players completed two main trials—an MBI trial and a control trial. The MBI trial was provided with a brief MBI after 45-min exercise; the control trial was instead assigned a travel-related audio to listen to at that time. In each main trial, cognitive function (i.e., Stroop task for inhibition; Corsi-block tapping task for working memory), salivary cortisol, blood lactate and mental fatigue were measured at baseline (pretest) and after the intervention (posttest). The cerebral oxygenation status was recorded using functional near-infrared spectroscopy during the cognitive function test. The brief MBI improved working memory performance in terms of both reaction time (pre vs. post, P = 0.02, d = 0.71) and accuracy (pre vs. post, P = 0.009, d = 0.58), supported by eliciting increased oxyhemoglobin concentration in the prefrontal cortex of the brain. Whereas a slightly better cognitive performance for MBI trial than control trial at posttest (P = 0.37, d = 0.32) accompanied by a lower oxyhemoglobin concentration. A lower mental fatigue level (P = 0.05, d = 0.6) and lower cortisol concentration (P = 0.04, d = 0.65) were observed in the MBI trial than in the control trial after the intervention at posttest. The decreased cortisol concentration correlated with increased inhibition performance in the MBI trial. The acute effect of MBI on athletes’ mental fatigue and cortisol concentration was detected, and the beneficial effect on working memory was preliminarily supported. In general, MBI is recommended to be adopted at half-time of a soccer game.