Ic syndrome. Methods: Twenty-seven middle-aged obese women (mean ± SD; age = 51 ± 9yr and body mass index = 34 ± 6 kg·m−2) with the metabolic syndrome completed one of three 16-wk aerobic exercise interventions: (i) no-exercise training (Control): seven participants maintained their existing levels of physical activity; (ii) low-intensity exercise training (LIET): 11 participants exercised 5 d·wk−1 at an intensity ≤ lactate threshold (LT); and (iii) high-intensity exercise training (HIET): nineparticipants exercised 3 d·wk−1 at an intensity > LT and 2 d·wk−1 ≤ LT. Exercise time was adjusted to maintain caloric expenditure (400 kcal per session). Single-slice computed tomography scans obtained at the L4-L5 disc space and midthigh were used to determine abdominal fat and thigh muscle cross-sectional areas. Percent body fat was assessed by air displacement plethysmography. Results: HIET significantly reduced total abdominal fat (P < 0.001), abdominal subcutaneous fat (P = 0.034), and AVF (P = 0.010). There were no significant changes observed in any of these parameters within the Control or the LIET conditions. Conclusions: The present data indicate that body composition changes are affected by the intensity of exercise training with HIET more effectively for reducing total abdominal fat, subcutaneous abdominal fat, and AVF in obese women with the metabolic syndrome....

CLASEY, JODY L., CLAUDE BOUCHARD, C. DAVID TEATES, JILL E. RIBLETT, MICHAEL O. THORNER, MARK L. HARTMAN, AND ARTHUR WELTMAN. the use of anthropometric and dual‐energy X‐ray absorptiometry (DXA) measures to estimate total abdominal and abdominal visceral fat in men and women. Obes Res.Objective: A single‐slice computed tomography (CT) scan provides a criterion measure of total abdominal fat (TAF) and abdominal visceral fat (AVF), but this procedure is often prohibitive due to radiation exposure, cost, and accessibility. In the present study, the utility of anthropometric measures and estimates of trunk and abdominal fat mass by dual‐energy X‐ray absorptiometry (DXA) to predict CT measures of TAF and AVF (cross‐sectional area, cm²) was assessed.Research Methods and Procedures: CT measures of abdominal fat (at the level of the L4‐L5 inter‐vertebral space), DXA scans, and anthropometric measures were obtained in 76 Caucasian adults ages 20–80 years.Results: Results demonstrated that abdominal sagittal diameter measured by anthropometry is an excellent predictor of sagittal diameter measured from a CT image (r = 0. 88 and 0. 94; Total Error [TE]=4. 1 and 3. 1 cm, for men and women, respectively). In both men and women, waist circumference and abdominal sagittal diameter were the anthropometric measures most strongly associated with TAF (r = 0. 87 to 0. 93; Standard Error of Estimate (SEE) = 60. 7 to 75. 4 cm²) and AVF (r = 0. 84 to 0. 93; SEE = 0. 7 to 30. 0 cm²). The least predictive anthropometric measure of TAF or AVF was the commonly used waist‐to‐hip ratio (WHR). DXA estimates of trunk and abdominal fat mass were strongly associated with TAF (r =. 94 to 0. 97; SEE = 36. 9 to 50. 9 cm²) and AVF (r = 0. 86 to 0. 90; SEE = 4. 9 to 27. 7 cm²).Discussion: The present results suggest that waist circumference and/or abdominal sagittal diameter are better predictors of TAF and AVF than the more commonly used WHR. DXA trunk fat and abdominal fat appear to be slightly better predictors of TAF but not AVF compared to these anthropometric measures. Thus DXA does not offer a significant advantage over anthropometry for estimation of AVF.

In today’s research environment, children’s diet, physical activity, and other lifestyle factors are commonly studied in the context of health, independent of their effect on cognition and learning. Moreover, there is little overlap between the two literatures, although it is reasonable to expect that the lifestyle factors explored in the health-focused research are intertwined with cognition and learning processes. This thematic review provides an overview of knowledge connecting the selected lifestyle factors of diet, physical activity, and sleep hygiene to children’s cognition and learning. Research from studies of diet and nutrition, physical activity and fitness, sleep, and broader influences of cultural and socioeconomic factors related to health and learning, were summarized to offer examples of research that integrate lifestyle factors and cognition with learning. The literature review demonstrates that the associations and causal relationships between these factors are vastly understudied. As a result, current knowledge on predictors of optimal cognition and learning is incomplete, and likely lacks understanding of many critical facts and relationships, their interactions, and the nature of their relationships, such as there being mediating or confounding factors that could provide important knowledge to increase the efficacy of learning-focused interventions. This review provides information focused on studies in children. Although basic research in cells or animal studies are available and indicate a number of possible physiological pathways, inclusion of those data would distract from the fact that there is a significant gap in knowledge on lifestyle factors and optimal learning in children. In a climate where childcare and school feeding policies are continuously discussed, this thematic review aims to provide an impulse for discussion and a call for more holistic approaches to support child development.