Can Collegiate Hockey Players Accurately Predict Regional and Total Body Physiologic Changes throughout the Competitive Season?

A collegiate athlete’s body composition can fluctuate due to factors such as nutrition, sleep, and training load. As changes in body composition can affect an athlete’s level of performance, it may be beneficial if athlete’s can accurately predict these changes throughout a season. The purpose of this study was to determine how well a group of 23 male collegiate hockey players (age = 22.44 ± 1.16 years, height = 181.30 ± 6.99 cm, weight = 86.41 ± 8.32 kg) could predict their regional and total body lean and fat tissue mass throughout a hockey season (September to March). Total body, trunk, lower body, and upper body compositional changes were measured at the beginning and at the end of the competitive season using dual energy X-Ray absorptiometry (DXA). At the end of the season, a questionnaire was completed by each participant to explore how they perceived their body composition changes (losses or gains in lean tissue and fat mass) throughout the season. Overall, players had a difficult time identifying actual changes in lean tissue and fat mass throughout the season. Upper body fat and lean tissue changes were perceived most accurately, while perceptions of body fat were related to android adiposity but not visceral adiposity. These findings suggest that some regional areas of body composition changes may happen without being noticed. For strength and conditioning coaches, if athletes are made aware of these changes before they become exaggerated, proper dietary, and training adaptations can be made to enhance performance

Are Children and their Parents More Active when Children Engage in More Structured Activities?

International Journal of Exercise Science 11(5): 106-115, 2018. Children’s participation in sport/physical activity programs (structured activity) may play a critical role in promoting (or hindering) activity in children and their parents. The purpose of this pilot study was to determine if the amount of time children spend participating in structured activity correlates with physical activity levels (moderate to vigorous physical activity (MVPA)/day and steps/day) in children and their parents. Convenience sampling was used to collect data from 14 parent-child pairs with children ranging from ages 7-10 years. Parental and children’s daily physical activity levels (MVPA/day and steps/day) were determined from pedometer data using a Piezo-SC Step Pedometer. Parents also completed a questionnaire that outlined how many hours/week their children participated in structured activities. A Pearson-product moment correlation analyses between hours per week in structured activity and children’s steps/day (r = .16, p = .60) and MVPA (r = .12, p = .68) were not significant. Similarly, there were no significant relationships between children’s participation (hours per week) in structured activity and parent’s steps/day (r = .16, p = .59) and MVPA/day (r = .20, p = .50) respectively. These results suggest that children and parental physical activity is predicated on complex, interrelated factors. Contrary to popular thinking, parents whose children are engaged in more structured physical activities are not less physically active than other parents; the reality is neither are sufficiently active. Altering these perceptions are important in future intervention strategies that aim to promote activity

A Carbohydrate Beverage Reduces Monocytes Expressing TLR4 in Children with Overweight or Obesity

Background: Childhood obesity is increasing, with about one-third of children overweight or obese. Obesity is characterized by a state of chronic low-grade inflammation that is related to cardiometabolic comorbidities. Inflammatory monocytes, which are classified into 3 different groups-classical, intermediate, and nonclassical monocytes, with Toll-like receptor 4 (TLR4(+)) expression indicating a proinflammatory state-underlie several obesity-associated morbidities. Objectives: This study aimed to assess the responses of monocyte populations to beverages of differing macronutrient composition in children with healthy weight (HW) or overweight/obesity (OW/OB). Methods: Ten HW children (5th to 84.9th percentile; mean age 12.29 +/- 2.5 y) and 7 children with OW/OB (85th to 99.99th percentile; mean age 11.96 +/- 3.8 y) completed the study. Adiposity was determined via DXA. Using a doubleblinded, randomized, crossover design, participants consumed either a high-carbohydrate (CHO; 210 kcal; 0 g fat/56 g carbohydrates/0 g protein) or a whole-egg-based high-protein/fat (EGG; 210 kcal; 15 g fat/0 g carbohydrates/18 g protein) beverage. Venous blood was collected at baseline and 2 h postprandially for evaluation of metabolic and inflammatory responses. Repeated measures ANOVA and Pearson correlations were conducted. Results: Consuming the CHO beverage significantly reduced the primary outcome: TLR4(+) expression on classical monocytes in children with OW/OB only (25.60% decrease from baseline in OW/OB compared with 1.61% increase in HW). Children with OW/OB had significantly less percentages of TLR4(+) nonclassical monocytes than HW (4766% lower after CHO). Insulin and glucose (secondary outcomes), were significantly higher after the CHO condition compared with baseline (230.61% and 9.93% increase, respectively). Changes in glucose were significantly and negatively related to changes in monocyte populations in the CHO condition. Conclusions: These data suggest that high-carbohydrate beverages alter monocyte populations in the blood in children with OW/OB, which is related to glucose metabolism. These findings have implications for nutritional recommendations in children with overweight/obesity.12 month embargo; published online: 11 December 2019This item from the UA Faculty Publications collection is made available by the University of Arizona with support from the University of Arizona Libraries. If you have questions, please contact us at [email protected]