Energy Cost of Land and Shallow Water Walking in Females who are Overweight and Obese

Nineteen overweight or obese females completed three 10-minute experimental trials including a self-selected pace shallow water walking trial, a matched heart rate response land walking trial, and a self-selected pace land walking trial. Energy expenditure (kcal·min-1) was computed from expired gases assessed via indirect calorimetry. Results showed energy expenditure was lower (p= 0.046) during shallow water walking (6.46 ± 1.38 kcal·min-1) compared to matched heart rate response land walking trial (7.26 ± 1.29 kcal·min-1), with no significant difference in between shallow water and self-selected pace land walking (6.92 ± 1.61 kcal·min-1 ). The present study did not demonstrate superior energy cost of shallow water walking. However, results demonstrate that shallow water walking elicits an increase in energy expenditure, which may indicate that this form of activity is a reasonable alternative to land-based walking. Moreover, this form of activity may be particularly effective for individuals with mobility limitations during land-based exercise

Energy Cost of Land and Shallow Water Walking in Females who are Overweight and Obese

Nineteen overweight or obese females completed three 10-minute experimental trials including a self-selected pace shallow water walking trial, a matched heart rate response land walking trial, and a self-selected pace land walking trial. Energy expenditure (kcal·min-1)was computed from expired gases assessed via indirect calorimetry. Results showed energy expenditure was lower (p= 0.046) during shallow water walking (6.46 ± 1.38 kcal·min-1) compared to matched heart rate response land walking trial (7.26 ± 1.29 kcal·min-1), with no significant difference in between shallow water and self-selected pace land walking (6.92 ± 1.61 kcal·min-1). The present study did not demonstrate superior energy cost of shallow water walking. However, results demonstrate that shallow water walking elicits an increase in energy expenditure, which may indicate that this form of activity is a reasonable alternative to land-based walking. Moreover, this form of activity may be particularly effective for individuals with mobility limitations during land-based exercise

RELIABILITY AND ACCURACY OF A STANDARDIZED SHALLOW WATER RUNNING TEST TO DETERMINE CARDIORESPIRATORY FITNESS

A standardized fitness assessment is critical for the development of an individualized exercise prescription. Although the benefits of aquatic exercise have been well established, there remains the need for a standardized nonswimming protocol to accurately assess cardiorespiratory fitness (CRF) in shallow water. The present investigation was designed to assess (a) the reliability of a standardized shallow water run (SWR) test of CRF and (b) the accuracy of a standardized SWR compared with a land-based treadmill (LTM)test. Twenty-three healthy women (20 6 3 years), with body mass index (23.5 6 3 kg$m22), performed 2 shallow water peak oxygen consumption (V_ O2peak) running tests (SWRa and SWRb), and 1 V_ O2max LTM. Intraclass correlation coefficients indicated moderately strong reliability for V_ O2peak (ml$kg21$min21) (r = 0.73, p , 0.01), HR peak (b$min21) (r = 0.82; p , 0.01), and O2pulse (V_ O2 [ml$kg21$min21]$HR [b$min21]) (r = 0.77, p , 0.01). Using paired t-tests and Pearson’s correlations, SWR V_ O2peak and HR peak were significantly lower than during LTM (p # 0.05) and showed moderate correlations of 0.60 and 0.58 (p , 0.001) to LTM. O2pulse was similar (p . 0.05) for the SWR and LTM tests with a moderate correlation of 0.63. A standardized SWR test asa measure of CRF is a reliable, and to some degree, valid alternative to conventional protocols and may be used by strength and conditioning professionals to measure program outcomes and monitor training progress. Furthermore, this protocol provides a water-based option for CRF assessment among healthy women and offers insight toward the development of an effective protocol that can accommodate individuals with limited mobility, or those seeking less musculoskeletal impact from traditional land-based types of training

Association of the degree of adiposity and duration of obesity with measures of cardiac structure and function: The CARDIA study

Peer Reviewedhttp://deepblue.lib.umich.edu/bitstream/2027.42/109634/1/oby20865.pd

Patterns of leisure-time physical activity across pregnancy and adverse pregnancy outcomes

Background Although leisure-time physical activity (PA) contributes to overall health, including pregnancy health, patterns across pregnancy have not been related to birth outcomes. We hypothesized that women with sustained low leisure-time PA would have excess risk of adverse pregnancy outcomes, and that changing patterns across pregnancy (high to low and low to high) may also be related to risk of adverse pregnancy outcomes. Methods Nulliparous women (n = 10,038) were enrolled at 8 centers early in pregnancy (mean gestational age in weeks [SD] = 12.05 [1.51]. Frequency, duration, and intensity (metabolic equivalents) of up to three leisure activities reported in the first, second and third trimesters were analyzed. Growth mixture modeling was used to identify leisure-time PA patterns across pregnancy. Adverse pregnancy outcomes (preterm birth, [PTB, overall and spontaneous], hypertensive disorders of pregnancy [HDP], gestational diabetes [GDM] and small-for-gestational-age births [SGA]) were assessed via chart abstraction. Results Five patterns of leisure-time PA across pregnancy were identified: High (35%), low (18%), late decreasing (24%), early decreasing (10%), and early increasing (13%). Women with sustained low leisure-time PA were younger and more likely to be black or Hispanic, obese, or to have smoked prior to pregnancy. Women with low vs. high leisure-time PA patterns had higher rates of PTB (10.4 vs. 7.5), HDP (13.9 vs. 11.4), and GDM (5.7 vs. 3.1, all p < 0.05). After adjusting for maternal factors (age, race/ethnicity, BMI and smoking), the risk of GDM (Odds ratio 2.00 [95% CI 1.47, 2.73]) remained higher in women with low compared to high patterns. Early and late decreasing leisure-time PA patterns were also associated with higher rates of GDM. In contrast, women with early increasing patterns had rates of GDM similar to the group with high leisure-time PA (3.8% vs. 3.1%, adjusted OR 1.16 [0.81, 1.68]). Adjusted risk of overall PTB (1.31 [1.05, 1.63]) was higher in the low pattern group, but spontaneous PTB, HDP and SGA were not associated with leisure-time PA patterns. Conclusions Sustained low leisure-time PA across pregnancy is associated with excess risk of GDM and overall PTB compared to high patterns in nulliparous women. Women with increased leisure-time PA early in pregnancy had low rates of GDM that were similar to women with high patterns, raising the possibility that early pregnancy increases in activity may be associated with improved pregnancy health. Trial registration Registration number NCT02231398

Heritability and Phenotypic Variation of Canine Hip Dysplasia Radiographic Traits in a Cohort of Australian German Shepherd Dogs

Canine Hip Dysplasia (CHD) is a common, painful and debilitating orthopaedic disorder of dogs with a partly genetic, multifactorial aetiology. Worldwide, potential breeding dogs are evaluated for CHD using radiographically based screening schemes such as the nine ordinally-scored British Veterinary Association Hip Traits (BVAHTs). The effectiveness of selective breeding based on screening results requires that a significant proportion of the phenotypic variation is caused by the presence of favourable alleles segregating in the population. This proportion, heritability, was measured in a cohort of 13,124 Australian German Shepherd Dogs born between 1976 and 2005, displaying phenotypic variation for BVAHTs, using ordinal, linear and binary mixed models fitted by a Restricted Maximum Likelihood method. Heritability estimates for the nine BVAHTs ranged from 0.14–0.24 (ordinal models), 0.14–0.25 (linear models) and 0.12–0.40 (binary models). Heritability for the summed BVAHT phenotype was 0.30±0.02. The presence of heritable variation demonstrates that selection based on BVAHTs has the potential to improve BVAHT scores in the population. Assuming a genetic correlation between BVAHT scores and CHD-related pain and dysfunction, the welfare of Australian German Shepherds can be improved by continuing to consider BVAHT scores in the selection of breeding dogs, but that as heritability values are only moderate in magnitude the accuracy, and effectiveness, of selection could be improved by the use of Estimated Breeding Values in preference to solely phenotype based selection of breeding animals

Do interventions to improve adherence to antiretroviral therapy recognise diversity? A systematic review

People living with HIV (PLWH) are often culturally and linguistically diverse populations; these differences are associated with differing barriers to antiretroviral therapy (ART) adherence. Cultural competence measures the extent to which trial design recognises this diversity. This systematic review aimed to determine whether adherence trial participants represent the diversity of PLWH. Randomised Controlled Trials in Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development countries to improve ART adherence were eligible. We searched MEDLINE, EMBASE, and Cochrane Database of Systematic Reviews. For all included trials, we searched for their development, testing and evaluation studies. We compared trial participant characteristics with nationally reported PLWH data. We appraised trial cultural competence against ten criteria; scoring each criterion as 0, 1 or 2 indicating cultural blindness, pre-competence or competence respectively. For 80 included trials, a further 13 studies presenting development/testing/evaluation data for the included trials were identified. Only one of the 80 included studies reported trial participants representative of the country's population of PLWH. The median (IQ) cultural competence score was 2.5 (1.0, 4.0) out of 20. HIV adherence trial participants are not reflective of the population with HIV, which may be due to limited adoption of culturally competent research methods

Influence of Recent Standing, Moving, or Sitting on Daytime Ambulatory Blood Pressure

Background There are no recommendations for being seated versus nonseated during ambulatory blood pressure (BP) monitoring (ABPM). The authors examined how recent standing or moving versus sitting affect average daytime BP on ABPM. Methods and Results This analysis used baseline assessments from a clinical trial in desk workers with office systolic BP (SBP) 120 to 159 mm Hg or diastolic BP (DBP) 80 to 99 mm Hg. ABPM was measured every 30 minutes with a SunTech Medical Oscar 2 monitor. Concurrent posture (standing or seated) and moving (steps) were measured via a thigh‐worn accelerometer. Linear regression determined within‐person BP variability explained (R2) by standing and steps before ABPM readings. Mean daytime BP and the prevalence of mean daytime BP >135/85 mm Hg from readings after sitting (seated) or after recent standing or moving (nonseated) were compared with all readings. Participants (n=266, 59% women; age, 45.2±11.6 years) provided 32.5±3.9 daytime BP readings. Time standing and steps before readings explained variability up to 17% for daytime SBP and 14% for daytime DBP. Using the 5‐minute prior interval, seated SBP/DBP was lower (130.8/79.7 mm Hg, P<0.001) and nonseated SBP/DBP was higher (137.8/84.3 mm Hg, P<0.001) than mean daytime SBP/DBP from all readings (133.9/81.6 mm Hg). The prevalence of mean daytime SBP/DBP ≥135/85 mm Hg also differed: 38.7% from seated readings, 70.3% from nonseated readings, and 52.6% from all readings (P<0.05). Conclusions Daytime BP was systematically higher after standing and moving compared with being seated. Individual variation in activity patterns could influence the diagnosis of high BP using daytime BP readings on ABPM