Effects of After-School Volleyball Program on Body Composition in Overweight Adolescent Girls

The current study aimed to investigate the effects of an after-school volleyball program on body composition in overweight adolescent girls. Forty-two girls were randomly divided into a volleyball group (VG) (n = 22 age: 15.6 ± 0.5 years) and control group (CG) (n = 20; age: 15.5 ± 0.7years). Both groups continued with their usual physical education activities, while VG was included as small-sided games, two times a week, after school, on modified volleyball courts. Body mass, body mass index (BMI), body fat in kg, body fat percentage, and muscle mass were analyzed by a bioelectrical impedance method. There was a significant interaction of group (VG vs. CG) x time (pre-vs. post) for weight [F1, 40 = 7.933; p = 0.004] and BMI [F1, 40 = 5.764; p = 0.015]. Additionally, a significant main effect of time was found for body fat (kg) [F1, 40 = 17.650; p < 0.001] and body fat (%) [F1, 40 = 18.721; p < 0.001]. The results of the current study show that a twelve-week after-school volleyball program, including two sessions a week, can improve body composition in overweight adolescent girls.

The Beneficial Effects of Moxibustion on Overweight Adolescent Girls

Among adolescent girls, overweight or obesity has both physical and psychological involvement. We conducted a randomized controlled trial of moxibustion using a moxa burner. Fifty-four eligible girls aged 15–18 years with a body mass index (BMI) greater than 25.3 were enrolled in the study. The girls were randomly allocated to the treatment (n = 27) and control (n = 27) groups. The girls underwent treatment three times per week for 8 weeks (24 treatments). Moxibustion was applied to the RN12, RN6, ST25, ST36, and SP6 acupoints. Physical assessments were BMI, waist-to-hip ratio (WHR), and body fat ratio (BFR). Psychological outcomes were measured using the Rosenberg Self-Esteem Scale (RSE). Data were collected at the beginning of the study (baseline), week 4, and week 8. Of the 54 participants, 46 completed the trial. The difference in mean BMI from baseline between the two groups was 0.097 ( p = 0.655 ) at week 4 and −0.794 ( p = 0.001 ) at week 8. The mean WHR of the treatment group was significantly reduced compared with baseline, with a −0.011 ( p = 0.017 ) and −0.035 ( p < 0.001 ) mean change at weeks 4 and 8, respectively. The mean BFR was slightly reduced (−0.253; p = 0.474 ) at week 4 compared with baseline in the treatment group. At week 8, it was significantly reduced (−2.068; p < 0.001 ) from baseline in the treatment group. The mean RSE in the treatment group showed no significant increase from baseline at week 4 (0.155 points, p = 0.803 ), but it improved significantly from baseline at week 8 (1.606 points, p = 0.021 ) compared to that in the control group. No obvious adverse effect was reported during this study. Moxibustion using a moxa burner may be an effective and safe intervention for overweight adolescent girls, having both physical and psychological benefits.

Effect of High-Intensity Interval Training on Leptin, Adiponectin, and Leptin/Adiponectin Ratio in Overweight Adolescent Boys

Background: Proliferation of adipose tissue increases leptin secretion and decreases adiponectin concentration. Exercise is an intervention to control and reverse this process. Therefore, the present study aimed to determine the effect of 8-week high-intensity interval training on leptin, adiponectin, and the ratio of leptin to adiponectin in overweight adolescent boys. Materials and Methods: The present quasi-experimental study was conducted on overweight adolescent boys (13-18 years old, mean body mass index 27.05±1.4 kg/m2). A total of 30 participants volunteered who were divided into three groups of 10 people including short-term (9 sessions of 30-second training with 150-second rest), long-term (4 sessions of 150-second training with 240-second rest), and control group. The training groups performed high-intensity running sprints 3 times per week for 8 weeks. Data were analyzed using two-way repeated-measures ANOVA (3 groups×2 measurement times) and Bonferroni test. Results: Performed high-intensity interval training failed to affect leptin, weight, and body mass index but increased adiponectin and decreased the ratio of leptin to adiponectin (P = 0.042) and fat percentage. No difference was observed between the two types of interval training in changing the level of leptin, adiponectin, fat percentage, and body mass index. Conclusion: High-intensity interval training increases metabolic benefits in overweight adolescents by increasing adiponectin and subsequently decreasing the leptin/adiponectin ratio. Low exercise, no calorie restriction, and other factors affecting puberty may influence the research results.

Effects of School-Based Exercise and Nutrition Intervention on Body Composition and Physical Fitness in Overweight Adolescent Girls

Regular exercise during school hours is encouraged since childhood obesity has reached epidemic proportions. Moreover, a great majority of adolescents do not meet the recommendations for moderate-to-vigorous physical activity. The present study aimed to determine the effects of school-based high-intensity interval training (HIIT) and nutrition intervention on body composition and physical fitness in overweight adolescent girls. Forty-eight girls were included in the study, of whom 24 (age = 15.5 ± 0.7 years) were randomized to a experimental group (EXP) (HIIT and nutrition intervention school-based program) and 24 (age = 15.7 ± 0.6 years) to a control group (CON) that maintained their usual physical education activities. HIIT consisted of 10 stations of own bodyweight exercise and was done three times per week for eight weeks. Moreover, the EXP participated in the nutrition program led by a nutritionist two times a week. Apart from body composition assessment, participants performed countermovement jump (CMJ), medicine ball throw, hand-grip test, and Yo-Yo Intermittent Recovery Level 1 Test (YYIRT1). A significant effect of group (EXP vs. CON) x time (pre vs. post) interaction was observed for weight [F(1,44) = 7.733; p = 0.008], body mass index [F(1,44) = 5.764; p = 0.020], body fat (in kg) [F(1,44) = 17.850; p < 0.001], and body fat (in %) [F(1,44) = 18.821; p < 0.001]. Moreover, a significant interaction was observed for the medicine ball throw [F(1,44) = 27.016; p < 0.001] and YYIRT1 [F(1,44) = 5.439; p = 0.024]. A significant main effect for time was found for hand grip [F(1,44) = 9.300; p = 0.004] and CMJ [F(1,44) = 12.866; p = 0.001].The present study has demonstrated that just eight weeks school-based HIIT and nutrition intervention, including three sessions a week, can improve body composition and muscular and physical aerobic performance in overweighted adolescent girls.

Change in the Motivation to Receive Treatment by Overweight Adolescent Girls in the Course of Counseling

The purpose of this study was to reveal changes in the motivation to receive treatment by overweight adolescent girls in the course of counseling. Methods and Results: The study included 2 groups of overweight girls with gynecological disorders aged between 14 years and 16 years. Group 1 comprised 20 girls admitted to a hospital for the first time; Group 2 consisted of 20 girls who had undergone treatment earlier (were admitted repeatedly). The motivational-personal sphere was studied using the following methods: (1) McClelland’s method for testing social and psychological activity motivators; (2) S.R. Panteleev’s research method of self-attitude; (3) EAT-26; (4) The body satisfaction method by Collins. The results obtained showed that changing motivation to receive treatment is a complex process implying changes in motivational induction: Achievement Motive, Affiliation Motive, Help Motive, Development Motive, and Cognition Motive. It was also revealed that directly acting motives prevailed over those emerging due to awareness of the treatment’s purpose. Conclusion: a specially developed counseling process comprising diagnostic, informational, correctional and developmental aspects of working with adolescent girls individually and in groups contributed to changing motivation to receive treatment by overweight adolescent girls.

Weight discordant siblings’ ability to reduce energy intake at a meal as compensation for prior energy intake from sugar-sweetened beverages (SSBs)

Background: Insufficient compensation for energy from sugar-sweetened beverages (SSBs) consumed prior to meals may promote greater overall energy intake. If so, ability to compensate for prior energy intake may account for difference in adiposity between adolescents with and without overweight. Studies of fraternal siblings discordant for weight status control for some genetic and shared within-family factors, which allows for testing how putative non-shared factors, such as parental control of feeding, predicts sibling weight differences. Aim: To determine whether same-sex weight-discordant (one with, one without overweight) adolescent siblings differ in ability to compensate for prior energy intake. Methods: Same-sex biological sibling pairs (mean age = 15.4; 95% confidence interval (CI) 15.1, 15.7) ( n = 38 pairs; 21 male pairs) consumed a sugar-sweetened (450 kcal) or a non-nutritive-sweetened (10 kcal) liquid preload of equal volumes on separate days, followed by an ad libitum lunch. Multilevel models examined ability to compensate, dietary restraint, and parental control of child’s feeding. Results: Siblings showed insufficient compensation and overate (with overweight = 44 kcal; without overweight = 32 kcal). Siblings shared little within-family similarity in compensation (intra-class correlation coefficient (ICC) = 0.20). Compensation was predicted by parental restriction and general restriction ( p = 0.02) Differences in siblings’ BMI z-scores were associated with differences in dietary restraint ( p = 0.04) not with differences in compensation. Conclusion: Sibling differences in compensation for energy from sweetened beverages were not associated with differences in their adiposity. Compensation may be determined by a constellation of factors, including age, parental feeding practices, and food characteristics.

Importance of Self-Efficacy in Eating Behavior and Physical Activity Change of Overweight and Non-Overweight Adolescent Girls Participating in Healthy Me: A Lifestyle Intervention with Mobile Technology

Very little is known about how multicomponent interventions directed to entire populations work in selected groups of adolescents. The aim was to evaluate the effectiveness of the Healthy Me one-year program on changes in healthy eating and physical activity among overweight and non-overweight female students. Randomization involved the allocation of full, partial or null intervention. The randomized field trial was implemented in 48 secondary schools (clusters) all over Poland among 1198 15-year-old girls. In this study, a sample of N = 1111 girls who participated in each evaluation study was analyzed. Using multimedia technologies, efforts were made to improve health behaviors and increase self-efficacy. The main outcome was a health behavior index (HBI), built on the basis of six nutritional indicators and one related to physical activity. HBI was analyzed before and immediately after intervention and at three months’ follow-up, and the HBI change was modeled. Statistical analysis included nonparametric tests and generalized linear models with two-way interactions. Comparing the first and third surveys, in the overweight girls, the HBI index improved by 0.348 (SD = 3.17), while in the non-overweight girls it had worsened. After adjusting for other factors, a significant interaction between body weight status and level of self-efficacy as predictors of HBI changes was confirmed. The program turned out to be more beneficial for overweight girls.

The Effects of Circuit Resistance Training on Inflammatory Status, Insulin Resistance and Body Composition in Overweight Adolescent Boys

Objective: The overweight-related health problems among adolescents are obvious. Resistance training is recognized as a safe and efficacious exercise modality to have health-promoting effects in overweight adolescents. This study aimed to assess the efficacy of circuit resistance training (CRT) in improving inflammatory status, insulin resistance and body composition in overweight male adolescents. Materials and Methods: Twenty overweight adolescent boys (aged: 18.5 (±1), weight: 81.1 (±4.5), body mass index: 27.7 (±0.7)) completed this study. The participants were randomly and equally divided into two groups of control (CG; n=10) and circuit resistance training (CRT; n=10). The CG did their daily routine activities and the CRT group performed its training protocol 3 days a week for 6 weeks. Body composition components and serum variables were measured a day before and after the study. Insulin resistance index was measured by HOMA-IR. Results: The subjects in the CG showed significantly increased changes compared with pre-training values. Moreover, significant changes were found fort the changes of BW ( P -value= 0.005), BMI ( P -value= 0.001) and BF% ( P -value= 0.003) between groups. Conclusion: This study suggested that although six weeks of CRT failed to induce meaningful anti-inflammatory cytokine responses, and to improve body composition and HOMA-IR in overweight adolescent boys, but had protective effects on inflammatory status, HOMA-IR and body composition and prevented them from being deteriorated