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Objective:  To determine if there is a correlation between body mass index (BMI) and climacteric symptoms in postmenopausal women., Methods:  The study sample was composed of 109 postmenopausal women with a mean age of 57 ±  8 years, mean body mass index (BMI) of 30 ±  6 kg/m 2 , and 8 ±  8 years after menopause. For the assessment of the climacteric symptoms, the Blatt-Kupperman Index (BKI), the Menopause Rating Scale (MRS), and the Cervantes Scale (CS) were used. Data analysis was performed through the Chi-squared test, analysis of variance (ANOVA) with the Bonferroni post hoc test, and multiple linear regression. The level of significance adopted was of p  < 0.05. The statistical analyses were performed using the Statistical Package for the Social Sciences (IBM SPSS Statistics for Windows, IBM Corp., Armonk, NY, United States) software, version 26.0., Results:  The multiple linear regression showed a positive association ( p  < 0.01) between BMI values and menopause symptoms when adjusted for age and time after menopause in the 3 questionnaires used (BKI: B = 0.432; CS: B = 304; and MRS: B = 302). Regarding symptom scores, the obese women had higher mean scores ( p  < 0.05) when compared to eutrophic women (BKI = 28 ±  10 and 20 ±  10; and MRS = 20 ±  10 and 13 ±  7, respectively). In the Chi-squared analysis, 28% of obese women had severe symptoms and 46% had moderate symptoms, while only 1% and 46% of eutrophic women had these same symptoms., Conclusion:  There is an association between BMI and climacteric symptoms, and overweight or obese women have more intense and moderate symptoms than eutrophic women., Competing Interests: The authors have no conflict of interests to declare., (Federação Brasileira de Ginecologia e Obstetrícia. This is an open access article published by Thieme under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License, permitting unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction so long as the original work is properly cited. (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/).)

Asthma-obesity is a multifactorial disease with specific asthma phenotypes that aggravate due to overweight and an unbalanced diet. Furthermore, obese asthmatic patients are corticotherapy-resistant. Therefore, the aims of the present study were to evaluate the effects of an interdisciplinary intervention on food consumption, body composition, lung function and adipokines in asthmatic and non-asthmatic obese adolescents and to investigate the influence of nutrients on lung function. Obese non-asthmatic (n 42) and obese asthmatic (n 21) adolescents of both sexes were enrolled in the present study. Food intake, adipokine levels, body composition, asthma symptoms and lung function were assessed across the study. After the intervention of 1 year, there was a reduction (P ≤ 0·01) in BMI, body fat percentage, visceral and subcutaneous fat and an increase (P ≤ 0·01) in lean mass and all lung function variables in both groups, except the relation between forced expiratory volume in 1 s and forced vital capacity (FEV1:FVC) in non-asthmatic patients. Moreover, both groups decreased lipid and cholesterol consumption (P ≤ 0·01). The highest energy consumption (β = -0·021) was associated with lower values of FVC. Similarly, carbohydrate consumption (β = -0·06) and cholesterol were negative predictors (β = -0·05) in FEV1:FVC. However, the consumption of Ca (β = 0·01), fibres (β = 1·34) and vitamin A (β = 0·01) were positive predictors of FEV1:FVC. Asthma-obesity interdisciplinary treatment promoted an improvement on food consumption and lung function in adolescents and demonstrated that the consumption of nutrients influenced an increase in lung function.

Objective: Obtain a Portuguese version of the Kiddo-KINDL questionnaire that is semantic and culturally equivalent to the original version., Methods: For the adaptation, the methodology of direct and inverse translation was used. The questionnaire was applied to groups from three schools in Uberlândia, MG - Brazil, and comprised of 378 children and adolescents aged between 12 and 16. 16% of the students were randomly selected to repeat the test. In the statistical analysis, the following aspects were appraised and analyzed such as: lost data, floor and ceiling effect, internal consistence of the item and reliability of the internal consistence of the scales., Results: The percentage of lost data in the scales was low varying between 1.6% to 2.57%, which indicates good acceptability of the questionnaire. The rates of floor and ceiling effect were lower than 12% suggesting that the instrument is sensitive to detect differences in quality of life related to the health of the children and adolescents ranked within the extreme ends. The Kiddo-KINDL as a whole has shown high reliability (Alpha Cronbach = 0.79)., Conclusion: The Kiddo-KINDL is a reliable tool to be used with children and adolescents in Brazil, and has provided important data of multidimensional nature.

The aim of this study was to determine the effects of successive cycles of a moderately restrictive diet and refeeding with a high-fat diet on the metabolism of the adipose and hepatic tissues of obese rats. Rats were assigned to the following groups: a chow diet; a high-fat diet; a moderate caloric restriction; or a moderate caloric restriction plus refeeding. Some animals in each group were given [1-(14)C]triolein intragastrically, while others received an intraperitoneal injection of 3 mCi (3)H(2)O. All animals were killed by decapitation. The retroperitoneal, visceral epididymal and omental white adipose tissues, brown adipose tissue, liver and blood were immediately removed. The lipid uptake from the diet, in vivo rate of lipogenesis, percentage of fat, lipid profile and leptin concentration were analysed. The high-fat diet promoted an increase in fatty liver (P ≤ 0.05), adiposity mass (P ≤ 0.05) and the plasma concentration of leptin (P ≤ 0.05) and a decreased lipid uptake in white adipose tissue depots (P ≤ 0.05) in relation to the chow diet. The moderate caloric restriction did not reverse the changes promoted by the high-fat diet but induced a small decrease in adiposity, which was reversed after refeeding, and the animals maintained a dyslipidaemic profile and high fat deposition in the liver. We can conclude that the high-fat diet and subsequent moderate caloric restriction plus refeeding increased the risks of developing visceral obesity, dyslipidaemia and non-alcoholic fatty liver disease, which suggests that this type of experimental protocol can be used to study mechanisms related to the metabolic syndrome.

Introduction:  The aging process provokes structural modifications and functional to it greets, compromising the postural control and central processing. Studies have boarded the necessity to identify to the harmful factors of risk to aged the auditory health and security in stricken aged by auditory deficits and with alterations of balance., Objective:  To evaluate the effect of auditory prosthesis in the quality of life, the balance and the fear of fall in aged with bilateral auditory loss., Method:  Carried through clinical and experimental study with 56 aged ones with sensorineural auditory loss, submitted to the use of auditory prosthesis of individual sonorous amplification (AASI). The aged ones had answered to the questionnaires of quality of life Short Form Health Survey (SF-36), Falls Efficacy International Scale- (FES-I) and the test of Berg Balance Scale (BBS). After 4 months, the aged ones that they adapted to the use of the AASI had been reevaluated., Results:  It had 50% of adaptation of the aged ones to the AASI. It was observed that the masculine sex had greater difficulty in adapting to the auditory device and that the variable age, degree of loss, presence of humming and vertigo had not intervened with the adaptation to auditory prosthesis. It had improvement of the quality of life in the dominance of the State General Health (EGS) and Functional Capacity (CF) and of the humming, as well as the increase of the auto-confidence after adaptation of auditory prosthesis., Conclusion:  The use of auditory prosthesis provided the improvement of the domains of the quality of life, what it reflected consequently in one better auto-confidence and in the long run in the reduction of the fear of fall in aged with sensorineural auditory loss.

Background: Recent studies have demonstrated a greater prevalence in exercise-induced bronchospasm (EIB) in obese adolescents. However, the role of pro-/anti-inflammatory adipokines and the repercussions of obesity treatment on EIB need to be explored further. Therefore, the objective of this study was to evaluate the role of pro-/anti-inflammatory adipokines on EIB in obese adolescents evaluated after long-term interdisciplinary therapy., Methods: Thirty-five post-pubertal obese adolescents, including 20 non-EIB (body mass index [BMI] 36 ± 5 kg/m(2)) and 15 EIB (BMI 36 ± 5 kg/m(2)), were enrolled in this study. Body composition was measured by plethysmography, using the BOD POD body composition system, and visceral fat was analyzed by ultrasound. Serum levels of adiponectin and leptin were analyzed. EIB and lung function were evaluated according to the American Thoracic Society criteria. Patients were recruited to a 1-year interdisciplinary intervention of weight loss, consisting of medical, nutritional, exercise, and psychological components., Results: Anthropometrics and lung function variables improved significantly after the therapy in both groups. Furthermore we observed a reduction in EIB occurrence in obese adolescents after treatment. There was an increase in adiponectin levels and a reduction in leptin levels after the therapy. In addition, a low FEV(1) value was a risk factor associated with EIB occurrence at baseline, and was correlated after treatment with changes in anthropometric and maximal O(2) consumption values as well as the adipokines profile., Conclusions: In the present study it was demonstrated that 1 year of interdisciplinary therapy decreased EIB frequency in obese adolescents, paralleled by an increase in lung function and improvement in pro-/anti-inflammatory adipokines.

Objective: To assess the effects of weight loss on adipokines, asthma-related symptoms, exercise-induced bronchospasm (EIB) and lung function, and to evaluate the role of leptin and adiponectin levels on lung function after treatment in obese adolescents., Methods: 84 postpubertal obese adolescents were enrolled and distributed in quartiles according to weight loss (low (<2.5 kg), low to moderate (>2.5 and <8 kg), moderate (<8 and <14 kg) and massive (<14 kg)). Body composition was measured by plethysmography, and visceral and subcutaneous fat were detected by ultrasound. Serum levels of adiponectin and leptin were analyzed. Lung function, asthma and EIB were evaluated according to the American Thoracic Society criteria. Patients were submitted to 1 year of interdisciplinary intervention consisting of physiotherapy, medical, nutritional, exercise, and psychological therapy., Results: After treatment the moderate and massive weight loss promoted an increase in adiponectin and adiponectin/leptin (A/L) ratio as well as a decrease in leptin levels and a reduction in EIB frequency and asthma-related symptoms. Furthermore, the reduction in leptin levels was a predictor factor to improvement in lung function., Conclusion: Interdisciplinary therapy was able to decrease EIB and asthma-related symptoms and to improve pro/anti-inflammatory adipokines. Additionally, the leptin concentration was a predictor factor to explain changes in lung function., (Copyright © 2012 S. Karger AG, Basel.)

Background: Available data on the effects of a fermented soy product enriched with Enterococcus faecium and Lactobacillus Jugurti on circulating lipids and adiposity are not completely settled. This study aimed to observe the effects of a fermented soy product enriched with Enterococcus faecium and Lactobacillus Jugurti on central obesity and dyslipidemia control in Wistar adult male rats., Methods: Over a period of 8 weeks, animals had "ad libitum" food intake and water consumption as well as body weight and food consumption was monitored. The animals were assigned to four different experimental groups: Control Group (C); Control + Fermented Product Group (CPF); Hypercholesterolemic diet group (H); and Hypercholesterolemic + Fermented Product Group (HPF). The HPF and CPF groups received an intragastric administration of 1 ml of fermented product daily. After the experimental period the animals were killed by decapitation, blood was collected to measure cholesterol, triglycerides and HDL-cholesterol plasma concentration. Adipocyte circumference, lipolysis and lipogenis rates were measures using epididymal and retroperitoneal white adipose tissues., Results: The results demonstrated that 1 ml/day/rat of the fermented soy product promoted important benefits such as reduced cholesterolemia in hypercholesterolemic diet group and the adipocyte circumference in both control and hypercholesterolemic diet group., Conclusion: The fermented soy product enriched with Enterococcus faecium and Lactobacillus Jugurti decreased circulating lipids levels and reduced adipocyte area in rats.

Objective: This study aimed to examine and compare the effects of continuous or intermittent exercises on adiposity and fatty liver in rats fed with high-fat diet., Methods and Procedures: Wistar rats were divided according to diet composition-chow diet (C) or high-fat diet (H)-and kinds of exercise-sedentary (S), continuous (CE), or intermittent (IE) exercises. The CE group swam 90 min/day, and the IE group swam 3 x 30 min/day (at 4-h intervals between sessions); both groups exercised 5 days/week during 8 weeks. Body weight and food intake were recorded daily. Lipogenesis rate in vivo was determined by the incorporation of (3)H(2)O into saponified lipids in retroperitoneal (RET), epididymal (EPI), and visceral (VIS) white adipose tissues, brown adipose tissue (BAT), liver (L), and gastrocnemius muscle (GAST) using the gravimetric method. Total cholesterol, high-density lipoprotein (HDL)-cholesterol, and triacylglycerol (TG) were analyzed., Results: The major finding of this study is that IE was more efficient than CE in reducing the adverse effects of high-fat diet and sedentarism. There was an improvement in the lipid profile and a reduction in food intake, body weight gain, visceral and central adiposity, and fatty liver, contributing to the control of obesity and other comorbidities, including nonalcoholic fat liver diseases., Discussion: Earlier studies have discussed the effects of diet consumption on adiposity and their relation to chronic diseases and obesity. This study discusses the effects of high-fat diet consumption and the different kinds of exercise on weight gain, adiposity, fatty liver, and lipid profile in rats. The results may depend on the exercise, time of each session, age, gender, and experimental period.

Objective: To evaluate the level of physical activity in undergraduate students and to investigate its potential association with smoking., Methods: A cross-sectional study with a stratified sample proportional to the total number of students was carried out in Gurupi, Central-West Brazil, in 2005. The sample comprised 871 subjects. The IPAQ-8 short version was applied to assess the level of physical activity. Smoking status was evaluated by a modified World Health Organization (WHO) questionnaire and the magnitude of smokers' nicotine dependence was quantified using the Fagerström nicotine dependence scale. The frequencies, prevalences and prevalence ratios were determined by Yates' chi-square test or Fisher's exact test in the entire sample and stratified by area, course, shift and gender, with a 5% statistical significance level., Results: Mean age was 25 years old (SD+/-8) and mean age at first smoking experience was 17 years old (SD+/-4). The prevalence of physical inactivity and smoking was 29.9% and 7.2%, respectively. The overall prevalence of sedentary smokers and non-smokers was 8.5%, and 91.5%, respectively, but the difference was not statistically significant. A higher prevalence of smoking and physical inactivity was found in those over 25 (48.6%, p <0.05). Nicotine dependence was "very low" in most subjects (68.2%, p <0.05). Smoking was more prevalent in males (10.8%, p <0.05) and the level of physical inactivity was not different in both males and females (p >0.05)., Conclusions: Physical inactivity was seen on both smokers and non-smokers in the same proportion and no association was found between these two variables. Low prevalences of physical inactivity and smoking found in the study may be explained by available ongoing preventive and education programs, which should be implemented in the long run.

Background: Exercise has been prescribed in the treatment and control of dyslipidemias and cholesterolemia, however, lipid responses to different training frequencies in hypercholesterolemic men have been inconsistent. We sought to verify if different frequencies of continuous moderate exercise (2 or 5 days/week, swimming) can, after 8 weeks, promote adaptations in adipocyte area and lipid parameters, as well as body weight and relative weight of tissues in normo and hypercholesterolemic adult male rats., Methods: Normal cholesterol chow diet or cholesterol-rich diet (1% cholesterol plus 0.25% cholic acid) were freely given during 8 weeks to the rats divided in 6 experimentals groups: sedentary normal cholesterol chow diet (C); sedentary cholesterol-rich diet (H); 5x per week continuous training normal cholesterol chow diet (TC5) and cholesterol-rich diet (TH5); 2x per week continuos traning normal cholesterol chow diet (TC2) and cholesterol-rich diet (TH2)., Results: No changes were observed in lipid profile in normal cholesterol chow diet, but both 2 a 5 days/week exercise improved this profile in cholesterol-rich diet. Body weight gain was lower in exercised rats. Decrease in retroperitoneal and epididymal relative weights as well as reductions in adipocyte areas under all diets types were observed only in 5 days/week, while 2 days/week showed improvements mainly in cholesterol-rich diet rats., Conclusion: Our results confirm the importance of exercise protocols to control dyslipidemias and obesity in rats. The effects of 5 days/week exercise were more pronounced compared with those of 2 consecutive days/week training.