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Aim: Physical activity (PA) has been associated with enhanced cognition, brain development and concentration. This study evaluated whether increased physical education (PE) improved academic achievement.Methods: We recruited 304 children (55% boys) from a Swedish school in Skane County in 1998-2002 when they were six to seven years of age and followed them through all nine mandatory school years. Their PE level was increased from 60 to 200 minutes per week, and their results were compared with 73 885 control children (51% boys) in the county who graduated in the same years and did the standard 60 minutes of PE per week. Their academic achievements were measured as their final grade scores and the proportion of students eligible for upper secondary school.Results: The eligibility for further education increased in the intervention boys by 6.8 percentage points and the mean grade score by 12.1 points, while in the control group as a whole, the eligibility rate decreased by 0.7 percentage points and the mean grade score increased by 1.7 points. No changes in eligibility rates or mean grade scores were seen in the intervention girls.Conclusion: Increasing weekly PE over nine years was associated with improved academic achievement in boys. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: Bone loss at peripheral sites in the elderly is mainly cortical and involves increased cortical porosity. However, an association between bone loss at these sites and 25-hydroxyvitamin D has not been reported.Objective: To investigate the association between serum levels of 25-hydroxyvitamin D, bone microstructure and areal bone mineral density (BMD) in elderly men.Methods: A population-based cohort of 444 elderly men (mean ± SD age 80.2 ± 3.5 years) was investigated. Bone microstructure was measured by high-resolution peripheral quantitative computed tomography, areal BMD by dual-energy X-ray absorptiometry and serum 25-hydroxyvitamin D and parathyroid hormone levels by immunoassay.Results: Mean cortical porosity at the distal tibia was 14.7% higher (12.5 ± 4.3% vs. 10.9 ± 4.1%, P < 0.05) whilst cortical volumetric BMD, area, trabecular bone volume fraction and femoral neck areal BMD were lower in men in the lowest quartile of vitamin D levels compared to the highest. In men with vitamin D deficiency (<25 nmol L-1 ) or insufficiency [25-49 nmol L-1 , in combination with an elevated serum level of parathyroid hormone (>6.8 pmol L-1 )], cortical porosity was 17.2% higher than in vitamin D-sufficient men (P < 0.01). A linear regression model including age, weight, height, daily calcium intake, physical activity, smoking vitamin D supplementation and parathyroid hormone showed that 25-hydroxyvitamin D independently predicted cortical porosity (standardized β = -0.110, R2 = 1.1%, P = 0.024), area (β = 0.123, R2 = 1.4%, P = 0.007) and cortical volumetric BMD (β = 0.125, R2 = 1.4%, P = 0.007) of the tibia as well as areal BMD of the femoral neck (β = 0.102, R2 = 0.9%, P = 0.04).Conclusion: Serum vitamin D is associated with cortical porosity, area and density, indicating that bone fragility as a result of low vitamin D could be due to changes in cortical bone microstructure and geometry. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: It has been suggested that osteoblasts are involved in the regulation of haematopoietic stem cells. Whether osteocalcin, which is derived from osteoblasts and is metabolically active, influences blood haemoglobin (Hb) levels is not known.Objective: To determine whether plasma osteocalcin is a determinant of Hb in elderly men.Methods: A total of 993 men (mean age 75.3 ± 3.2 years) participated in the population-based MrOS (osteoporotic fractures in men) study. Plasma osteocalcin concentration was evaluated in relation to Hb and adjustments were made for potential confounders (i.e. age, body mass index, erythropoietin, total oestradiol, fasting insulin, adiponectin, ferritin and cystatin C).Results: Hb correlated (age adjusted) negatively with osteocalcin in the total study group (r = -0.12, P < 0.001) as well as in the subgroup of nondiabetic men (r = -0.16, P < 0.001). In nondiabetic men with higher osteocalcin levels, it was more likely that Hb would be in the lowest quartile (odds ratio per SD decrease in osteocalcin 1.32, 95% confidence interval 1.13-1.53). Quartiles of Hb were negatively associated (age adjusted) with osteocalcin (P < 0.001). Anaemic men (47/812) (Hb <130 g L(-1) ) had significantly higher mean osteocalcin levels than nonanaemic men (33.9 vs. 27.1 μg L(-1) , P < 0.001). In multiple stepwise linear regression analyses (adjusted for age, body mass index, total oestradiol, adiponectin, erythropoietin, fasting insulin, cystatin C, leptin, ferritin and holotranscobalamin), osteocalcin was an independent predictor of Hb concentration in nondiabetic men (P < 0.05).Conclusions: These data add further support to the evidence indicating that the bone-specific protein osteocalcin has several endocrine functions targeting the pancreas, testes, adipocytes, brain. An additional novel finding is that osteocalcin may also have a paracrine function as a regulator of haematopoiesis. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

OBJECTIVES: Blood haemoglobin (Hb) concentration declines in elderly men, whilst the level of the adipocyte-derived protein adiponectin increases with age. The association between erythropoiesis and adiponectin in elderly men is unclear. The aim of this study was to determine whether adipokines such as adiponectin and leptin are associated with anaemia and Hb concentration in elderly community-dwelling men. DESIGN AND SETTING: The Gothenburg part of the population-based Swedish Osteoporotic Fractures in Men (MrOS) cohort (n = 1010; median age 75.3 years, range 69-81). MAIN OUTCOME MEASURES: We investigated the associations between levels of adiponectin and Hb before and after adjusting for potential confounders [i.e. age, body composition, erythropoietin (EPO), total oestradiol, leptin, cystatin C and iron and B vitamin status]. RESULTS: In these elderly men, age was negatively associated with Hb (r = -0.12, P < 0.001) and positively associated with adiponectin level (r = 0.13, P < 0.001). In age-adjusted partial correlations, Hb and adiponectin levels were negatively correlated (r = -0.20, P < 0.001); this association remained significant after multivariable adjustment for age, body composition, EPO, fasting insulin, sex hormones, leptin and ferritin. Age-adjusted mean adiponectin concentrations were significantly higher in anaemic men (66/1005; Hb <130 g L(-1) ) compared to nonanaemic men (14.0 vs. 11.7 [mu]g mL(-1) , P < 0.05). In multivariate analysis, adiponectin together with EPO, total oestradiol, insulin, albumin, transferrin saturation, HDL cholesterol, cystatin C, total body fat mass and free thyroxine, but not leptin, explained 35% of the variation in Hb level. These results remained essentially unchanged after exclusion of men with diabetes. CONCLUSIONS: Serum adiponectin, but not leptin, was negatively and independently associated with Hb. This finding suggests a possible role of adiponectin in the age-related decline in Hb level observed in apparently healthy elderly men. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Objectives Blood haemoglobin (Hb) concentration declines in elderly men, whilst the level of the adipocyte-derived protein adiponectin increases with age. The association between erythropoiesis and adiponectin in elderly men is unclear. The aim of this study was to determine whether adipokines such as adiponectin and leptin are associated with anaemia and Hb concentration in elderly community-dwelling men. Design and setting The Gothenburg part of the population-based Swedish Osteoporotic Fractures in Men (Mr OS) cohort ( n = 1010; median age 75.3 years, range 69-81). Main outcome measures We investigated the associations between levels of adiponectin and Hb before and after adjusting for potential confounders [i.e. age, body composition, erythropoietin ( EPO), total oestradiol, leptin, cystatin C and iron and B vitamin status]. Results In these elderly men, age was negatively associated with Hb ( r = −0.12, P < 0.001) and positively associated with adiponectin level ( r = 0.13, P < 0.001). In age-adjusted partial correlations, Hb and adiponectin levels were negatively correlated ( r = −0.20, P < 0.001); this association remained significant after multivariable adjustment for age, body composition, EPO, fasting insulin, sex hormones, leptin and ferritin. Age-adjusted mean adiponectin concentrations were significantly higher in anaemic men (66/1005; Hb <130 g L−1) compared to nonanaemic men (14.0 vs. 11.7 μg mL−1, P < 0.05). In multivariate analysis, adiponectin together with EPO, total oestradiol, insulin, albumin, transferrin saturation, HDL cholesterol, cystatin C, total body fat mass and free thyroxine, but not leptin, explained 35% of the variation in Hb level. These results remained essentially unchanged after exclusion of men with diabetes. Conclusions Serum adiponectin, but not leptin, was negatively and independently associated with Hb. This finding suggests a possible role of adiponectin in the age-related decline in Hb level observed in apparently healthy elderly men. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

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