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Objective To examine the relationship between school lunch timing (before vs after recess) on physical activity (PA) during recess and energy balance and food intake at lunch. Methods A cross-sectional study design was used to examine lunch intake and PA during recess among fourth- and fifth-graders (n = 103) over 5 school days. Lunch and PA were measured using a weighted plate waste technique and accelerometry, respectively. Results Children who received lunch before recess accumulated lower residual energy (ie, energy intake at lunch minus energy expenditure during recess) and consumed a greater proportion of milk servings. No timing effects were observed for other lunch and PA variables. Conclusions and Implications Lunch intake and activity during recess are related to lunch timing policy. Findings warrant further examination using experimental and quasi-experimental studies to better understand the impact of timing on health behaviors.

Greenlee, TA, Greene, DR, Ward, NJ, Reeser, GE, Allen, CM, Baumgartner, NW, Cohen, NJ, Kramer, AF, Hillman, CH, and Barbey, AK. Effectiveness of a 16-week high-intensity cardioresistance training program in adults. J Strength Cond Res 31(9): 2528-2541, 2017-The purpose of this study was to determine the efficacy of a novel, 16-week high-intensity cardioresistance training (HICRT) program on measures of aerobic fitness, agility, aerobic power, muscular endurance, lower-body explosive power, and self-reported activity level. The intervention group (N = 129; 63 f, 24.65 ± 5.55 years) had a baseline V[Combining Dot Above]O2max of 39.83 ± 9.13. These individuals participated in 26, 70-minute exercise sessions, and 4 fitness testing sessions. Participants were matched with a nonexercise control group, paired by sex, age, and baseline V[Combining Dot Above]O2max. Matched controls (N = 129, 63 f, 24.26 ± 5.59 years) had a baseline V[Combining Dot Above]O2max of 39.86 ± 8.59 and completed preintervention and postintervention V[Combining Dot Above]O2max testing only. The results demonstrate that participants in the fitness intervention group significantly increased their V[Combining Dot Above]O2max (2.72 ± 0.31, Mdiff ± SE; p < 0.001) and reported being more physically active (0.42 ± 0.11, Mdiff ± SE; p < 0.001) after the intervention. The matched control group showed no significant pre-post intervention changes. Participants in the fitness intervention showed a significant improvement in 3 of 5 components of the fitness field tests. Specifically, significant improvements were observed for the 1-minute rower (5.32 ± 0.505, Mdiff ± SE; p < 0.001), 1-minute push-up (8.168 ± 0.709, Mdiff ± SE; p < 0.001), and 1.5-mile run tests (1.79 ± 0.169, Mdiff ± SE; p < 0.001). No significant improvements were observed for the shuttle run (p = 0.173) or standing long jump (p = 0.137). These findings demonstrate the efficacy of a novel, HICRT intervention across multiple dimensions of fitness for young- and middle-aged adults. High-intensity cardioresistance training affords flexibility for tailoring to meet desired health and fitness outcomes and makes perceivably daunting high-intensity functional training and multimodal sports training more accessible to general, traditionally nonathletic, populations.

Physical inactivity and excess adiposity are thought to be detrimental to physical and cognitive health. However, implications of these interrelated health factors are rarely examined together; consequently, little is known regarding the concomitant contribution of physical activity and adiposity to cognition.Bivariate correlations and hierarchical linear regressions were conducted among a sample of adults between 25 and 45 years (N = 65). Attentional inhibition was assessed using an Eriksen Flanker task. Whole-body percent body fat (%Fat) was assessed using dual-energy X-ray absorptiometry. Daily percent time spent in moderate to vigorous physical activity (%MVPA) was monitored using an accelerometer (7 d).After adjusting for significant covariates, %MVPA was a positive predictor of accuracy in the incongruent task (β = 0.31, P = .03). Individuals who engaged in greater %MVPA exhibited superior attentional inhibition. Additionally, there was an interaction effect of %Fat and %MVPA on attentional inhibition (β = 0.45, P = .04).The positive influence of MVPA on cognitive control persists following the adjustment of significant covariates and adiposity. Additionally, interactive effects between %Fat and %MVPA suggest that individuals with lower activity and greater adiposity exhibited poorer attentional inhibition. These findings have relevance for public health given the elevated rates of physical inactivity and obesity.

One apparent consequence of aging appears to be loss of some aspects of cognitive control. This loss is measurable as early as mid-adulthood. Since, like many aspects of cognition, there is wide variance among individuals, it is possible that behavior, such as one’s diet, could drive some of these differences. For instance, past data on older humans and non-human primates have suggested that dietary carotenoids could slow cognitive decline. In this study, we tested how early such protection might manifest by examining a sample (n = 60) of 25–45 year olds. Carotenoid status was assessed by directly measuring macular pigment optical density (MPOD) which has shown to be highly correlated with the primary carotenoid in brain, lutein. Cognitive control was measured using event-related potentials during the performance of cognitive control tasks designed to tap into different aspects of attentional (i.e., selective attention, attentional inhibition, and response inhibition) control. Our results showed that, across participants, MPOD was related to both age and the P3 component of participants’ neuroelectric profile (P3 amplitude) for attentional, but not response, inhibition. Although younger adults exhibited larger P3 amplitudes than their older adult counterparts, older subjects with higher MPOD levels displayed P3 indices similar to their younger adult counterparts in amplitude. Furthermore, hierarchical regression analyses showed that age was no longer a significant predictor of P3 amplitude when MPOD was included as a predictor in the model, suggesting that MPOD may partially contribute to the relationship between age and P3 amplitude. In addition, age and MPOD were shown to have independent associations with intraindividual variability of attentional control, such that younger individuals and individuals with higher MPOD showed less intraindividual variability. These results show a relationship between retinal carotenoids and neuroelectric indices underlying cognitive control. The protective role of carotenoids within the CNS may be evident during early and middle adulthood, decades prior to the onset of older age.