Peak oxygen uptake and maturation in 12-yr olds.

Nutrition education, using board game as a complementary teaching strategy, was carried out among adolescents in Ibadan with the aim of improving their knowledge, attitude and practice of healthy eating. One hundred and forty-three secondary school students selected from 4 local government areas in Ibadan, using multistage sampling procedure, constituted the sample for this study. Pretest–Posttest quasi-experimental non-equivalent groups design was adopted for this study. Questionnaire with reliability coefficients of 0.73 (knowledge), 0.75 (attitude) and 0.77(practice) was the instrument for data collection. Frequency counts and percentages were used to analyse the demographic data of the participants while ANCOVA was used to test hypotheses at 0.05 alpha level. Nutrition education had a significant main effect on adolescents’ knowledge, attitude and practice of healthy eating (effect size = 36, 12.1 and 31.3%, respectively). There was no significant main and interaction effect of gender and geographical location on knowledge and practice, but a significant main effect of geographical location on adolescents’ attitude was observed (effect size = 13.9%). Game-enhanced nutrition education is an effective method of improving adolescents’ knowledge, attitude and practice of healthy eating. Hence, amusing and creative strategies should always be incorporated into nutrition education programmes for adolescents.

We examined the influence of race and gender on abdominal adipose tissue (AT) distribution for a given anthropometric measure including waist circumference (WC), waist-to-hip ratio (WHR) and waist-to-height (W/Ht) in youth. Subjects included healthy 62 black and 98 white youth. A single transverse image of the abdomen (L4-L5) was obtained using computed tomography. For a given BMI, there was a significant (P<0.05) main effect of race and sex on the relationship between BMI and WC, such that boys and whites had a higher WC than girls and blacks. There was a significant (P<0.05) main effect and interaction effect of gender on the relationship between WC and visceral AT, such that boys had a higher visceral AT than girls, and the difference was magnified with increasing WC. For a given WC, black boys and girls had higher abdominal subcutaneous AT (SAT) than white peers, wherein the magnitude of the difference is increased with increasing WC. For a given W/Ht, black boys had significantly (P<0.05) lower visceral AT than white boys, but with no difference in girls. Black boys and girls had higher SAT than white peers, wherein the magnitude of the difference is increased with increasing W/Ht. Our findings demonstrate a significant race and gender differential in the abdominal AT distribution for a given BMI, WC, WHR, and W/Ht. Future studies should take these differences into consideration when developing race- and gender-specific anthropometric cut-offs for obesity and obesity-related health risks in youth.

Religious traditions tend to promote prosocial behaviours among their followers. All major religions emphasise moral behaviour and explicitly teach prosociality as a virtue. Previous studies have shown support for the relationship between religion and volunteerism, helping others and youth's positive social behaviour. The present study aimed to explore the effect of gender, levels of religiosity and their interaction on the prosocial behaviour of a sample of youth. The sample comprised 90 (45 male, 45 female) youths chosen from a city. Adults' Prosocialness Scale (Capara et al., 2005), Religious Commitment Inventory (Worthington et al., 2003), and Islamic Religiosity Attitude (Marva, 2010) were administered for data collection. Descriptive statistics and two-way ANOVA were used for statistical analysis. Results revealed a statistically significant main effect for different levels of religiosity on prosocial behaviour. In contrast, the main effect of gender and interaction of gender and levels of religiosity on prosocial behaviour was not found significant. Findings underline the importance of religiosity in enhancing prosocial behaviour and positive psychosocial development of individuals, especially youth.

The effects of progress cues and gender on online wait

The purpose of this study was to analyze the specific training load during a resistance training (RT) programme designed to increase muscular hypertrophy in men and women. Thirty-four women (22.7 ± 4.1 years, 58.8 ± 11.9 kg, 162.6 ± 6.2 cm and 22.1 ± 3.6 kg.m−2) and 30 men (22.7 ± 4.4 years, 68.4 ± 9.0 kg, 174.5 ± 6.6 cm and 22.5 ± 2.4 kg.m−2) underwent a supervised RT programme that was divided into two phases of 8 weeks each. Training consisted of 10–12 exercises performed with three sets of 8–12 repetitions at repetition maximum resistances performed 3 times per week on nonconsecutive days. There was a significant (P < 0.05) main effect for gender by time interaction for average training load of all the exercises performed in the first 8 weeks of RT with women showing a higher relative increase than men (+43.6% vs. +32.5%, respectively). This result was not observed during the second 8-week phase of the RT programme during which no significant gender by time interaction (P > 0.05) was shown with both genders having a similar relative increase (+28.7% vs. +24.3%, respectively). Women had a higher increase than men in specific average training load of the upper limb exercises during both the first 8 weeks of training (+30.2% vs. +26.6%, respectively) and the second 8 weeks of training (+31.1% vs. +25.3%, respectively). We conclude that the adaptation in specific training load is influenced by gender.

Blood type and personality

Sixty‐five Mexican American undergraduates completed a battery of tests, including the Expectations About Counseling‐Brief Form B and the Marlowe‐Crown Social Desirability Scale‐Form XX. Statistical analyses showed significant counselor ethnicity and participant gender main and interaction effects on EAC‐B ratings related to client attitudes and behaviors, counselor attitudes and behaviors, counselor characteristics, and counseling process.

We examined the relation between preference for religious help-seeking and defensive theology, interfaith intolerance, spiritual conceptualisations of mental health problems, race/ethnicity, and gender in a predominantly Christian sample of 389 college students. MANOVA revealed significant main effects for race/ethnicity, with African American participants showing higher scores than Caucasians and Latinos/as across all main study variables. Follow-up ANOVA yielded main effects for race across all four variables and main effects for gender on spiritual conceptualisation of mental health problems and defensive theology. All race/ethnicity by gender interactions were nonsignificant. Preference for religious help-seeking was regressed in a hierarchical manner on race/ethnicity and gender, followed by interfaith intolerance, defensive theology, and spiritual conceptualisation of mental health problems. A statistically significant model explaining 46% of the variance emerged incorporating all variables except race. A framework for understanding help-seeking preference is presented, followed by directions for future research.

PURPOSE: To investigate the effects of a 24-week multiple-modality exercise intervention with additional mind-motor training on cardiovascular health and fitness. The secondary objective was to investigate whether the intervention had gender-specific effects on the study outcomes. METHODS: Community-dwelling older adults (n = 127, age = 67.5 [7.3] yr, 71% women) were randomized to a 45-min multiple-modality exercise intervention with additional 15 minutes of either mind-motor training (M4 group) or an active control intervention (15 minutes of balance, range of motion and breathing exercises, [M2 group]). Assessment occurred at: baseline, 24 weeks (intervention endpoint), and 52 weeks (after a 28-week no-contact follow-up). The study outcomes were: predicted maximal oxygen consumption (pVO2max), automated office blood pressure (BP), carotid atrial compliance (cAC), intima-media thickness (cIMT), as well as body weight. Mixed between-within ANOVA was used to examine: i) main effects of time (baseline vs 24 weeks), intervention group (M4 vs M2) and gender (men vs women); ii) interactions of time x intervention group, and time x gender. RESULTS: Results at 24 weeks: both M4 and M2 demonstrated improvements in pVO2max (p<.001), with no interaction effects for group or gender (all p>.05). For BP measures, both groups showed reduction in systolic (p<.001) and diastolic (p=.001) BP, with no interaction effect for intervention group; however, women showed greater reduction in diastolic BP compared to men (p=.02). No significant changes were observed in cIMT, cAC, or body weight. Results at 52 weeks: improvements in pVO2max were retained (p<.001), however, the M4 group showed higher pVO2max when compared to M2 (p=.005), with no interaction effects for gender. Significant reduction in systolic BP (p<.001) was observed for both M4 and M2, with no interaction effects for group or gender. For diastolic BP, M4 showed significant reduction compared to M2 (p=.04); women also demonstrated greater reduction compared to men (p=.02). There was no significant change in cIMT, cAC or body weight. CONCLUSION: Our results suggest that women may be more likely to benefit from group-based, multiple-modality exercise programs in measures of cardiovascular health.

Gender differences in trait aggression in young adults with drug and alcohol dependence compared to the general population

Research on gender differences in Ratings of Perceived Exertion (RPE) at various threshold values has been equivocal with few studies comparing exercise modes and differentiated RPE's. The current study examined gender differences in overall and differentiated RPE's at the Respiratory Compensation Threshold (RCT) during cycling and treadmill exercise. Each minute during a maximal Bruce treadmill test and a maximal cycling test, males (n = 18) and females (n = 16) provided RPE's corresponding to overall (RPE-O), legs (RPE-L), and breathing (RPE-C) exertion. A 2 (group) × 2 (trial) × 3 (RPE) repeated measures MANOVA revealed no significant trial × gender or RPE × gender interactions. The trial × RPE interaction approached significance (p = 0.055) showing RPE-L greater during cycling (14.8 ± 2.9) vs. running (12.8 ± 2.9). No main effects for gender (male: 13.7 ± 2.6, female: 13.4 ± 2.6) were detected. Main effects for trial showed RPE significantly greater during cycling (14.4 ± 2.8) vs. treadmill exercise (12.7 ± 2.9). Main effects for differentiated RPE's showed RPE-L (13.8 ± 2.6) significantly greater than RPE-O (13.5 ± 2.6) and RPE-C (13.3 ± 2.6). Results suggest overall and differentiated RPE's at the RCT are not significantly different between genders during cycling or treadmill exercise. While RPE-L at the RCT was statistically greater than than RPE-O and RPE-C, the differences were of little practical significance. The marginal interaction suggests greater RPE-L values might be expected at the RCT during cycling vs. treadmill exercise. Results extend the knowledge regarding gender differences and RPE's during intermodal exercise testing.

The purpose of this study was to determine gender and age differences and interaction effects on the quality of life (QoL) domains in a sample of Portuguese HIV-positive patients, and to examine to what degree psychopathological symptoms are associated with QoL in addition to sociodemographic and clinical variables. The sample consisted of 1191 HIV-positive patients, and measures included the WHOQOL-HIV-Bref and the Brief Symptom Inventory. Controlling for clinical status, there was a significant effect of gender on QoL. Women reported lower scores of Psychological and Spirituality QoL. Younger patients reported higher scores on Physical and Level of Independence domains. Age by gender interactions emerged on all domains of QoL except on the Level of Independence domain. Overall, women over 45 years old showed lower QoL scores. Psychopathological symptoms contributed significantly to the variance of all QoL domains. Gender differences in the association of HIV infection with QoL and psychopathological symptoms seemed to be modulated by age. Understanding gender and age differences (and their interaction) may provide potentially useful information for planning interventions to improve QoL and mental health among people infected with HIV/AIDS, especially among older women.

Effect of Goal Proximity and Specificity on Endurance Performance of Primary-Grade Children

Summary : Lifelong exercise training maintains a youthful compliance of the left ventricle (LV), whereas a year of exercise training started later in life fails to reverse LV stiffening, possibly because of accumulation of irreversible advanced glycation end products. Alagebrium is a novel drug that breaks advanced glycation end product crosslinks and improves LV stiffness in aged animals. In this study, the authors prescribed alagebrium (200 mg daily) or placebo combined with aerobic exercise training or contact control in healthy, sedentary older individuals for 1 year. The authors evaluated overall cardiac function by the use of several modalities, including invasive pressure–volume measurements, exercise testing, and cardiac MRI before and after the training. To the authors’ knowledge, this is the first study to evaluate the effects of alagebrium and exercise training in healthy aged humans. After intervention, exercise training significantly increased exercise capacity, LV mass, and LV end-diastolic volume. Conversely, alagebrium had little effect on exercise capacity or LV geometry. However, alagebrium showed a modest improvement in LV stiffness compared with placebo. This favorable effect of alagebrium on LV stiffness was most prominent in individuals with combined alagebrium and exercise training. Conclusions : Alagebrium had no effect on hemodynamics, LV geometry, or exercise capacity in healthy, previously sedentary seniors. However, it did show a modestly favorable effect on age-associated LV stiffening.1 Summary : Maximum oxygen consumption (peak VO2) and efficiency of ventilation (VE) during exercise (VE/VCO2 slope) are known to stratify adults in heart failure for 1-year survival. On the basis of adult data, a recent American Heart Association scientific statement suggested that peak VO2<50% predicted for age and sex should be considered substantial impairment in exercise performance in children with heart disease and therefore a class I indication for heart transplant listing. This single-center study examined the association of …

Gender differences in hemispheric asymmetry for language functioning have been reported in the neuropsychological literature. Despite numerous reports of anatomic asymmetries in corresponding cortical regions, the possibility of gender dimorphism in the putative neuroanatomical substrate of language has not been systematically examined in vivo. We assessed asymmetry of the planum temporale (PT), a supratemporal region of auditory association cortex, in 12 normal, right-handed females and 12 age-matched right-handed males with the aid of MRI surface-rendering morphometry. Bilateral areas were also assessed for Heschl's gyrus (HG), a supratemporal region of primary auditory cortex where no asymmetry was anticipated. We found a significant interaction between gender and hemisphere for the PT, with males having significantly larger left versus right PTs. Left-right differences in PT area were not significant among females (10 of 12 males showed leftward lateralization of the PT, vs 5 of 12 females). No main effect of gender was found for total (left + right) PT area, and no asymmetries or gender effects were detected for HG. This finding of gender dimorphism in PT area is consistent with evidence for reduced asymmetry among females in the lateralization of language functions attributable to the supratemporal cortex. The implications for theories about interactions between sex hormones and the development of brain asymmetries are discussed.