Association between non-obesity and health state among young Japanese male university students

Body Composition and Metabolic Status of Italian and Spanish University Students: Relationship with Fruit and Vegetable Consumption

Most university students do not follow recommendations for fruit and vegetable intake, with a consequent increase in the prevalence of cardiovascular disease (CVD) risk factors. The aim of this study was to compare obesity prevalence and biomarkers of metabolic status between Italian and Spanish university students, in relation with the consumption of fruits and vegetables. Food consumption, adherence to a Mediterranean diet (MD), level of physical activity (PA), blood glucose, total cholesterol, triglycerides and ketones, blood pressure, and body composition were evaluated. Among CVD risk factors, only glucose was significantly higher in Spaniards (SP), and only 3.1% of SP presented ketosis. SP had a higher percentage of energy from fat. Although adherence to MD and fruit and vegetable consumption did not differ between Italians and SP, students who consumed at least four servings of fruit and vegetables (FV group) showed better values for pressure and metabolic parameters than the no FV group. We observed an association between consumption of fruit and PA. Students who consumed more vegetables than fruit reported a better body composition profile and lower glucose concentrations. As previously suggested, in addition to PA, two servings of fruit and three servings of vegetables per day should be recommended.

Insulin resistance and the adiponectin/leptin ratio as a surrogate measure of insulin resistance in Japanese collegiate baseball players

BACKGROUND

No study has previously investigated insulin resistance in collegiate baseball players. The purposes of this study were to examine: 1) the insulin resistance; and 2) the usefulness of the adiponectin/leptin (A/L) ratio compared with the homeostasis model assessment of insulin resistance (HOMA-IR) for assessing insulin resistance in collegiate baseball players.

METHODS

Twenty collegiate baseball players with abdominal obesity (AO group) defined by a waist circumference (WC) ≥85 cm, 65 lean baseball players with a WC<85 cm (L group), and 20 controls who were sedentary for at least 1 year (C group) were compared. The Body Mass Index, WC, systolic and diastolic blood pressures, fasting plasma glucose, total cholesterol, triglycerides, high-density lipoprotein cholesterol (HDL-C), low-density lipoprotein cholesterol, apolipoprotein B, insulin, leptin, adiponectin, and high-sensitivity C-reactive protein (hs-CRP) were measured.

RESULTS

The AO group had a significantly higher insulin level, HOMA-IR, and leptin level, and lower A/L ratio than the L and C groups. The AO group had a significantly higher prevalence of insulin resistance (50%) than the L (14%) group. The A/L ratio was significantly negatively correlated with body weight, Body Mass Index, WC, triglycerides, triglycerides/HDL-C ratio, apolipoprotein B, hs-CRP, insulin, HOMA-IR, and leptin, and positively correlated with HDL-C, whereas HOMA-IR was significantly positively correlated with body weight, Body Mass Index, WC, systolic and diastolic blood pressures, fasting plasma glucose, and insulin, and negatively correlated with adiponectin and the A/L ratio. In the forward stepwise multiple regression analysis, WC, triglycerides, and hs-CRP were the significant determinants for the A/L ratio, whereas diastolic blood pressure and WC were the significant determinants for HOMA-IR. This model explained 53.7% of the variance in the A/L ratio and 13.6% of the variance in HOMA-IR.

CONCLUSIONS

The present study suggested that the baseball players with abdominal obesity had a significantly higher prevalence of insulin resistance than the lean baseball group. The A/L ratio may be more useful than HOMA-IR to accurately assess insulin resistance in male collegiate baseball players.