Physical activity is important for improving lifelong health and wellness, yet only a quarter of US children meet physical activity guidelines. Highly competitive youth sports may impact youth dropout and providing alternative options to be active may be a solution. Self-Determination Theory, a psychological theory around the idea of intrinsic versus extrinsic motivation, is an underutilized framework that may be helpful in addressing this issue. We employed a mixed method design to understand how Parkour, an emerging youth sport, may better address psychological needs as defined by Self-Determination Theory. Cross-sectional survey data from 38 children/adolescents (ages 7-17) enrolled in Parkour versus other sports were compared, and 15 of the Parkour participants were individually interviewed to gain a deeper understanding. There were significant differences between the two groups for their motivations and physical activity habits, and the addition of the qualitative data illustrates the potential advantages of Parkour to reach children who may be otherwise uninterested. This study provides an important background for future research into Parkour that has thus far been limited.

Metabolic syndrome (MetS) is a pathologic condition characterized by a cluster of risk factors, such as high blood pressure, high blood sugar levels, an increased body mass index (BMI), and abnormal cholesterol levels, all of which raise the risk of cardiovascular disease and type 2 diabetes. MetS affects a large proportion of the United States population, especially those over the age of 60. Time-restricted eating (TRE), which entails limiting one's daily eating window to 10 hours or less, has demonstrated significant potential in enhancing metabolic health and modulating body composition through the optimization of circadian rhythms. This randomized controlled trial aimed to evaluate the effects of TRE compared to a Mediterranean Diet on body weight, overall body fat percentage, and visceral adipose tissue (VAT) mass via dual x-ray absorptiometry (DXA) scans in a population of adults with MetS. A total of 122 individuals were randomized 1:1 to a TRE arm and a standard of care (SOC) arm for 10 weeks. This study found significant differences between the SOC and TRE groups, with the TRE group exhibiting a greater mean weight reduction (-6.57 lbs) compared to the SOC group (-2.89 lbs) from baseline to the end of the 10-week intervention period (p = 0.015). Regarding overall fat percentage, the TRE group demonstrated a significantly larger mean change (-1.36%) compared to the SOC group (-0.115%), indicating a more substantial reduction in body fat(p = 0.005). Evaluation of VAT mass revealed that the TRE group experienced a significantly greater reduction compared to the SOC group, even after adjusting for baseline VAT mass (p < 0.001). Notably, males in the TRE group exhibited a pronounced effect, with an additional average decrease of -66.44 g in VAT mass compared to females. These findings suggest that TRE has favorable effects on weight loss, overall fat percentage, and VAT mass reduction. The results highlight the potential of TRE as an effective dietary intervention for improving body composition and reducing visceral adiposity. Further research is warranted to elucidate the underlying mechanisms and evaluate the long-term sustainability of these effects.

Objective: Physical inactivity is a leading cause of death and majority of the adolescent population is insufficiently physically active. The purpose of this study is to evaluate whether depressive mood and social support are correlated with physical activity goal setting, specifically goal importance and goal confidence. Methods: Data was collected from an ongoing study in a UC San Diego Chicas Fuertes. Data was cleaned to focus on intervention participants since they set behavior change goals compared to the control group. Most of the data is self-reported by participants. Results: A correlation matrix was used to evaluate associations between measures. Majority of the results were of small effect with r-values < 0.2 possibly due to the small sample size. Depression measurement (CES-D) scores were not statistically significant with goal setting such as goal confidence and importance. Social support scores (SSE) were also not statistically significant to goal confidence and importance. Conclusion: Physical inactivity is a global health issue and is greatly affecting vulnerable communities such as ethnic, minorities, and low SES. Specifically, Latina adolescents are an at-risk group of developing chronic conditions and living a sedentary lifestyle due to their low levels of physical activity compared to the males and other ethnicities. Social support and goal setting may be useful in promoting PA amongst this group. Our analysis had small effects but call for additional research to examine behavior change in Latina adolescents.

The obesity paradox is characterized by a U- or J-shaped curve, suggesting that overweight individuals have a lower risk of mortality compared to their normal weight counterparts. It is largely unknown whether muscle density plays a role in the relationship between BMI and mortality. We use data from the Multi-Ethnic Study of Atherosclerosis, an ethnically diverse longitudinal study of males and females, to examine whether muscle density or sex modify the BMI-mortality relationship. Results indicate that obese males with high muscle density have a lower risk of mortality (HR: 0.59, 95% CI: (0.23, 1.50)) compared to their normal weight counterparts, while obese females with high muscle density have a higher risk of mortality (HR: 1.37, 95% CI: 0.63, 3.00)) compared to their normal weight counterparts. Our results show that muscle density is a mediator, but not an effect modifier, in the association between BMI and mortality. Sex is an effect modifier in this association, with attenuated risk of mortality among obese men (HR: 0.50, 95% CI: (0.36, 0.69)), but not obese women (HR: 0.95, 95% CI: (0.65, 1.39)). Overall, our data are consistent with the survival advantage seen in obese populations.

Metabolic Syndrome (MetS) affects one in three adults in the US and is characterized by abdominal obesity, high blood pressure, high blood sugar, high triglycerides, and low HDL cholesterol, increasing the risk of cardiovascular diseases and diabetes. We explored differences in neighborhood conditions and psychosocial factors between men and women across low and high socioeconomic status (SES) groups, and how these differences contribute to the higher risk of MetS in low SES individuals. Our sample included 4,191 individuals aged 45-84 from diverse racial and ethnic backgrounds; 3,005 of them were classified as low or high SES for further analyses. We examined the association of MetS with SES for women and men separately using separate Cox proportional hazards models for each group. The mean age was 61 years, 49.2% were women, 43% were White, 9.4% had no health insurance, and 15.2% had less than a high school education. The overall incidence of MetS was 33% for both low and high SES individuals. After adjusting for confounders, low SES women had a 66% higher risk of developing MetS compared to high SES women (HR 1.66, 95% CI 1.38 to 2.00). Similarly, low SES men had a 66% higher risk of developing MetS compared to high SES men (HR 1.66, 95% CI 1.36 to 2.02). Contrary to expectations, adjusting for these variables did not attenuate the risk, and significant disparities were observed for both men and women across SES groups. More research is needed to understand the mechanisms linking low SES with MetS incidence to address these SES disparities.

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