Ruth Castillo

Influence of socioeconomic factors on fitness and fatness in Spanish adolescents: The AVENA study

OBJECTIVE This study was to examine the influence of socioeconomic status on fitness and fatness in Spanish adolescents. SUBJECTS AND METHODS A total of 1 795 adolescents (833 boys) aged 12.5-18.5 years from the AVENA study participated in this study. The following physical fitness components were assessed: muscular strength (standing long jump), speed-agility (4 × 10 m shuttle run) and cardiorespiratory fitness (20 m shuttle run). Total and central body fat was assessed using skinfold thickness and waist circumference, respectively. Both parents reported their educational and professional level. RESULTS Girls with higher paternal educational level and boys with higher either maternal or paternal professional level had higher muscular strength levels (all P<0.05). Speed-agility and cardiorespiratory fitness were not associated with parental educational or professional levels in boys. In contrast, girls with higher paternal educational level or higher parental professional level had higher levels in both fitness components (all P<0.05). A higher maternal educational level was associated with lower total and central body fat in boys (all P<0.05), but not in girls. We observed a small effect size (Cohens d∼0.2) in most of these associations. CONCLUSIONS Our results suggest modest associations of high socioeconomic status with better fitness and fatness levels in Spanish adolescents. These associations greatly depend on the socioeconomic status and fitness parameters studied.

Active commuting to school and cognitive performance in adolescents: the AVENA study.

OBJECTIVE To examine the associations between active commuting to school and cognitive performance in adolescents. DESIGN Cross-sectional study. SETTING Five cities (Granada, Madrid, Murcia, Santander, and Zaragoza) in Spain. PARTICIPANTS A total of 1700 adolescents (892 girls) aged 13 to 18.5 years. MAIN EXPOSURES Mode and duration of transportation to school and participation in extracurricular physical activity were self-reported. MAIN OUTCOME MEASURES Cognitive performance (verbal, numeric, and reasoning abilities and an overall score) was measured by the Spanish version of the SRA Test of Educational Ability. RESULTS Active commuting to school was associated with better cognitive performance (all P < .05) in girls but not in boys, independent of potential confounders including participation in extracurricular physical activity. In addition, adolescent girls who spent more than 15 minutes actively commuting to school had better scores in 3 of the 4 cognitive performance variables (all P < .05) than those who spent less time actively commuting to school (≤15 minutes) as well as better scores in all of the cognitive performance variables (all P < .001) than girls inactively commuting. CONCLUSION Active commuting to school and its duration may positively influence cognitive performance in adolescent girls.

Short- and Midterm Effects of Emotional Intelligence Training on Adolescent Mental Health

PURPOSE To analyze the effects that an emotional intelligence (EI) educational program based on the EI ability model had on adolescent mental health immediately and 6 months after completion of the training. METHODS A pretest-posttest quasi-experimental design with a treatment and a control group was used; 479 Spanish adolescents (47.4% male, mean age of 13 years) were involved in the study. Adolescents were recruited through several schools in three Spanish cities. The 2-year training program involved 24 sessions lasting 1 hour each, conducted `weekly during 6 months of 2009 and 2010. Data on psychological adjustment, mental health, and negative affect were collected at baseline, at the end of the training program, and 6 months later. Data were analyzed by multivariate analysis of covariance. RESULTS Students who participated in the EI educational program reported fewer clinical symptoms compared with students in the control group, and these differences persisted 6 months after the conclusion of the program. CONCLUSIONS These results suggest that EI programs created to develop skills in perceiving, facilitating, understanding, and managing emotions can be effective at promoting mental health in adolescents.

Sleep duration and cognitive performance in adolescence. the AVENA study

1.Department of Medical Physiology, School of Medicine, University of Granada, Granada, Spain 2.Unit for Preventive Nutrition, Department of Biosciences and Nutrition at NOVUM, Karolinska Institutet, Huddinge, Sweden 3.Department of Basic Psychology, School of Psychology, University of Malaga, Malaga, Spain 4.Department of Physical Education and Sport, School of Physical Activity and Sport Sciences, University of Granada, Granada, Spain 5.Department of Nutrition and Food Science, University of the Basque Country, Vitoria, Spain 6.Immunonutrition Research Group, Department of Metabolism and Nutrition, Instituto del Frio, Institute of Food Science, Technology and Nutrition (ICTAN), Spanish National Research Council (CSIC), Madrid, Spain 7.Department of Pediatrics, University of Cantabria, Santander, Spain 8.E.U. Health sciences, University of Zaragoza, Zaragoza, Spain

Individual and Combined Effects of ApoE and MTHFR 677C/T Polymorphisms on Cognitive Performance in Spanish Adolescents: The AVENA Study

OBJECTIVE To examine the individual and combined associations of ApoE and MTHFR 677C/T polymorphisms with cognitive performance in adolescents. STUDY DESIGN The study comprised 412 Spanish adolescents (13 to 18.5 years of age). Cognitive performance (verbal, numeric and reasoning abilities, and an overall score) was measured by the Spanish-version of the SRA-Test of Educational-Ability. RESULTS We observed no differences in the cognitive performance study variables in adolescents carrying or not carrying the ApoE epsilon4 variant. Adolescents without the MTHFR 677TT genotype had significantly better cognitive performance than their TT peers. The analysis of the combined effect of these polymorphisms revealed that those individuals carrying both the ApoE epsilon4 variant and the MTHFR 677TT genotype had significantly worse cognitive performance than their peers with other genotype combinations. These findings were independent of sex, age pubertal status, socioeconomic status, physical activity, and skipping breakfast. CONCLUSIONS The results of the present study suggest that the ApoE epsilon4 alone is not associated with cognitive performance in adolescents. Individuals with the MTHFR 677TT genotype had slightly impaired cognitive performance, whereas we observed a combined effect of both the ApoE epsilon4 variant and the MTHFR 677TT genotype on cognitive performance. More research is needed in larger population samples to corroborate our findings.

Physical fitness, overweight and the risk of eating disorders in adolescents. The AVENA and AFINOS studies

What is already known about this subject Eating disorders are among the public health issues facing adolescents. An excess of body fat has been associated with an increased risk of these disorders. The association of physical fitness with eating disorders has not yet been analysed in adolescents.

Motivos de abandono y no práctica de actividad físico-deportiva en adolescentes españoles: estudio Avena

Resumen es: A pesar de los reconocidos beneficios fisicos, psiquicos y sociales que la practica de actividad fisico-deportiva produce en la salud de los jovenes, la ...