Elsevier

Appetite

Volume 56, Issue 3, June 2011, Pages 658-661
Appetite

Short communication
Gender effect on exercise-induced energy intake modification among obese adolescents

https://doi.org/10.1016/j.appet.2011.02.020Get rights and content

Abstract

This study examined gender differences in terms of energy intake and appetite feelings after an acute bout of physical exercise among obese adolescents. Seven obese girls and seven obese boys were asked to complete a sedentary and an exercise session in random order, where their food consumption and appetite sensations were assessed. Both boys and girls showed a significant reduction of energy intake on the exercise day without any modification of their appetite readings and no gender differences in food consumption and appetite responses to an acute exercise were noted.

Introduction

The impact of exercise on subsequent energy intake and appetite sensations (such as hunger, fullness, and prospective food consumption) has been explored recently and is of particular interest in terms of prevention and treatment of overweight and obesity. Recent data in obese adolescents suggest an anorexigenic effect of an acute bout of exercise, set at 70% of VO2max, with a subsequent decrease in energy intake compared with a sedentary condition, despite unchanged appetite sensations (Thivel et al., 2010). It has been proposed that the physiological pathways regulating energy homeostasis differ between genders (Buffenstein et al., 1995, Woods et al., 2003). In adults, women were found to increase their energy consumption after an intensive bout of exercise (Van Strien, Frijters, Van Staveren, Defares, & Durenberg, 1986) while men did not (King, Lluch, Stubbs, & Blundell, 1997). Little data comparing boys and girls during childhood and adolescence are available. The sexual maturation occurring during adolescence may lead to gender differences in the physiological control of energy intake. Adolescence being a crucial stage for the prevention of overweight, obesity, and related metabolic diseases, it is important to determine whether boys and girls respond differently to weight loss interventions. Recent work by Bozinovski et al. (2009) asked 14 boys and 15 girls aged 9–14 years old, to complete on separate occasions rest or exercise sessions randomly, at their respective ventilator threshold. Despite a similar increase in subjective appetite in the sexes after 45 min of exercise, the authors noted that girls tended to increase their food consumption in response to their energy deficit. On average, there was 42% of the exercise-induced energy expended against −13% for boys. There was thus a strong correlation in girls between appetite and the amount of consumed food. This study involved healthy lean children, not the overweight or obese. The aim of the present study was to observe whether an acute bout of exercise differentially affects appetite and energy intake in obese adolescent boys and girls.

Section snippets

Subjects and methods

Fourteen pubertal obese adolescents (14.1 ± 1.8 years old; 7 girls and 7 boys; tanner stages 3 and 4) attending a specialized Children-Medical-Center (Romagnat, France) were recruited in collaboration with the Clermont-Ferrand University Pediatric Department.

Anthropometric measurements and body composition were assessed and volunteers asked to complete a graded exhaustive cycling exercise to obtain their maximal oxygen uptake (VO2max). The exercise session and a sedentary session, lasting from 0700

Results

The whole sample presented a Body Mass Index of 33.9 ± 7.5 kg m−2. Body Fat percentage was not significantly different between boys and girls with respectively 37.4 ± 2.7% and 38.6 ± 4.2%. None of the anthropometric characteristics were significantly different between boys and girls as presented in Table 1. The 3 × 10 min of intermittent exercise at 70% VO2max generated a mean energy expenditure of 1.25 ± 0.12 MJ.

Whole sample: The whole sample showed a significantly reduced total energy intake (whole day)

Discussion

To our knowledge this is the first study investigating gender effects in terms of short term energy intake and appetite feeling in response to acute exercise in obese adolescents. As previously described by our research team, energy intake at both lunch and dinner time, is significantly reduced after an acute bout of exercise compared to a rest session in obese adolescents (Thivel et al., 2010). Normal weight children (6–11 years old) have been shown to reduce energy intake following a

References (17)

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The authors thank the Thermal Institution of Brides Les Bains, France, which supported this project through its 2009 research grant in obesity prevention and treatment. The authors are also grateful to all the adolescents from the Department of the Children Medical Centre. There is no conflict of interest. Clinical trial registration number: NCT01036360.

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