A century of trends in adult human height

Being taller is associated with enhanced longevity, and higher education and earnings. We reanalysed 1472 population-based studies, with measurement of height on more than 18.6 million participants to estimate mean height for people born between 1896 and 1996 in 200 countries. The largest gain in adult height over the past century has occurred in South Korean women and Iranian men, who became 20.2 cm (95% credible interval 17.5-22.7) and 16.5 cm (13.3-19.7) taller, respectively. In contrast, there was little change in adult height in some sub-Saharan African countries and in South Asia over the century of analysis. The tallest people over these 100 years are men born in the Netherlands in the last quarter of 20th century, whose average heights surpassed 182.5 cm, and the shortest were women born in Guatemala in 1896 (140.3 cm; 135.8-144.8). The height differential between the tallest and shortest populations was 19-20 cm a century ago, and has remained the same for women and increased for men a century later despite substantial changes in the ranking of countries

Rising rural body-mass index is the main driver of the global obesity epidemic in adults

Body-mass index (BMI) has increased steadily in most countries in parallel with a rise in the proportion of the population who live in cities 1,2 . This has led to a widely reported view that urbanization is one of the most important drivers of the global rise in obesity 3�6 . Here we use 2,009 population-based studies, with measurements of height and weight in more than 112 million adults, to report national, regional and global trends in mean BMI segregated by place of residence (a rural or urban area) from 1985 to 2017. We show that, contrary to the dominant paradigm, more than 55 of the global rise in mean BMI from 1985 to 2017�and more than 80 in some low- and middle-income regions�was due to increases in BMI in rural areas. This large contribution stems from the fact that, with the exception of women in sub-Saharan Africa, BMI is increasing at the same rate or faster in rural areas than in cities in low- and middle-income regions. These trends have in turn resulted in a closing�and in some countries reversal�of the gap in BMI between urban and rural areas in low- and middle-income countries, especially for women. In high-income and industrialized countries, we noted a persistently higher rural BMI, especially for women. There is an urgent need for an integrated approach to rural nutrition that enhances financial and physical access to healthy foods, to avoid replacing the rural undernutrition disadvantage in poor countries with a more general malnutrition disadvantage that entails excessive consumption of low-quality calories. © 2019, The Author(s)

Walking capacity is positively related with heart rate variability in symptomatic peripheral artery disease

Objectives: The aim was to investigate the association between walking capacity and HRV in patients with symptomatic peripheral artery disease (PAD).\ud \ud Methods: This was a cross sectional study. Ninety-five patients were recruited. Patients undertook a supine position for 20 minutes, with the final 10 minutes used to examine for resting HRV. Time domain, frequency domain, and non-linear indices were evaluated. A maximal treadmill test (Gardner protocol) was performed to assess maximal walking distance (MWD) and claudication distance (CD) in groups of PAD patients based upon their walking abilities (low, moderate, high). Differences between PAD patient groups were examined using non-parametric analyses, and Spearman rank correlations identified the relationship between MWD and CD, and HRV parameters.\ud \ud Results: Symptomatic PAD patients with high MWD exhibited significantly greater HRV than patients with low MWD. Furthermore, MWD was positively associated with time domain and non-linear indices of HRV (all p < .05). However, no statistically significant correlations were observed between CD and HRV parameters or between PAD groups.\ud \ud Conclusion: A greater walking capacity is associated with better HRV in symptomatic PAD patients

Acute effects of breaking up sitting time with isometric wall squat exercise on vascular function and blood pressure in sedentary adults: Randomized crossover trial

Purpose: The World Health Organization has recommended breaking up sitting time to improve cardiovascular health. However, whether isometric exercise can be effectively used as a strategy to break up sitting time remains unclear. Thus, the aim of this study was to analyze the acute effects of breaking up prolonged sitting with isometric wall squat exercise on vascular function and blood pressure in sedentary adults. Methods: This randomized crossover trial included 17 adults (52.9% men, 26±6 yrs, 22.4±3.6 kg/m2) with high sedentary behavior (≥ 6h per day). The participants completed two experimental sessions in a randomized order, both sharing a common sitting period of 180 minutes: Breaks (two-minute breaks were incorporated into the isometric wall squat exercise, with participants maintaining their knees at the angle determined by the incremental test, which occurred every 30 minutes) and Control (sitting for 180 minutes continuously). Popliteal artery flow-mediated dilation (FMD) and brachial blood pressure were measured before, at 10 and 30 minutes after the experimental sessions. Results: The results did not indicate significant session vs. time interaction effects on popliteal FMD and brachial blood pressure (p>0.05). A sub-analysis including only participants with popliteal FMD reduction after the Control session (n=11), revealed that Breaks enhanced popliteal FMD after 10 minutes (1.38±6.45 % vs. -4.87±2.95 %, p=.002) and 30 minutes (-0.43±2.48 % vs. -2.11±5.22 %, p=.047). Conclusion: breaking up prolonged sitting with isometric wall squat exercise mitigates impaired vascular function resulting from prolonged sitting but has no effect on blood pressure in sedentary adults

Characteristics associated with responsiveness to isometric handgrip training in medicated hypertensives: Secondary data anaylysis

Objective: Isometric handgrip training (IHT) has been shown to reduce blood pressure (BP) in hypertensives. However, factors that predict responsiveness to IHT are largely unknown. The aim of this study was to investigate the patient characteristics associated with the anti-hypertensive response to IHT using a recommended statistical approach for evaluating interindividual responses. Methods: Data from four randomized controlled trials were joined, totaling 81 patients undergoing IHT (48.8% women; 60±11 yr) and 90 control patients (45.6% women; 62±12 yr). IHT consisted of 4x2-minute isometric contractions at 30% of maximal voluntary contraction, performed three times/week for 8-12 weeks. BP was measured at baseline and following IHT and control interventions. The interindividual variation was assessed by the standard deviation of the individual responses (SDir), and linear regression analyses were conducted to explore response predictors. Results: IHT significantly decreased both systolic (-5.4; 95%CI: -9.5 to -1.3 mmHg) and diastolic (-2.8; 95%CI: -5.1 to -0.6 mmHg) BPs. The interindividual variation of BP change was moderate for systolic (SDir=5.2 mmHg, 0.30 standardized units) and low for diastolic (SDir=1.7 mmHg, 0.15 standardized units). Sex, age, and body mass index were not associated with the anti-hypertensive effect of IHT. However, a higher baseline systolic BP (b=-0.467, p<0.001) and absence of dihydropyridine calcium channel blockers use (b=0.340, p=0.001) were associated with greater BP reductions. Conclusion: IHT reduced BP in medicated hypertensive patients regardless of age, sex, and BMI. Patients with a higher baseline systolic BP and those not prescribed dihydropyridine calcium channel blockers were more responsive to IHT

A single bout of arm-crank exercise promotes positive emotions and post-exercise hypotension in patients with symptomatic peripheral artery disease

Objective/Background: The objective was to analyze the acute effects of a single bout of arm cranking exercise on affective and cardiovascular parameters in patients with symptomatic peripheral artery disease (PAD). Methods: This was a prospective, controlled, crossover study. Eleven men with symptomatic PAD underwent two experimental sessions in a random order: control or arm crank exercise (15 × 2 minutes bouts of arm crank exercise interrupted by 2 minutes rest intervals). During exercise, ratings of perceived exertion (Borg scale) and affective responses (pleasure/displeasure) were obtained at the first, fifth, tenth, and fifteenth bouts. Before and after the experimental sessions, cardiovascular parameters (blood pressure and heart rate) were obtained. Data were analysed by a two-way repeated measure analysis of variance with significance achieved at p < .05. Results: During the arm crank exercise, patients reported positive feelings of pleasure. During exercise, heart rate (HR) remained within 80–90% of peak HR. Additionally, patients performed arm crank exercise with moderate levels of perceived exertion (Borg rating of 11–13) and with pleasant affective scores (Feeling Scale of +1 to +5). Blood pressure (systolic, diastolic, and mean) increase was lower after arm crank exercise than for control (greatest net effect: −15 ± 11 mmHg [p < .001]; −9 ± 5 mmHg [p < .001]; −9 ± 6 mmHg [p < .001], respectively), while HR increased (greatest net effect: +9 ± 6 beats per minute; p < .001). Conclusion: A single bout of arm crank exercise promotes pleasurable feelings while reducing blood pressure in patients with symptomatic PAD

A single functional training session induces positive emotions and post-exercise hypotension

Objectives. — Post-exercise hypotension (PEH) is a clinically relevant phenomenon, which occurs after aerobic and resistance exercises. However, its existence following functional training (FT) remains unknown with negative feelings induced by the high intensity component of FT a potentially limiting factor to adherence of FT. Thus, the aim of this study was to examine the effects of a single bout of FT on psychophysiological (blood pressure and affective emotional) responses. Equipment and methods. — Twenty-three female (n = 9) and male (n = 14) young (21.4 ± 3.8 years) with normal blood pressure (systolic and diastolic blood pressure 109 ± 10 and 65 ± 7 mmHg, respectively) and body mass index (24.7 ± 4.6 kg/m2) completed two experimen- tal sessions in a random order: no exercise/control or FT session. The FT bout consisted of four phases including warm-up, two phases neuromuscular and last one phase with high-intensity interval training. During each phase, ratings of perceived exertion and affective responses (Feeling and Felt Arousal Scales) were obtained. Blood pressure was obtained before and up to 60-minutes after the experimental sessions. Data were analyzed by analysis of variance with significance achieved at P < 0.05