BACKGROUND Leptin, a pro-inflammatory cytokine produced by adipose tissue, has previously been shown to be associated with asthma in children. We hypothesised that high serum leptin concentrations would also be associated with asthma in adults. METHODS The Third National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey is a cross sectional study that included fasting serum leptin concentrations and se...

1. Mothers were followed from 1 month post-partum up to 12 months post-partum to measure changes in their body-weight and triceps skinfold thickness. 2. Overall there was a significant weight loss in the first few months but this levelled off by 7 months. 3. The triceps skinfold increased significantly up to 5 months post-partum and then decreased. 4. These changes in body-weight and skinfold w...

Blood pressure levels, anthropometric parameters, and dietary intakes were assessed in 1981 and 1983 in a population of black (n = 236) and white (n = 296) adolescent girls, aged 14 and 16 years in 1983. The 14-year-old black girls exhibited significantly higher mean systolic and diastolic blood pressures than whites in both years. Body weight and Quetelet index were more strongly associated wi...

The Delboeuf concentric circle illusion is frequently invoked as an explanation for the hypothesized association between dinner plate size and overeating. We examined its association with adiposity among 162 girls, aged 14-18 years. We also examined the association of adiposity with neural and behavioral responses during a separate visual discrimination task. The analysis showed that girls with...

Relationships between sprinting speed, body mass, and vertical jump kinetics were assessed in 243 male soccer athletes ranging from 10-19 years. Participants ran a maximal 36.6 meter sprint; times at 9.1 (10 y) and 36.6 m (40 y) were determined using an electronic timing system. Body mass was measured by means of an electronic scale and body composition using a 3-site skinfold measurement compl...

The purpose of this study was to investigate the effects of a light, high-repetition resistance-training program on skinfold thicknesses and muscular strength in women. Thirty-nine active women (mean age 38.64 +/- 4.97 years) were randomly placed into a resistance-training group (RT; n = 20) or a control group (CG; n = 19). The RT group performed a resistance-training program called Bodymax for...

Recent studies showed in high level runners both an association between selected skin-fold thicknesses at the lower limb and running performance and between thickness of skin-fold and training. We investigated the association of skin-fold thicknesses with total race time in 25 male mountain ultra-marathoners with 44.5 (7.0) years, 73.0 (7.8) kg body mass, 1.78 (0.07) m body height and a BMI of ...