Effects of high‐sugar and high‐fiber meals on physical activity behaviors in Latino and African American adolescents

• Published in: Obesity (Silver Spring, Md.) Vol. 23; no. 9; pp. 1886 - 1894
• Main Authors: O'Reilly, Gillian A., Belcher, Britni R., Davis, Jaimie N., Martinez, Lauren T., Huh, Jimi, Antunez‐Castillo, Luz, Weigensberg, Marc, Goran, Michael I., Spruijt‐Metz, Donna
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: United States Blackwell Publishing Ltd 01-09-2015
• Subjects: Adolescent; African Americans; Behavior; Cross-Over Studies; Dietary fiber; Dietary Fiber - adverse effects; Dietary Sucrose - adverse effects; Exercise - physiology; Focus groups; Food; Glucose; Hispanic Americans; Humans; Influence; Laboratories; Light; Male; Meals; Metabolism; Obesity - etiology; Overweight - etiology; Studies; Teenagers; Weight control; United States > US
• ISSN: 1930-7381; 1930-739X
• DOI: 10.1002/oby.21169

Objective
This crossover experimental study examined the acute effects of high‐sugar/low‐fiber (HSLF) vs. low‐sugar/high‐fiber (LSHF) meals on sedentary behavior (SB) and light‐plus activity (L+) in minority adolescents with overweight and obesity.
Methods
87 Latino and African American adolescents (mean age = 16.3 ± 1.2 years, mean BMI z‐score = 2.02 ± 0.52, 56.8% Latino, 51.1% male) underwent two experimental meal conditions during which they consumed HSLF or LSHF meals. Physical activity and SB were measured using accelerometers, and blood glucose and insulin were collected every 30 minutes over 5 hours. Mixed models were used to examine the temporal trends of SB and L+, whether the temporal trends of SB and L+ differed by meal condition, and the influence of blood glucose and insulin on the activity behaviors.
Results
SB and L+ fluctuated over time during the HSLF condition but were stable during the LSHF condition. SB and L+ were influenced by the blood glucose response to the HSLF meals. Insulin did not influence SB or L+ in either meal condition.
Conclusions
Sugar and fiber content of meals can have differing acute impacts on activity behaviors in minority adolescents with overweight and obesity, possibly due to differing metabolic responses.