The Effects of Long-Term Physical Activity on Food Attention Allocation in College Freshmen Women

• Main Author: Compton, Sharla Elizabeth
• Format: Dissertation
• Language: English
• Published: ProQuest Dissertations & Theses 01-01-2013
• Subjects: Age; Appetite; Body mass index; Brain research; College students; Colleges & universities; Electroencephalography; Energy; Exercise; Food; Head injuries; Higher education; Hunger; Intervention; Kinesiology; Medicine; Metabolism; Nutrition; Obesity; Physical fitness; Physiology; Public health; Ratings & rankings; Science; Software; Weight control; Womens studies; Young adults
• ISBN: 9798698529194

Purpose: The purpose of this study was to examine the effects of long-term (24 weeks) physical activity on attention allocated toward food in college freshmen women. Methods: Seventy-nine freshmen college women wore a multi-function pedometer for 24 weeks after being randomly assigned to a daily step level: 10,000; 12,500; or 15,000. After at least 16 weeks of intervention, participants were given a cognitive viewing task (pictures of food and flowers) with the neural response measured using electroencephalogram (EEG) and event-related potentials (ERPs). P300s and LPPs are components of the ERP indicating increased attention to stimuli. Results: There was a significant difference in daily step counts between groups. No interaction between step group and picture condition (food vs. flowers) was found for any of the three ERP (event-related potential) variables (P300 amplitude, P300 latency, LPP amplitude). The 12,500 group showed a significantly elevated response in comparison to the other groups for both food and flowers (F = 8.84; P = 0.0002). Additionally, subjective rating of hunger was significantly lower in the 15,000 step group (F = 4.72; P = 0.0030). Conclusion: It appears that long-term increases in physical activity are capable of reducing neural orientation toward hedonic food cues as well as subjective hunger ratings. In addition to increasing energy expenditure, increases in long-term physical activity may also influence the physiological drive to consume food.