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Food and health

Metabolic and hormonal consequences of two different meals after a moderate intensity exercise bout in obese prepubertal children

European Journal of Clinical Nutrition volume 67, pages 725–731 (2013)Cite this article

Subjects

Abstract

Background/objectives:

To investigate the relationship between postprandial nutrient balance, satiety and hormone changes induced by two different meals taken after a moderate intensity exercise bout.

Subjects/Methods:

Ten prepubertal obese children participated in the study. The experiment was designed as a cross-over study for repeated measures. Each test period lasted five consecutive hours during which the children were under medical supervision. The effects of two isocaloric meals were compared after a moderate intensity exercise (4 multiples of resting metabolic rate, 30 min, cycling): a low-fat/high-carbohydrate meal (meal A) and a high-fat/low-carbohydrate meal (meal B). Pre and postprandial (3 h) substrate oxidation, biochemical parameters, gastrointestinal hormone concentrations and appetite were measured.

Results:

The main results were: (i) higher fat balance (5.1±5.0 vs −5.0±6.6 g, P=0.001) and lower carbohydrate balance after meal B than A (−9.7±13.3 vs 11.3±18.3 g, P<0.01); (ii) higher energy balance after meal B than after meal A (5.9±21.5 vs −13.9±20.2 kcal, P<0.05); (iii) higher plasma triglyceride concentrations (area under the curve) after meal B than after meal A (2962.5±2095.8 mg*180 min/dl vs −169.5±1633.7 mg*180 min/dl, P<0.01); (iv) higher serum glucagon-like peptide-1 concentrations after meal B than after meal A (1101.5±873.0 pmol*180 min/l vs 478.8±638.3 pmol*180 min/l, P<0.05).

Conclusions:

After a bout of moderate intensity exercise, a meal with a high-fat/low-carbohydrate ratio had a less favorable metabolic impact than an isoenergetic, isoproteic low-fat/high-carbohydrate meal.

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Acknowledgements

We thank Marta Bianchi and Camilla Melegari for their critical revision of the manuscript. The work was supported by the Ministry of Health, Research Project of National Interest (PRIN) No. 2008CJ7CTW, by a grant of Barilla SpA, Parma (Italy) and by funds from the University of Verona.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Life and Reproduction Sciences, Unit of Pediatric Diabetes, Clinical Nutrition and Obesity, University of Verona, Verona, Italy

    C Maffeis, M Maschio, G Aiello, M Tommasi, M Marigliano, E Fornari & A Morandi

  2. Department of Medicine, Unit of Endocrinology and Metabolism, University of Verona, Verona, Italy

    R Bonadonna

  3. Division of Endocrinology and Metabolic Diseases, Azienda Ospedaliera Universitaria Integrata, Verona, Italy

    R Bonadonna

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  1. C Maffeis
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Correspondence to C Maffeis.

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Maffeis, C., Bonadonna, R., Maschio, M. et al. Metabolic and hormonal consequences of two different meals after a moderate intensity exercise bout in obese prepubertal children. Eur J Clin Nutr 67, 725–731 (2013). https://doi.org/10.1038/ejcn.2013.86

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