title: Fitness and fatness in relation with attention capacity in European adolescents: The HELENA study.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  To examine the association of health-related physical fitness components and accurate measures of fatness with attention in European adolescents.
  
  
  METHODS
  Cross-sectional study.
  
  
  METHODS
  A sub-sample of 444 adolescents from the HELENA study (14.5±1.2years) from 6 different countries participated in this study. Adolescents underwent evaluations of fitness (20m shuttle run, handgrip strength, standing long jump and 4×10m shuttle run tests), fatness (body mass index, skinfold thicknesses, bioelectrical impedance, Bod Pod and dual-energy X-ray absorptiometry) and attention (d2-test).
  
  
  RESULTS
  Higher cardiorespiratory fitness was positively associated with better attention capacity (β=0.1, p=0.03). Body mass index and fat mass index measured by Bod Pod and dual-energy X-ray absorptiometry in a subset were negatively associated with attention (β=-0.11, p=0.02; β=-0.36, p=0.02; β=-0.34, p=0.03; respectively). All models were adjusted for age, sex, family-affluence scale and mother education. When these models were additionally adjusted for cardiorespiratory fitness when fatness was the main predictor and vice versa, the associations were somewhat attenuated and were no longer statistically significant. Muscular strength, speed-agility and body fatness markers measured by bioelectrical impedance and skinfolds were not associated with attention. The fit and non-overweight adolescents presented the highest values of attention capacity whilst their unfit and overweight peers showed the lowest values of attention (47.31±2.34 vs. 33.74±4.39; p<0.01).
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Our results support that both cardiorespiratory fitness and fatness are associated with attention, yet these associations are not independent. A combined effect was also observed, with fit and non-overweight adolescents showing the highest levels of attention and those unfit and overweight the lowest.
authors.affiliation: PROFITH "PROmoting FITness and Health through physical activity" Research Group, Faculty of Sport Sciences, University of Granada, Department of Physical Education and Sports, Spain. Electronic address: cadenas@ugr.es.
authors.forename: Cristina
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Cadenas-Sanchez
authors.affiliation: Inserm, LIRIC, UMR 995, Univ. Lille, CHU Lille, F-59000, France; CIC-PT-1403-Inserm-CH&U, Lille, CHU Lille, F-59000, France.
authors.forename: Jeremy
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Vanhelst
authors.affiliation: PROFITH "PROmoting FITness and Health through physical activity" Research Group, Faculty of Sport Sciences, University of Granada, Department of Physical Education and Sports, Spain; Karolinska Institutet, Department of Biosciences and Nutrition, Sweden.
authors.forename: Jonatan R
authors.initials: JR
authors.lastname: Ruiz
authors.affiliation: Autonoma University of Madrid, Department of Biological and Health Psychology, Spain.
authors.forename: Ruth
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Castillo-Gualda
authors.affiliation: Research Institute of Child Nutrition (FKE) Dortmund, Rheinische Friedrich-Wilhelms-University Bonn, Germany; Department of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry, University Hospital Essen, University of Duisburg-Essen, Germany.
authors.forename: Lars
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Libuda
authors.affiliation: University of the Basque Country, Department of Nutrition and Food Science, UPV-EHU, Spain.
authors.forename: Idoia
authors.initials: I
authors.lastname: Labayen
authors.affiliation: GENUD "Growth, Exercise, NUtrition and Development" Research Group, University of Zaragoza, Spain.
authors.forename: Pilar
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: De Miguel-Etayo
authors.affiliation: Immunonutrition Research Group, Department of Metabolism and Nutrition, Instituto del Frio, Institute of Food Science, Technology and Nutrition (ICTAN), Spanish National Research Council (CSIC), Spain.
authors.forename: Ascensión
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Marcos
authors.affiliation: Medical Faculty, Department of Paediatrics, University of Pécs, Hungary.
authors.forename: Eszter
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Molnár
authors.affiliation: Mind, Brain, and Behavior Research Center-CIMCYC, University of Granada, Spain.
authors.forename: Andrés
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Catena
authors.affiliation: GENUD "Growth, Exercise, NUtrition and Development" Research Group, University of Zaragoza, Spain; Instituto Agroalimentario de Aragón (IA2), Instituto de Investigación Sanitaria Aragón (IIS Aragón), University of Zaragoza, Spain.
authors.forename: Luis A
authors.initials: LA
authors.lastname: Moreno
authors.affiliation: Karolinska Institutet, Department of Biosciences and Nutrition, Sweden.
authors.forename: Michael
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Sjöström
authors.affiliation: Inserm, LIRIC, UMR 995, Univ. Lille, CHU Lille, F-59000, France; CIC-PT-1403-Inserm-CH&U, Lille, CHU Lille, F-59000, France.
authors.forename: Frederic
authors.initials: F
authors.lastname: Gottrand
authors.affiliation: Paracelsus Medical University, Department of Pediatrics, Austria.
authors.forename: Kurt
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Widhalm
authors.affiliation: PROFITH "PROmoting FITness and Health through physical activity" Research Group, Faculty of Sport Sciences, University of Granada, Department of Physical Education and Sports, Spain; Karolinska Institutet, Department of Biosciences and Nutrition, Sweden.
authors.forename: Francisco B
authors.initials: FB
authors.lastname: Ortega
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D000704:Analysis of Variance; D001288:Attention; D015992:Body Mass Index; D000072599:Cardiorespiratory Fitness / Q000502:physiology*; D016009:Chi-Square Distribution; D003430:Cross-Sectional Studies; D005060:Europe; D005260:Female; D000070497:Healthy Lifestyle; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D053580:Muscle Strength / Q000502:physiology; D050177:Overweight / Q000503:physiopathology* / Q000523:psychology
keywords: Aerobic capacity; Anthropometry; Body fat; Lower-muscular strength; Selective attention; Upper-muscular strength