PROTIME-FITNESS HOLISTIC HEALTH AND WELLNESS

  WHAT PERSONALITY TRAITS IMPACT YOUR ACTIVITY LEVEL? A study conducted at the Gerontology Research Centre and the Faculty of Sport and Health Sciences at the University of Jyväskylä observed associations of personality traits with physical activity and sedentary behavior . Individuals characterized by high conscientiousness and extraversion are likelier to accumulate more extended periods of physical activity and sedentary behavior. In contrast, individuals with higher neuroticism scores tend to interrupt their sedentary behavior more often. The study followed the personality traits of the same individuals when they were 33, 42, 50, and 61 years old. It formed personality profiles representing unique combinations of neuroticism, extraversion, conscientiousness, openness, and agreeableness. "We identified five personality trait profiles:  resilient ,  brittle ,  overcontrolled ,  undercontrolled , and  ordinary, " says research director Katja Kokko. In previous research based

  STRESS'S IMPACT ON YOUR COGNITIVE RESERVE While mentally stimulating activities and life experiences can improve cognition in memory clinic patients, stress undermines this beneficial relationship. This is according to a new study from Karolinska Institutet published in  Alzheimer's & Dementia: The Journal of the Alzheimer's Association . Researchers in the late 1980s found that some individuals who showed no apparent symptoms of dementia during their lifetime had brain changes consistent with an advanced stage of Alzheimer's disease. It has been postulated that so-called cognitive reserve might account for this differential protective effect in individuals. Cognitively stimulating and enriching life experiences and behaviors such as higher educational attainment, complex jobs, continued physical and leisure activities, and healthy social interactions help build cognitive reserve. However, high or persistent stress levels are associated with reduced social interac

  SUGAR RESTRICTION IN UTERO AND EARLY CHILDHOOD MAY IMPACT MIDLIFE HEALTH A new study has found that a low-sugar diet in utero and in the first two years of life can meaningfully reduce the risk of chronic diseases in adulthood, providing compelling new evidence of the lifelong health effects of early-life sugar consumption. Published in  Science , the study finds that children who experienced sugar restrictions during their first 1,000 days after conception had up to 35% lower risk of developing Type 2 diabetes and as much as 20% less risk of hypertension as adults. The mother's Low sugar intake before birth was enough to lower risks, but continued sugar restriction after birth increased the benefits. Using an unintended "natural experiment" from World War II, researchers at the USC Dornsife College of Letters, Arts and Sciences, McGill University in Montreal, and the University of California, Berkeley, examined how sugar rationing during the war influenced long-term he

  PHYSICAL FITNESS STARTED IN CHILDHOOD TO ADOLESCENCE LINKED TO BETTER MENTAL HEALTH         A recent Finnish study has found that good physical fitness from childhood to adolescence is linked to better mental health in adolescence. These results are significant and timely, as mental health problems are currently a major societal challenge, affecting up to 25% to 30% of young people. These findings suggest that improving physical fitness from childhood can help prevent mental health problems. In a study by the Faculty of Sport and Health Sciences at the University of Jyväskylä and the Institute of Biomedicine at the University of Eastern Finland, the physical fitness of 241 adolescents was followed from childhood to adolescence for eight years. The study showed that better cardiorespiratory fitness and improvements from childhood to adolescence were associated with fewer stress and depressive symptoms in adolescence. Additionally, the study found that better motor fitness from childho

   BODY IMAGE AND ANABOLIC STEROID ABUSE AMONG MEN AND ADOLESCENT BOYS Men and adolescent boys are increasingly at risk of resorting to the dangerous use of anabolic steroids in a bid to achieve the desired muscular build modeled on social media, warn Flinders body image experts. A new review study in  Psychology of Men & Masculinities  journal that focused explicitly on men found that exposure to social media posts depicting ideal muscular male bodies is directly linked to a negative body image and greater odds of resorting to anabolic-androgenic steroid use. "The ideal male body in Western society is simultaneously very lean and very muscular, with a V-shaped figure and emphasis on large arms, shoulders, and chest," says senior author Associate Professor Ivanka Prichard from the College of Nursing and Health Sciences. "While previous research in this space has predominantly focused on women, recent evidence suggests that men also experience the adverse effects of s