Part 1 - Bases

ISSN 1754-3452
The official publication of the BRITISH ASSOCIATION OF SPORT AND EXERCISE SCIENCES
ISSUE 18 DECEMBER 2008
OLYMPIC REPORTS
Reflections from Beijing
A focus on sprint and middle-distance running
THE STUDENT ATHLETE
An interview with Leeds Rhinos captain and recent
Leeds Metropolitan University graduate Kevin Sinfield
“COMMENTS FROM MEMBERS”
Members take advantage of the new section
www.bases.org.uk
Promoting Issue Excellence 15 l March 2008 in Sport l The Sport and and Exercise Scientist Sciences l 1

FOREWORD
The Sport and Exercise Scientist
The SES is published quarterly by BASES
Editor l Prof Andy Lane
Editorial Advisory Board l Dr Daniel Bishop, Dr Melissa Day,
Dr Lee Ingle, Dr Dominic Micklewright, Claire-Marie Roberts,
Dr John Saxton, Dr Richard Thelwell, Dr David Tod, Len Parker-Simpson
Book and Resource Review l Dr David Tod
Advertising l Debbie Pearce
Tel/ Fax: +44 (0)113 8128616 • dpearce@bases.org.uk
Publisher l Mercer Print, Newark Street, Accrington BB5 0PB
Tel: +44 (0)1254 395512 • info@mercer-print.co.uk
BASES l Leeds Metropolitan University, Carnegie Faculty of Sport
and Education, Fairfax Hall, Headingley Campus,
Beckett Park, Leeds, LS6 3QT
Tel/ Fax: +44 (0)113 812 6162/63 • jbairstow@bases.org.uk
Website l www.bases.org.uk
Disclaimer l The statements and opinions contained in the articles
are solely those of the individual authors and contributors and are
not necessarily those of BASES. The appearance of advertisements in
the publication is not a warranty, endorsement or approval of
products or services. BASES has undertaken all reasonable measures
to ensure that the information contained in The SES is accurate and
specifically disclaims any liability, loss or risk, personal or otherwise,
which is incurred as a consequence, directly or indirectly of the use
and application of any of the contents.
Copyright © BASES, 2008 l All rights reserved. Reproduction in
whole or in substantial part without permission of The SES Production
Director is strictly prohibited. An archive of the The SES is available in
the Member Area at www.bases.org.uk
Copy deadline 1 January 2008 for Issue 19, March 2009. All
contributions welcomed. Info for contributors www.bases.org.uk
Front Cover Photo l Courtesy of Sally Trussler, Brunel University (© of Brunel University).
Prof ANDY LANE
Editor
The Sport and
Exercise Scientist
Annual conferences are traditionally where members
get together and share research findings, professional
practice, interesting stories and a few jokes. Our
feature article is on the highlights of the 2008 BASES Annual
Conference. It is a combination of short articles from
“conference reporters”. It was a vibrant conference and I
hope this message comes across.
We introduce a new section, titled “Comments”, in which
members can provide comment on issues that they see as
relevant, anonymously if they wish. In this issue, sport and
exercise psychologists provide comments on which Dr Chris
Harwood and Dr Jo Thatcher develop and extend these
arguments.
The Olympic Games will be in the forefront of our minds
over the next four years. With our recent successes from
Beijing to build on, we will be including reflective reports
from practitioners over the coming issues. This issue features
articles on running and boxing.
Our Strictly for Students section contains an interview with
Kevin Sinfield, a professional rugby player and recent sport
and exercise science graduate. Kevin discusses the value of
sport and exercise science to professional sport and the
challenge of competing in high-level sport whilst studying for
a degree.
A fellowship of BASES is the highest accolade the organisation
can provide. Our final article contains a report from Prof
Andy Jones, a BASES fellow, on research presented at the
European College of Sport Science conference.
I hope you enjoy this issue.
Prof Andy Lane
Editor
A.M.Lane2@wlv.ac.uk
CONTENTS
4 THE 2008 BASES ANNUAL CONFERENCE;
HIGHLIGHTS FROM BRUNEL UNIVERSITY
Conference reporters describe their experiences
12 NEWS
15 APPLYING SPORT PSYCHOLOGY IN THE GOLFING ARENA
Extracts from the BASES online discussion
that was held recently with Allison Dyer
16 “WHITE” MEN CAN’T RUN:
WHERE IS THE SCIENTIFIC EVIDENCE?
BASES International Travel Grant winners
Yannis Pitsiladis and Robert Scott report
18 SUPPORTING COMBAT SPORTS BEFORE AND DURING
THE OLYMPIC HOLDING CAMP
Holding camp psychologist Pete Lindsay
summarises and reflects
20 “COMMENTS”
Members voice opinions, Dr Chris Harwood and
Dr Jo Thatcher add further discussion
22 ELITE SPORT AND STUDYING
SPORT AND EXERCISE SCIENCE IN
ELITE RUGBY
An interview with Kevin
Sinfield, Leeds Rhinos captain
24 RESOURCE AND
WORKSHOP REVIEWS
26 WORKSHOP AND RESOURCE REVIEWS
28 JOLLY, FAT AND FIT: ARE SANTA CLAUS
AND HIS GOOD WIFE ROLE MODELS FOR THE
HAHA (HAPPY, ACTIVE? HEALTHY, ACTIVE
LIFESTYLE) PARADIGM?
Dr Sean Carroll, Erika
Borkoles and Prof Remco
Polman take up the story
31 PROVIDING INSIGHTS INTO
RESPIRATORY CONTROL DURING
EXERCISE BASES
Fellow Prof Andy Jones reports
4
16
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Issue 18 l Dec 2008 l The Sport and Exercise Scientist l 3

COURTESY OF SALLY TRUSSLER, BRUNEL UNIVERSITY
ANNUAL CONFERENCE HIGHLIGHTS
THE 2008 BASES AN
HIGHLIGHTS FROM BRUNEL UNIVERSITY • HIGHLIGHTS FROM B
The 2008 BASES Annual Conference, held at Brunel University, was attended by over 600
delegates, packed with interesting keynotes, symposia, debates, oral and poster presentations,
and coupled with an excellent social programme. A group of delegates volunteered to act as conference reporters
and agreed to write short reports on sessions of their choice. This article describes their experiences.
Prof Dave Collins
Day 1: Tuesday 2 September
Opening Address and Opening
Keynote: Reflections from Beijing,
Prof Dave Collins
Prof Collins’s departure from UK Athletics
the day before added a sense of trepidation
to his keynote delivery. The conference
began with a welcoming introduction from
Prof Ian Campbell who articulated the efforts
made to organise the conference.
This was followed by Prof Chris Jenks,
Vice Chancellor of Brunel University, who
explained the tradition of sport at Brunel,
including the amalgamation of Borough
Road, formerly West London Institute. Prof
Richard Davidson, the Chair of BASES,
espoused the exciting programme and
recognised the achievements of recent
conference organisers to making the Annual
BASES Conference a priority when planning
continuous professional development (CPD)
activity. The scene was set for Prof Collins.
I was particularly excited about Professor
Collins’s keynote talk on two counts. Firstly,
because of the timeliness of the
presentation, with Prof Collins leading UK
Athletics in the Olympic Games that had
finished a couple of weeks previously.
Secondly, because I know he is an excellent
presenter. Prof Collins did not disappoint on
either count.
Prof Collins articulated the size of the
challenge he faced when taking on the role
leading UK Athletics. Despite a relatively
successful World Championships in 2004, he
warned of the dangers of mistaking a small
number of outstanding individual
achievements for an excellent structure.
He proceeded to propose the key blocks
needed to build this type of structure and,
importantly, the role of sport science and
medicine within this programme. He
emphasised the importance of having an
integrated and multidisciplinary approach in
which sport scientists are fully fledged
members of the team. He emphasised the
importance of a sport scientist having good
interpersonal skills. In particular, he indicated
that what is critical for effectiveness is
communication between all personnel
within the performance management set-up.
I felt that this was an excellent keynote and,
moreover, from a CPD perspective, justified
attending the conference, which, given it
was the first presentation, was a pretty good
start.
Prof Andy Lane
Andy is a professor of sport psychology at
the University of Wolverhampton. He is
BASES Accredited for Scientific Support and
Research and a chartered psychologist with
the British Psychological Society (BPS).
Symposium on Supramaximal
Exercise: A New Frontier in
Integrated Physiology
From a personal viewpoint, a symposium on
supramaximal exercise was alluring, being
the intensity domain for my PhD thesis.
Prof Bengt Saltin led the symposium,
outlining the main research areas requiring
answers: the regulation of blood flow
distribution; size of muscle mass in the true
attainment of V . 02 max; reduction in stroke
volume at high V . 02 max; and the cost of
pulmonary ventilation. Dr Jerry Dempsey
addressed the respiratory limitations to
exercise, including oxyhaemoglobin
desaturation, respiratory muscle energy
cost/fatigue and the effect of intrathoracic
pressure changes on stroke volume. Prof
José Gonzáles-Alonso completed the trio
by addressing the cardiovascular limitations,
such as the differential ability of the brain vs.
the muscle to compensate for reduced flow
by increasing the arteriovenous 02 difference
and the differential regulation of blood flow
to the upper and lower extremities.
Although the symposium did not directly
address the physiological limitations of “real”
supramaximal exercise as undertaken by the
likes of Chris Hoy and co. (and the speakers
acknowledged that their talks mainly
addressed maximal exercise or thereabouts)
4 l Issue 18 l Dec 2008 l The Sport and Exercise Scientist
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NUAL CONFERENCE
RUNEL UNIVERSITY • HIGHLIGHTS FROM BRUNEL UNIVERSITY
ANNUAL CONFERENCE HIGHLIGHTS
COURTESY OF SALLY TRUSSLER, BRUNEL UNIVERSITY
the presentations were fascinating and would
have been equally of interest to those working
in the more extreme intensity domains.
Anna Wittekind
Anna is a senior teaching fellow at the
University of Essex and is also a PhD
student investigating the physiological
effect of prior exercise on supramaximal
exercise.
Review of the Psychology Oral
Communications
The psychology oral communications
provided an interesting mix of topics, from
transformal leadership to perceptual skills in
badminton. An entertaining Dr Stuart
Beattie reintroduced the catastrophe
model and declared, “it’s here to stay”.
Andrew Lane, Cardiff University (not to be
confused with Prof Andy Lane, editor of The
Sport and Exercise Scientist), hosted a
knowledgeable discussion regarding elite
performers’ sources of sport confidence. He
highlighted to me that, as I coach, I should
be examining my athletes’ sources of selfconfidence
over time and emphasised that
athletes derive their confidence from
different sources, depending on the time
prior to competition.
Abbe Brady presented the only qualitative
research of the session and ignited a reel of
questions from the audience when she
raised the issue that athletes do care about
the image of their consultant. Of importance
to practitioners, she suggested that our
clothing might be a barrier to effective
consultancy. So to all applied sport
psychologists, dress appropriately as it’s
what’s on the outside that counts.
Amanda Wilding
Amanda is a lecturer in sport sciences at
Bournemouth University. She is BASES
Accredited for Scientific Support and is
part of the Hampshire county athletics
performance and development coaching
staff.
Review of the Physiology Oral
Communications
The session started with a confident
presentation by Paul Bradley about the yo-yo
intermittent endurance test and was delivered
very well with good expansion on the
discoveries. As a result, a number of questions
were asked, leading to a very good discussion to
kick off the session; the only downside being
that the session had surprisingly few numbers.
This was followed by an applied physiological
study on elite mountaineers, delivered by a
first-time presenter at the BASES conference,
Nicola Reeve, which was very interesting
and novel. The next study took the route of
the session to a more pure science arena,
looking at genes and the endurance
performance. This was a very interesting
study, opening up a very wide range of
questions and debate – could it be used for a
sophisticated talent ID? The next two studies
brought the session back to applied science,
looking at a 6-week training intervention with
walkers and the running economy on flat as
opposed to uphill running. These studies,
presented by Andrew Drake of Coventry
University and Chris Loxston of the English
Institute of Sport, were well-discussed by the
audience, leading to interesting debate.
Overall, the session was very informative, with
a wide range of speakers, from lecturers to
applied practitioners. The studies were very
specific with varying levels of science. There
was a good array of questions and debates,
including pedantic questions, for example,
“Explain the difference between efficiency and
economy”. This got away from the topics at
hand but was very well handled by the
presenters. I thoroughly enjoyed the session.
Jonathan Prichard
Jonathan is a lab technician at the
University of Northumbria and is
currently working towards BASES
Physiology Accreditation for Scientific
Support.
Prof Bengt Saltin
Symposium Report – The Role of
Implicit Cognitions in Sport
This highly engaging symposium comprised
four short research presentations that
explored the influence of implicit processes
on perception and performance, primarily
within a soccer environment. Firstly, Dr
Robin Jackson focused on players’ ability
to distinguish between genuine and
deceptive movement, where he reported
highly skilled performers to be less
susceptible to deception than their
recreational counterparts. Although the
specific mechanisms for this were not
presented, it was suggested that players
should consider developing their ability to
disguise movements. Next, Dr John van
der Kamp discussed whether penalty
takers (PTs) should fixate on goalkeepers
(GKs) during the run-up to the penalty kick.
The data suggested that if a PT looks at the
GK, they are more likely to kick within the
GK’s reach. Further, it was reported that
GKs can look up to 9% taller when they
stand with their arms up compared to when
they stand with their arms down. With the
perceptual estimates of GK height being so
drastic, the potential impacts on kicking
accuracy will be reinforced should a PT
fixate on the GK. The third presentation,
from Dr Jamie Poolton, examined how
the reputation of a GK can implicitly
influence the perception of their size. The
key message here was that if a GK has a
reputation for saving penalties, they would
be perceived as larger, and if PTs fixate on
the GK, their kicking accuracy would be
reduced further.
“Overall, the session was very
informative, with a wide range
of speakers . . . . “This highly
engaging symposium . . . .”
To conclude, Prof Rich Masters reported
how psychological stress might influence
perception in sport. Although not within a
soccer context, the evidence suggested that,
under stressful situations, successful
performers have better perceptions of
important factors within the environment. In
summary, the symposium addressed a
number of topical issues within the area of
implicit cognition. Further to this, the
manner in which the presentations logically
developed from one to another enabled
more defined suggestions for future research
and applied practice.
Dr Richard Thelwell
Richard is a principal lecturer in sport
psychology at the University of
Portsmouth. He is also BASES Accredited
for Scientific Support and Research.
www.bases.org.uk
Issue 18 l Dec 2008 l The Sport and Exercise Scientist l 5

ANNUAL CONFERENCE HIGHLIGHTS
Day 2: Wednesday 3
September
Keynote: Physical Activity and
Health: A Governmental Approach
The physical activity and health keynote
session began with the disappointing news
that, due to being called away to deal with
an emergency in Africa, the Chief Medical
Officer for England, Sir Liam Donaldson,
would not be presenting. Fortunately for the
BASES Conference attendees, Jane Riley,
the Associate Director of Public Health for
Yorkshire and the Humber, ably stepped into
the breach at the last minute.
Riley delivered an excellent presentation
outlining the government’s approach to
promoting physical activity (PA) and
improving the health of the nation. She
began with statistics proposing that only
40% of men and 28% of women achieve
the recommended activity levels of 30
minutes of moderate intensity PA for 5 or
more days a week. Riley informed the
audience that although life expectancy was
increasing, disease-free life expectancy was
not keeping pace. She also warned of the
economic cost to the NHS of the rising
prevalence of obesity (£6 billion in 2008).
However, Riley suggested that active adults
have a 20–30% lower risk of premature
death, and a 50% reduced risk of
developing major chronic diseases.
Riley went on to share some fascinating
insights from governmental research into the
perceptions of parents and their influence on
their children. Among these insights were
the dangers of parents believing that a happy
child is a healthy child, and that many
parents do not cook for their children due
to a lack of knowledge and confidence. Riley
informed us that children are often allowed
and encouraged to be sedentary, for
example, sitting in front of TV is used as a
method of behavioural control and family
bonding. Riley then summarised national,
regional, and local government initiatives,
such as the £30 million “healthy towns”
initiative, Sport England, plans for a
partnership with the entertainment industry,
and the new “Change 4Life” initiative.
In closing, she urged sport scientists to make
information easier to understand and more
readily available to the public, and
emphasised that the focus should be on
promoting fun rather than trying to force
people to become more active out of fear.
Symposia: Lifestyle vs. Chronic
Disease – Part 1
In opening, Dr Gary O’Donovan
(University of Exeter) outlined the purpose
of the session: To pool the resources of
leading experts in physical activity, diet,
exercise psychology and urban planning, in
the fight against chronic disease.
Firstly, Prof Chris Riddoch (University of
Bath) provided a thought-provoking
discussion on the importance of physical
COURTESY OF SALLY TRUSSLER, BRUNEL UNIVERSITY
activity. The dose-response relationship
between physical activity and chronic disease
risk was vividly illustrated by the use of
numerous studies showing a reduced risk of
chronic disease with rising levels of activity,
and diminishing benefits with further rises in
activity levels. He presented research to
show that those with acceptable levels of
physical fitness but with excess body fat do
not necessarily have an increased risk of
chronic disease. It appears that fit people
have more “protection” against disease
regardless of body fat levels. He concluded
by urging that we take a more socioecological
view of behaviour, considering the
individual, social factors, the physical
environment and the influence of society.
Next, Dr Amelia Lake (University of
Newcastle) examined the importance of diet
in the battle against chronic disease. She
indicated that foresight projections predict a
70% increase in diabetes and that, by 2050,
obesity could rise by 60%. She outlined the
current strategy of modifying diets to
prevent chronic disease by decreasing salt
and fat intake, and increasing fruit and
vegetable intake. Dr Lake offered a
stimulating insight into the influence
obesogenic environments and “foodscapes”
have on public health. She acknowledged
that lower socioeconomic status
neighbourhoods appear to be exposed to
more fast-food options and fewer healthyeating
options. Her own findings from
research on the foodscape in
Northumberland between 1980 and 2000,
showed a dramatic increase in the number
of “food eaten out of the home” events (i.e.,
takeaways) and demonstrated an association
between the changing foodscape and
increases in body mass index in this area.
Symposia: Lifestyle vs. Chronic
Disease – Part 2
Dr Guy Faulkner (University of Toronto)
gave an entertaining and enlightening
presentation on the role exercise psychology
can play in the promotion of PA and the
prevention of chronic disease. He espoused
that the psychological, behavioural and social
determinants of PA should be used as the
basis for interventions to promote PA. Dr
Faulkner discussed the difficulties of
establishing set recommendations on exercise
dosage for promoting mental health and
questioned the effectiveness of using energy
expenditure to set exercise dosages for
mental health. Dr Faulkner closed by
emphasising that although rigorous
experimental research is needed for practical
interventions,“acts need not wait for evidence”.
In the concluding presentation, Dr Billie
Giles-Corti (University of Western
Australia) delivered an engaging account of
the role of the environment in the
prevention of chronic disease. She
introduced the concept of the built
environment, which encompasses the
influence that land use, transportation
systems, and urban design have on PA
levels. Findings from transport literature
detailed how the proximity of shops and
mixed land use to people’s homes influences
PA levels. Urban design research revealed
that factors such as convenience of facilities,
access to public space, aesthetics and the
presence of cycle and walk pathways all
affect the levels of PA.
She vividly illustrated the extent to which the
above factors affect PA levels between
children, adolescents and adults. In children,
growing parental concerns about personal
and traffic safety were said to be adversely
affecting the PA levels of children. While for
older adults the biggest influences on PA
levels were access to parks, proximity of
destinations, safety, bothersome traffic and
the quality of paths. In closing, Dr Giles-
Corti implored that cities and towns should
cater for multiple groups and multiple
activities in multiple settings.
Ian Lahart
Ian is a sports therapy lecturer in the
University College Birmingham and
recently completed an MSc in Applied
Sport and Exercise Science at the
University of Wolverhampton.
Campus central spine
6 l Issue 18 l Dec 2008 l The Sport and Exercise Scientist www.bases.org.uk

ANNUAL CONFERENCE HIGHLIGHTS
Prof Chris Jenks, Vice Chancellor of Brunel University
Prof Rich
ALL PICS COURTESY OF SALLY TRUSSLER, BRUNEL UNIVERSITY
Delegates
Biomechanics and Physiology Oral
Communications
I was really impressed with the variety of
biomechanics at the BASES Conference this
year, with something for everyone. With the
title of this session incorporating both
biomechanics and physiology, I was
expecting a predominance of physiology,
especially with the recent decline in
biomechanists in the Association. However,
clever/astute scheduling saw a happy
combination of applied presentations that
incorporated both biomechanical and
physiological components and, as a result, I
am sure this session was beneficial to the
biomechanist and the physiologist alike.
What was particularly impressive was the
array of applications covered within this
session, ranging from markers of appetite
suppression to breast movement. It was
encouraging to see presenters from a variety
of backgrounds, including clinicians,
academics, students and practitioners. Useful
guidance was given on appropriate types of
breast support, stretching exercises for
lower back pain sufferers and kinematic
monitoring of the centre of mass during
exercise. There was a slightly disappointing
number of people in the audience, but
those that were there contributed to
interesting discussions on various areas and
were privy to some excellent presentation
skills. The session was very well chaired by
Dr Tom Korff who encouraged lively
discussions throughout.
Joanna Scurr
Joanna is a principal lecturer in biomechanics
at the University of Portsmouth and is BASES
Accredited for Scientific Support. Joanna’s
research focus is breast biomechanics.
Exercise and Heart Failure
Symposium
This novel and informative symposium was
chaired by Dr John Buckley and
comprised a series of themed presentations
on heart failure from UK experts in the field.
Dr Jenni Jones briefly outlined the
aetiology of heart failure and provided some
shocking “hot-off-the-press” statistics for
new levels of risk factors for cardiovascular
disease from the European Cardiovascular
Society Meeting. Dr Rob Shave then
outlined the importance of brain natriuretic
peptide as a biomarker for detection of
heart failure. Cathy Bindoff delivered an
excellent presentation on the groundbreaking
use of left ventricular assisting
devices in severe heart failure at Harefield
Hospital. The exercise-related segment of
the symposium saw Dr Paul Bromley,
Patrick Doherty, Fiona Lough and Dr
Lee Ingle provide the audience with
insightful information on exercise testing and
prescription in heart failure patients. The
take-home message was that both field tests
and full cardiopulmonary exercise testing can
be used to assess functional capacity in heart
failure patients, and that a mixed-modality
exercise training programme including
resistance- and interval-type aerobic exercises
is beneficial to heart failure patients in terms
of providing an enhanced quality of life.
Gavin Sandercock
Gavin is a lecturer in cardiac
rehabilitation at the University
of Essex.
Day 3: Thursday
4 September
Introduction and Keynote:
Biopsychosocial Support Systems
and the Role of the Sports Scientist
The third keynote presentation was given
early on the third day of the Conference by
Dr Trisha Leahy of the Hong Kong Sports
Institute. Any cobwebs lingering from the
entertainment of the previous evening were
soon swept aside by what turned out to be
an extremely engaging presentation. Dr
Leahy opened her presentation by relating
sports development systems for young
athletes to the 1990 Convention of Rights of
the Child. There was particular reference to
Article 29 which states: a child’s education
(including sport) “shall be directed to the
development of their personality, talents and
mental and physical abilities at their fullest
potential”. Although I had broadly
recognised the importance of individualising
the support and opportunities given to
young athletes, I had certainly never
considered them in the human-rights terms
described by Dr Leahy.
With the rights of the child in relation to
sport clarified, Dr Leahy continued by
discussing issues of safeguarding young
athletes. As the title of her presentation
implies, she emphasised the importance of
safeguarding against physical, psychological
and social threats that young athletes are
inevitably exposed to during the course of
participating in sport. Dr Leahy focused
much of her talk on the threat of sexual
abuse that young athletes may experience,
which she explained is a worldwide
problem. Alarming figures were given that
suggested approximately 30% of all athletes
under the age of 18 years had reported being
the victim of sexual abuse, of which half had
occurred in a sports context. According to Dr
Leahy, mechanisms to prevent and protect
against sexual abuse are rarely able to
overcome factors such as the reluctance to
expose perpetrators, bystander effects and
victim confusion, fear and entrapment.
Overall, the presentation was delivered in a
very engaging way and culminated in quite
an emotionally charged and protracted Q&A
session. It was clear that many people in the
audience felt very strongly about the issues
covered in Dr Leahy’s talk, which certainly
raised awareness about the prevalence of
risks to the welfare of young athletes. Dr
Leahy concluded by pointing out that
systematic risks to sports systems will only
occur if psychological abuse by coaches is
normalised, rather than challenged.
Dominic Micklewright
Dominic is a BPS-chartered sport and
exercise psychologist and a lecturer at the
University of Essex. He has been an
editorial board member of The Sport and
Exercise Scientist since January 2007.
Symposium: Metabolic and Vascular
Health in Young People
Childhood obesity continues to rise and its
prevention has turned into one of the UK
government’s main priorities. As an exercise
physiologist with an interest in paediatric
exercise science, I was looking forward to
this symposium.
The first presentation was given by Dr Joe
Eisenmann of Michigan State University,
and was entitled “Fatness, Fitness and
Metabolic Syndrome in Children and
Adolescents”. He began his presentation
with a brief overview of previous findings
about the relationship between obesity,
fitness and metabolic syndrome in children.
8 l Issue 18 l Dec 2008 l The Sport and Exercise Scientist
www.bases.org.uk