December 6 — 7, 2007 Advisory Committee Meeting Minutes

General Discussion

Friday, December 7, 10:15 a.m.

The meeting proceeded with a general discussion period on the previous presentations on energy balance, youth and special populations.

Energy Balance — Women
A comment was added stressing the importance of women in this area. Specific mention of pre-menopausal women is a good start.

Energy Balance — Physically Inactive
It will be important to address progress made by individuals that are inactive. The inactive group is not stable as they are gaining weight. Weight stability for this group is an important achievement.

Energy Balance — Modes of Activity
Thinking along ethnic and gender lines in this area seems appropriate, specifically with the type of activity that is being done (i.e., dance, play, walking, etc.). It would be helpful to identify varied modes of activity and their total caloric expenditure. It may be more important looking at total physical activity of differing sorts rather then worry about the difference between exercise and non-exercise activity.

Caloric Restriction
It was deemed appropriate that the Committee address caloric intake along with physical activity. As the Dietary Guidelines make reference to physical activity it should be appropriate the Physical Activity Guidelines reference diet.

Type 2 Diabetes
Diabetes in youth is a major, major problem. What will be the age limit in discussing recommendations in this area? While the group has not come up with an age range it should be noted the literature diminishes in frequency the lower one goes.

Academic Performance
There is most likely a strong desire from the public to better understand how physical activity may relate to academic performance. While there are not a lot of studies in this area and it may overlap in other areas, how should the Committee treat this?

Asthma in Youth
Exercise-induced asthma is increasing. It is especially prevalent in lower income and black communities, and especially in obese. Will the subcommittee address this issue? At this point the Youth Subcommittee will not deal with activity in subpopulations of youth that are clearly diagnosed as having an illness.

Teen Pregnancy
Should exercise in female youths be studied in relation to teen pregnancy? The Youth Subcommittee has not looked at this issue but it may belong in the mental health umbrella.

Ethnicity and Obesity
While there has been much discussion at looking at obesity along ethnic lines a comment was made that race should not be looked at as there may be physiological and perhaps SES explanations for obesity. In other words, "race" may be too simple of a term when looking at issues of obesity.

Disabilities — Progressive Diseases
Should the Committee dig deeper into recommendations for disabled individuals that have long-term diseases, specifically individuals that have lived with M.S. for a significant amount of time? It is a complex issue as it's difficult to make broad recommendation as it will apply differently to different individuals.