Daniel P Bailey has no financial disclosures. Rachael B Champion has no financial disclosures. David Hewson has no financial disclosures. Suzan Sayegh has no financial disclosures.

Background Cultural, environmental and logistical factors promote a sedentary lifestyle within Qatar, particularly for females. Sedentary behaviour is acutely associated with poor cognitive function and fatigue, and chronically may be implicated with cognitive decline (i.e. Alzheimer’s disease). Purpose To examine the effects of breaking up sitting with short-duration frequent walking bouts on cognitive function and fatigue in Qatari females. Method Eleven sedentary (sitting ≥7 h/day) females completed three visits; the first being familiarisation. In a cross-over randomised manner, experimental visits two and three were identical, except participants either remained seated for 5-h (SIT) or interrupted their sitting every 30-min with a 3-min moderate-intensity walk (WALK) on a motorised treadmill. The Computerised Mental Performance Assessment System (COMPASS) assessed cognition at baseline (-15-min), and then at 2.5-h and 5-h into the experimental conditions. Specific COMPASS tasks employed were; serial-3 subtractions (2-min), serial-7 subtractions (2-min), simple reaction time (RT; 50 stimuli), rapid visual information processing [RVIP (5-min)], choice reaction time (CRT; 50 stimuli), and Stroop (60 stimuli); and a visual analogue scale for fatigue (VAS-F) was completed at the same time intervals. Results There was a significant condition effect for CRT (f = 26.7, p = 0.007). On average CRT was 101 s (95% CI = -47 to -156 s) quicker in WALK compared to SIT. There was a significant time effect for CRT (f = 15.5, p = 0.01). On average CRT was 134 s slower at 5-h compared to baseline (p = 0.006; 95% CI = -64 to -203 s), and 114 s slower at 5-h compared to 2.5-h (p = 0.01; 95% CI = -44 to -183 s). There was a significant interaction effect for RT in the Stroop incongruent task (f = 10.0, p = 0.03). On average RT was 210 s quicker at 2.5-h in WALK compared to SIT (p = 0.01; 95% CI = -76 to -346 s). Conclusion Breaking up prolonged sitting with moderate-intensity walking offers an ecologically valid intervention to enhance some aspects of cognitive function, whilst not affecting fatigue in sedentary Qatari females. Whilst these findings are promising, the long-term effects of breaking up sitting on cognitive function requires testing before population level recommendations can be made.

BackgroundPhysical inactivity is a growing health concern and has been identified as the fourth leading risk factor for global mortality. The Arab region includes countries with some of the world’s highest physical inactivity levels, such as Qatar, more specifically the Qatari female population.ObjectiveThe objective of this study is to assess the physical activity levels of Qatari national female adults during a 1-year pedometer-based program.Materials and methodsA total of 549 Qatari national females aged between 18 years and 64 years were included. Data extracted from “Step into Health” program web database in Qatar were used for analyses. Daily habitual physical activity (daily total step count and aerobic steps) was assessed through the Omron HJ-324U pedometer. Step counts were classified as follows: <5,000 steps/d, sedentary; 5,000–7,499 steps/d, low active; and ≥7,500 steps/d, physically active. Statistical significance was set at P-value ≤0.05. Descriptive statistics were used, and habitual physical activity was calculated through repeated measures analysis of variance to determine the difference across the monitored days.ResultsMean age was 37.4±11.7 years, and median body mass index of 28.8 kg/m2 (interquartile range 24.8–33.5). Daily steps for the overall population ranged from 3,505 steps/d to 10,010 steps/d, with a median of 6,008 steps/d. A total of 242 (44.1%) females were sedentary, 178 (32.4%) were low active, and 129 (23.5%) were physically active. The physically active group showed a median of 927 aerobic steps/d (interquartile range 0–4,248).ConclusionBased on the results of this study, Qatari females are not meeting the global recommendations of physical activity. Future research might need to consider barriers to physical activity as well as social, cultural, and environmental factors.

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A recent relationship between vitamin D deficiency and the risk of type 2 diabetes mellitus (T2DM) and insulin resistance has been established through several studies. Research suggests a correlation between serum vitamin D and glycemic status measures. The aim of this study was to investigate the relationship between the plasma vitamin D levels (25[OH]D) and the factors linked to insulin resistance in a representative sample of Canadians ranging in age from 16–79 years. Data were used from the Canadian Health Measures Survey where direct measures of health and wellness were reported from 1,928 subjects. These data were gathered from March 2007–February 2009 at 15 sites selected through a multistage sampling strategy. An inverse relationship between insulin resistance and plasma vitamin D level in both men and women was observed. This study provides additional evidence for the role of vitamin D in T2DM. If causally associated, the supplementation of vitamin D may help in preventing insulin resistance and subsequent T2DM.