The Effects of a Two-weeks Holiday on Body Composition in Healthy Young Greek Females

Abstract

PURPOSE: To examine the effects of a holiday period (Christmas) on changes in body weight and body composition in young Greek females. METHODS: Fifty two healthy, non-obese females volunteered (Weight: 61.05 kg BMI: 22,82 kg·m2 %BF: 28,57%). They were randomly separated into experimental (n = 26) and control (n=26) groups. The former group kept a 3-day dietary log for the week between Christmas and New Year's Day, whereas subjects in the control group were instructed not to keep any dietary log. All volunteers visited a laboratory setting three days prior to Christmas followed by a second visit four days after New Year's Day. During the two visits, the following measurements were conducted: body weight, body mass index, waist and hip circumferences, and body fat via bioelectrical impedance (TanitaTBF-521, Japan). RESULTS: Results were analyzed using a 2X2 ANOVA. No base-line differences were found between the two groups in any of the assessed parameters. The results revealed significant increases, in both groups, in body weight (~0.40 kg; p<0.05), body mass index (~0.13 kg·m-2; p<0.05), and percent body fat (~0.41%; p<0.05) with no significant difference observed between the two groups. Forty three women (77%) increased and thirteen (23%) decreased their body weight. Twenty six women (50%) increased their waist circumference by >1 cm. A further analysis was performed in order to identify potential differences between the females with normal weight (n = 41) and the overweight ones (n = 11). The results showed that the overweight group increased their ratio to a greater extent compared to the normal weight one. CONCLUSION: A relatively short holiday 2 week period can result in significant increases in body weight and %body fat in healthy young Greek females independent of self monitoring. This increase was evident even when the subjects were self-monitoring their food intake for three days during the study period. Although the increase in body weight of 0.4 kg might seem trivial, the fact that it occurred in less than 14 days and that weight gains during holidays are normally retained, indicates that body-weight-control strategies should be introduced to prevent such unwelcome changes.