December 6 — 7, 2007 Advisory Committee Meeting
Minutes
Mental Health Subcommittee Report
Rod Dishman, Ph.D., led discussion on the Mental Health
Subcommittee report. Dr. Dishman acknowledged his subcommittee members,
Antronette Yancey, M.D., and their consultants, Pat O'Connor, Anita Stewart and
Philip Tomporowski with CDC liaisons Jesus Suarez and David Brown. Based on the
IOM's report, which outlined sufficient evidence for the Physical Activity
Guidelines process to proceed, it was concluded there was sufficient evidence
for the group to include depression, anxiety, sleep disorders, cognitive
function, smoking cessation, chronic pain, Alzheimer's and Parkinson's in their
work.
Through the CDC database about 300 studies were available and
relevant to the topic. The evidence from prospective observational studies and
the randomized controlled trials indicates that moderate to vigorous physical
activity is associated with fewer symptoms and incident cases of major
depression, fewer symptoms of anxiety, although less strong, enhanced cognitive
function and reduced odds of dementia. While the literature is small there are
encouraging trends that lead towards an enhanced quality of life, including
feelings of well-being, energy, self-esteem and sleep quality.
These outcomes seem to be generally positive for both men and
women, different age groups, nationalities, and health status, although there
are very few comparison studies based on race and there are very few
observational studies and controlled trials with youth. However, the clearest
effects in youth are for self-esteem and depression. The evidence is suggestive
of a dose-response gradient for depression symptoms. There is insufficient
evidence to determine whether an increase in fitness is necessary for mental
health benefits. The positive relations seen for depression and self-esteem in
fitness studies may just be a surrogate index of adherence to the intervention.
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