Influence of netball-based exercise on energy intake, subjective appetite and plasma acylated ghrelin in adolescent girls

This study explored 5-day regulation of exercise-induced energy expenditure, energy intake, and hormonal appetite, via acylated ghrelin, after acute exercise. Using a randomized crossover design, 10 female adolescents (13-15 years old) completed two 7-day treatment weeks (2 days of maintenance, 1 day of treatment, and a 4-day follow-up), interspersed with a 1-week period. On day 3, 47 min of netball-based exercise or sedentary activity was imposed with a test meal 1 h later. Measures of energy expenditure, subjective appetite, test meal energy intake, plasma acylated ghrelin, insulin, and glucose were taken during this period. Energy intake compensation for the exercise period was calculated. Four-day follow-up measures were daily subjective appetite, energy intake, energy expenditure, and energy balance. Girls felt more full 20 min during the netball-based exercise bout compared with sedentary activity (87 ± 15 mm vs. 75 ± 24 mm). An energy intake compensation of 27% was identified for the netball-based exercise. Compared with immediately before exercise or sedentary activity, plasma acylated ghrelin was elevated 45 min after netball (103.8 ± 56.9 pg·mL^-1 vs. 85.7 ± 26.9 pg·mL^-1; n = 7) and sedentary activity (98.2 ± 27.1 pg·mL^-1 vs. 60.8 ± 33.5 pg·mL^-1; n = 7) but not different between treatments. Adolescent girls (13-15 years old) only partially compensated for the netball-based exercise-induced energy expenditure. The effect of exercise on appetite needs to be further explored in adolescents, whereby nutritional behaviour is tracked for more than 1 week to investigate full compensation for acute exercise.