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A new study published in PLOS One looked at women’s body image and experiences of exercising in gym settings. “Our study explores the experiences of women who exercise in gyms, focusing on the barriers they face, including issues related to body image and harassment,” study author Emma Cowley told us. Cowley works at the SHE Research Centre, Department of Sport and Health Sciences, Technological University of the Shannon in Athlone, Ireland. “We aimed to understand how gym environments impact women’s confidence, comfort, and ability to fully engage in exercise.” [More]

A new study published in PLOS ONE looked at long-term recreational exercise patterns in adolescents and young adults. “The study investigates long-term patterns of recreational physical exercise in young Australians during the transition from youth to young adulthood,” Associate Professor Oliver Schubert of the University of Adelaide’s Adelaide Medical School told us. “We hoped to get a better understanding how many young people engage in, stick to, or change recommended exercise volumes between the age of 15 and 25. We also hoped to learn more about the factors that make it more likely or unlikely for young people to establish healthy long-term exercise habits.” [More]

A new study published in the Journal of Affective Disorders looked at the effect of exercise on suicidal ideation and behaviors. “Our study aimed to investigate the effect of exercise on suicidal behaviors (suicidal ideation, suicide attempts, and suicide deaths) in those with mental or physical illness,” study author Dr. Nicholas Fabiano told us. “Our secondary objective was to determine if those with mental or physical illness were able to adhere to exercise regimes as people with comorbidities are often perceived not to be adherent to exercise regimes due to the nature of their illness.” [More]

50% of people who are pregnant or postpartum report feeling dissatisfied with their bodies. A small survey of 161 women aged between 18 and 45 who were either pregnant or postpartum found that more than half were unhappy with how they looked either during or following pregnancy. [More]

A new study published in Neurology, the medical journal of the American Academy of Neurology looked at physical and mental activity, disease susceptibility, and risk of dementia. “In the present study, we aimed to assess the associations between physical and mental activity and the subsequent risk of dementia,” study author Huan Song told us. “We further hoped to explore whether such associations would differ for individuals with different susceptibility to dementia.” [More]

A new study published in the Journal of Psychiatry Research looked at changes in body dysmorphic disorder, eating disorder, and exercise addiction symptomatology during the COVID-19 pandemic. The study was a longitudinal study of 319 health club users. “The study was initially about exercise addiction, eating disorders, and body image, but when COVID-19 hit, we changed the scope to see if there were any differences pre vs post the first lockdown in the UK last spring,” lead author Mike Trott told us, [More]

A recent study in JMIR found that data from Fitbit and smartphone devices could help identify college students experiencing loneliness. The results suggest “fine-grained behavioral features” from mobile and wearable devices can distinguish between high and low levels of loneliness. Students [More]

A new study has found just spending 20 minutes at an urban park can lead to an improvement in overall mental health and well-being. Adding more green to our most populous cities has a direct and positive impact on mental health, according to Dr. Gavin Jenkins, the study's co-author. [More]

Exercising is well known to have strong ties to positive mental health, however the benefits diminish when working out becomes excessive. We interviewed the medical director for St. Francis Hospital who responds to a recent study regarding exercise and mental health. [More]

A new study finds that people who stop exercise develop depressive symptoms and could be a whole new subtype of depressive symptoms. This is baffling researchers because those with depressive symptoms who stop exercise aren't displaying any signs of inflammation in the body. [More]