Iris Lesser

• PhD
• Professor (Assistant) at University of the Fraser Valley

Introduction Women report lower levels of physical activity (PA) postpartum due to numerous barriers to engagement such as lack of time, energy, motivation, social support, and fatigue. Despite these noted barriers, PA recommendations are universal and do not allow for a tailored PA approach. Therefore, we assessed the acceptability, feasibility, a...

The demands of motherhood have been shown to negatively impact physical activity (PA) engagement. Participants in a larger PA-based study in British Columbia, Canada were invited to participate in this sub study. Forty-eight photos and descriptions were provided by 9 participants with infants 3–7 months of age. Photos depicted challenges with PA, P...

Introduction: Physical activity (PA) is essential for healthy aging, yet PA levels are low in older adults. Group-based nature programming may be an ideal opportunity for engaging older adults in PA and improving health-related quality of life. Methods: Twenty-seven older adults, 55–75 years of age (n = 14 active and n = 13 previously inactive), en...

Objective: Test anxiety is common among nursing students. Yoga is one form of physical activity which may be beneficial for pretest anxiety. Participants: Thirteen undergraduate students (85% nursing majors, 15% awaiting program entry, 20 ± 4.9 years of age) completed the crossover design study. Methods: Participants completed a yoga or control int...

Physical activity is a beneficial, yet complex, health behavior. To ensure more people experience the benefits of physical activity, we develop and test interventions to promote physical activity and its associated benefits. Nevertheless, we continue to see certain groups of people who choose not to, or are unable to, take part in research, resulti...

Understanding if (and how) adults with cancer perceived their physical activity (PA) levels have changed (or not) since the COVID-19 pandemic and why this may have occurred is important. Given current gaps in knowledge, the purpose of this study was to explore PA experiences among adults with cancer amidst the COVID-19 pandemic. Individuals were el...

Postpartum physical activity can positively impact mental and physical health. There is a need to better understand how physical activity is related to various psychological constructs to support physical activity in postpartum women. Thus, the purpose of this exploratory, quantitative, study was to examine differences between postpartum women who...

While much research sees physical activity as an intervention for the postpartum body, there is limited literature understanding how postpartum physical activity affects women’s mental health and physical well-being. Unpacking how physical activity affects postpartum women holistically is critical because of the negative physical and mental health...

Supportive care programming helps many adults affected by cancer manage concerns related to their disease. Public health restrictions imposed by the COVID-19 pandemic have undoubtedly changed the nature of supportive care programming delivery. Yet, access to supportive care programming and comfort gathering through the pandemic are unknown. As a fi...

Purpose Physical activity (PA) after the birth of a child is associated with improved physical and mental health benefits. The aim of the study was to explore new mothers’ experiences of PA before and after participation in a group-based PA program for new mothers. The study has three research questions: how new mothers felt; 1) about PA after the...

Introduction Large numbers of cancer survivors struggle with mental health after cancer diagnosis. Cancer survivors are encouraged to engage in physical activity in order to improve physical and mental health. Additional benefits to physical activity engagement in natural environments have been reported but this has not been explored in cancer surv...

Background: A global pandemic caused by COVID-19 resulted in restrictions to daily living for Canadians, including social distancing and closure of recreation facilities and provincial parks. Methods: The objective of this study was to assess whether sex differences exist in physical activity and well-being since COVID-19 and to explore how barr...

Background Cancer survivorship results in an increased number of physical and psychosocial health issues. Engaging in physical activity in natural environments is often thought of as restorative. Despite the potential benefits of engaging in physical activity in natural environments there are no sustainable community-based programs for cancer survi...

This study examined muscle activation during the “push-pull” component of law enforcement physical abilities testing and assessed activation differences based on sex, height, and body mass index. Fifty participants (40 male) completed the “push-pull” task while surface electromyograms were recorded from ten upper and lower extremity muscles, and si...

A global pandemic caused by the novel coronavirus (COVID-19) resulted in restrictions to daily living for Canadians, including social distancing and closure of city and provincial recreation facilities, national parks and playgrounds. The objective of this study was to assess how these preemptive measures impacted physical activity behaviour and we...

Knights Cabin Cancer retreats may represent an ideal opportunity and environment to fill the gap in health education and behavioral change. It is unknown, however, whether the program improves quality of life, physical activity, and psychosocial health. Cancer survivors who enrolled in a retreat completed online questionnaires prior to and 3 months...

Purpose Cancer survivors often lack the knowledge and skills to return to positive health behaviors following a cancer diagnosis. The use of retreats may be an ideal environment for cancer survivors to learn about health behaviours while receiving social support from other survivors. Methods Knights Cabin Cancer Retreats was created as a charitabl...

Childhood obesity is associated with many health complications. In the South Asian population this may have an especially devastating impact due to the unique obesity phenotype of high abdominal fat and low lean body mass at a given body size which lends itself to greater disease risk at a younger age. OBJECTIVES: It is unknown what is responsible...

Background and aims: We aimed at exploring the relationship between baseline insulin and glucose and the progression of carotid atherosclerosis in a multi-ethnic cohort. Methods: Males and females (n = 797) of European, Chinese, South Asian and Aboriginal origin were assessed as part of the Multicultural Community Health Assessment Trial (MCHAT)...

The South Asian population suffers from a high prevalence of type 2 diabetes and cardiovascular disease (CVD). A unique obesity phenotype of elevated visceral adipose tissue (VAT) is associated with CVD risk among South Asians. Exercise-induced reduction in VAT and body fat is an effective mechanism to improve cardiometabolic risk factors but this...

Purpose: Many emergency response occupations require heavy load carriage with backpacks. The purpose of this experiment was to study the effects of heavy load carriage on physiological responses and performance during graded exercise. Methods: Fifty males (age: 28 ± 6 years, height: 182.8 ± 6.2 cm, mass: 85.4 ± 12.1 kg) provided written informed...

Introduction: Individuals of South Asian (SA) origin have a greater risk for type 2 diabetes and cardiovascular disease than other ethnic populations. This increased risk is in part explained by the unique obesity phenotype of elevated visceral adipose tissue (VAT) among this population. Aerobic exercise in Europeans is effective at reducing VAT b...

In South Asians, a unique obesity phenotype of high abdominal fat is associated with increased cardiovascular risk. Low cardiorespiratory fitness (CRF) is associated with abdominal fat and an increased risk of cardiovascular disease. The purpose of this paper is to determine whether CRF as assessed by VO 2 peak, in post-menopausal South Asian women...

Introduction: Sudden strenuous exercise (SSE) has previously been shown to result in electrocardiograph (ECG) abnormalities indicative of myocardial ischemia when not preceded by a warm-up. Athletes regularly undergo SSE and are often unable to warm-up immediately prior to competition. It is unknown whether a delay post warm-up will result in the s...

"Hypertriglyceridemic waist" (HTGW) phenotype, an inexpensive early screening tool for detection of individuals at risk for type 2 diabetes and cardiovascular disease was found to be associated with subclinical atherosclerosis in various patient populations such as those with diabetes mellitus, chronic kidney disease, and those infected with human...

Dietary acculturation, specifically the adoption of western dietary habits, may result in adverse health effects such as obesity and type 2 diabetes. Therefore, it is necessary to explore the role of acculturation in dietary patterns as well as awareness and knowledge of healthy nutrition among South Asian immigrants. This is an especially importan...

Abstract With an ageing population there is an increased prevalence of individuals living with cardiovascular disease (CVD). Characteristics of older aerobically fit individuals with previously diagnosed CVD have not been studied. Therefore, our knowledge is limited as to how, or if, aerobically fit individuals with CVD attempt to adapt their physi...

This study aimed to examine the differences in body fat distribution and cardiometabolic risk between individuals of Chinese and European origin and the role of body fat distribution on ethnic differences in cardiometabolic risk. A total of 418 participants from the Multicultural Community Health Assessment Trial were assessed for visceral adipose...

Objective: Non-alcoholic fatty liver disease is the most common liver disorder in Western society, increasing in parallel with obesity and the metabolic syndrome. Evidence suggests that there is an independent relationship between liver fat (LF) and atherosclerosis, however it is unknown if this applies to low risk populations. The purpose of this...

Obesity is increasing in people of Chinese background whether in China or in other countries. The purpose of this review is to discuss the associations of obesity in men and women of Chinese background with cardio-metabolic risk with specific attention to body fat distribution. Evidence suggests that current BMI and WC targets may actually underest...

Higher levels of VAT at the same body size and lower levels of physical activity (PA) have been reported in persons of Chinese and South Asian origin compared to European origin. The purpose of this study was to test the hypothesis that higher levels of VAT in persons of Chinese and South Asian origin versus European origin are associated with lowe...

Introduction: Excess accumulation of visceral adipose tissue (VAT) has been found to increase the risk of cardiometabolic disease. We have previously reported that Chinese and South Asians have higher amounts of VAT for a given body size compared to Europeans. Exercise has been shown to preferentially reduce VAT in a dose-response relationship with...