Overweight and Obesity
Conditions
Brief summary
This research focuses on overweight, sedentary children whose health, cognition, and academic performance are therefore at risk, and who may be particularly responsive to exercise interventions. This study will determine whether regular exercise per se (i.e. compared to attention control, or placebo, condition) benefits children's cognition and achievement, and will provide insight into neural mechanisms. A substudy will examine exercise-induced changes in brain structure. Provision of comprehensive evidence for the benefits of exercise on children's health may reduce barriers to vigorous physical activity programs during a childhood obesity epidemic by persuading policymakers, schools and communities that time spent in physical activity enhances, rather than detracts from, learning.
Detailed description
An ancillary study adding cardiometabolic outcome measures was added (R01HL087923-02S1, http://projectreporter.nih.gov/project\_info\_description.cfm?aid=7880457&icde=20104167)
Interventions
BEHAVIORALExercise
Heart rate monitors worn by each child at each session
BEHAVIORALAfter-school program
Supervised recreational program with token economy
Sponsors
National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute (NHLBI)
University of Georgia
San Francisco State University
Augusta University
Study design
Allocation
RANDOMIZED
Intervention model
PARALLEL
Masking
SINGLE (Outcomes Assessor)
Eligibility
Sex/Gender
ALL
Age
8 Years to 11 Years
Healthy volunteers
Yes
Inclusion criteria
* 8-11 years of age * Overweight or obese (BMI-for-age \>= 85th percentile) * Able to participate in exercise testing and intervention
Exclusion criteria
* Medical condition or medications that would interfere with measurements * Participation in weight control or formal exercise program outside physical education that meets more than 1 day/week * T-score \> 75 on the BRIEF Behavior Regulation scale to avoid program disruption
Design outcomes
Primary
| Measure | Time frame | Description |
|---|---|---|
| Change in Planning Scale scores | Baseline, 8 months, one-year follow-up | The Cognitive Assessment System provides an individually administered standardized psychological assessment of executive function |
| Change in functional MRI | Baseline, 8 months | Change in blood-oxygenation level dependent (BOLD) signal reflecting brain activation during executive function tasks |
Secondary
| Measure | Time frame | Description |
|---|---|---|
| Change in aerobic fitness | Baseline, 8 months, one-year follow-up | VO2 peak via treadmill test |
| Change in Tower of London scores | Baseline, 8 months, one-year follow-up | Individually administered standardized psychological assessment of executive function |
| Change in teacher ratings of classroom behavior | Baseline, 8 months | Behavior Rating Inventory for Executive Functions-Teacher form |
| Change in academic achievement | Baseline, 8 months, one-year follow-up | Woodcock-Johnson Test of Achievement III |
| Change in performance on executive function tasks | Baseline, 8 months | Antisaccade and flanker tasks - error rates, interference effect |
| Change in BMI | Baseline, 8 months, one-year follow-up | BMI and BMI z-score, per current norms, will be calculated |
| Change in adiposity | Baseline, 8 months, one-year follow-up | Percent fat via whole-body dual-energy x-ray absorptiometry |
Other
| Measure | Time frame | Description |
|---|---|---|
| Points earned during the intervention | 8 months | Points earned for expected behavior will be recorded daily for each child that attends the intervention. Points are redeemed for small prizes weekly. |
| Average heart rate during the exercise intervention | 8 months | Polar heart rate monitors will be worn by each child in the exercise intervention and downloaded after each session. Average heart rate during the session will be recorded daily. The mean for each child over the intervention period will be computed. |
| Attendance to the interventions | 8 months | — |
| Change in physical activity outside the program | Baseline, 8 months, one-year follow-up | Youth Risk Behavior Survey questions at all 3 timepoints, accelerometry at baseline and 8 months |
Countries
United States
Outcome results
None listed