Exercise & Overweight Children's Cognition

Not Applicable

Completed

• Conditions: Overweight and Obesity
• Interventions: Behavioral: Exercise; Behavioral: After-school program

• Registration Number: NCT02227095
• Lead Sponsor: Augusta University

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)

Study Timeline

• Study Start: 2008-05
• Primary Completion: 2013-05
• Study Completion: 2014-04
• Study First Submitted: 2014-04-23
• Study First Submitted QC: 2014-08-25
• Study First Posted: 2014-08-27
• Status Verified: 2015-03
• Last Update Submitted: 2015-03-04
• Last Update Posted: 2015-03-06

Recruitment & Eligibility

• Status: COMPLETED
• Sex: All
• Target Recruitment: 175

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

Study & Design

• Study Type: INTERVENTIONAL
• Study Design: PARALLEL

Arm && Interventions

Group	Intervention	Description
After-school exercise program	After-school program	40 min/day vigorous aerobic games after school
Sedentary after-school program	After-school program	Attention-control condition similar to experimental condition with the exception of exercise
After-school exercise program	Exercise	40 min/day vigorous aerobic games after school

Primary Outcome Measures

Name	Time	Method
Change in functional MRI	Baseline, 8 months	Change in blood-oxygenation level dependent (BOLD) signal reflecting brain activation during executive function tasks
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

Secondary Outcome Measures

Name	Time	Method
Change in aerobic fitness	Baseline, 8 months, one-year follow-up	VO2 peak via treadmill test
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
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 Tower of London scores	Baseline, 8 months, one-year follow-up	Individually administered standardized psychological assessment of executive function

Trial Locations

Locations (1)

Georgia Prevention Institute; 🇺🇸 Augusta, Georgia, United States