Effects of an Exercise Program on Cognition and Brain in Overweight/Obese Preadolescent Children
Condition: Cognitive Function 1, Social; Mental Health Wellness 1; Obesity; Overweight
MeSH terms: Overweight
Study type: Interventional

Summary: 
      The ActiveBrains project aims to examine whether a 5-months physical exercise program has
      benefits on cognition and brain, as well as on selected physical and mental health outcomes
      in preadolescent overweight/obese children.
    

Detailed description: 
      New advances in neuroelectric and neuroimaging technologies in the last years provide a
      golden opportunity to further explore and understand how cognition and brain function can be
      stimulated by environmental factors, such as exercise, and particularly to study whether
      physical activity influences brain development in early ages. The present study, namely the
      ActiveBrains project, aims to examine the effects of a 5-months physical exercise program on
      cognition and brain, as well as on selected physical and mental health outcomes in
      preadolescents overweight/obese children.

      A total of 100 overweight/obese preadolescent children aged 9 to 10 years will be randomized
      into an exercise group (N=50) and a control group (N=50). For practical and feasibility
      reasons, the study will be conducted in 2 waves, a 1st wave with a sample of 30 and a 2nd
      wave with a sample of 75. In this regard, 15 children will be intervened within one academic
      year (5-month intervention) and 35 children will be intervened within the following academic
      year. The control group will receive the usual physical education sessions (2 per week). In
      order to study the extent to which the effect of the intervention remains or disappears once
      the formal intervention is finished, we will do a 3rd evaluation in a subsample (50
      participants from the 1st wave) 9 months after the intervention has finished. Waitlist
      control group strategy will be used, through which the control group will also receive an
      after-school exercise program but later, after all the assessments of the effectiveness of
      the program have been completed.

      Based on existing literature, we believe that a 5-months physical exercise program is
      potentially beneficial for the cognition and brain, and for the physical and mental health of
      the overweight/obese children participating.
    

Intervention name(s): A 5-months physical exercise-based program
Intervention type(s): Behavioral
Intervention description(s): The physical exercise program consists of 3-5 after-school sessions/week of 90 min plus "exercise homework" in the weekends, and will focus on high-intensity aerobic exercise mainly.
Allocation: Randomized
Intervention model: Parallel Assignment
Masking: Single (Investigator)
Primary purpose: Treatment
Keywords: Exercise-based Randomized Controlled Trial; Brain structure; Brain function; Cognitive function; Physical fitness; Body Mass Index; Cardiovascular disease risk factors; Mental health; Stress; Neurology; Obesity; brain; risk factors; bone; bones; body composition