An Exercise Intervention to Improve the Eating Patterns of Preadolescent Children at High Risk for Obesity

Study Overview
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Brief Summary
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Children in rural communities experience significant obesity-related health disparities; they are 26%-55% more likely to be obese and less likely to have health insurance and access to weight management specialists than are their urban peers. Geographic-specific disparities in obesity may be due, in part, to variations in eating behaviors. Children in rural communities describe purchasing and consuming significantly more energy-dense, low-nutrient food items relative to their urban peers. Existing behavioral strategies for improving children's EI patterns have largely been ineffective in reducing risk for excess weight gain. The primary aim of the proposed study is to test the effects of a brief, novel strategy for improving rural children's eating behaviors. Specifically, the study aims to harness the well-documented benefits of an acute bout (20 min) of moderate physical exercise on children's executive functioning, and to see if these cognitive changes lead to better self-regulation of eating. If 20 min of moderate physical exercise is associated with observed improvements in preadolescent children's eating secondary to increases in executive functioning, these data may offer explicit targets for an obesity prevention trial in rural Oregon elementary schools.

Official Title
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An Exercise Intervention to Improve the Eating Patterns of Preadolescent Children

Conditions
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Eating Behavior, Self-Regulation

Intervention / Treatment
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* Behavioral: Acute moderate physical activity


Participation Criteria
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Eligibility Criteria
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Inclusion criteria: 8-10 years (block recruited to ensure 50% female, 50% obese) Rural geographic location (≥ 10 miles from a city of ≥ 40,000) Understand English Exclusion criteria BMI < 5th percentile Major medical condition, current full-threshold psychiatric diagnosis, or moderate suicide risk (e.g., plan or intent) Current or recent use (< 3 months) of medication known to affect body weight or energy intake Recent brain injuries that would be expected to affect neuropsychological functioning Mobility impairments that would impede their ability to walk on a treadmill Estimated full-scale intelligence quotient score ≤ 70 History of pregnancy Significant food allergies that would prevent them from safely consuming the study's breakfast and lunch meals Responses on a food preference questionnaire that suggest that they do not like (i.e., rated them below 6 on a scale from 1 to 10) at least 50% of the food items offered in the lunch test meal

Ages Eligible for Study
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Minimum Age: 8 Years
Maximum Age: 10 Years

Sexes Eligible for Study
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All

Accepts Healthy Volunteers
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Accepts Healthy Volunteers

Study Plan
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How is the study designed?
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Design Details

Primary Purpose: Prevention
Allocation: Randomized
Intervention Model: Crossover Assignment
Interventional Model Description: Randomized crossover design
Masking: None (Open Label)


Arms and Interventions

| Participant Group/Arm | Intervention/Treatment |
| --- | --- |
| Experimental: Acute moderate physical activity<br>Participants will walk at a moderate intensity for 20 minutes on a treadmill | Behavioral: Acute moderate physical activity<br>* For 20 minutes, participants will walk on a treadmill at a moderate intensity based on a combination of evidence-based and pre-determined parameters, including ratings of perceived exertion and heart rate<br>|
| No Intervention: Sedentary activity<br>Participants will be permitted to read books and/or draw for 20 minutes | |

What is the study measuring?
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Primary Outcome Measures

| Outcome Measure | Measure Description | Time Frame |
| --- | --- | --- |
| Energy intake | total kcal consumed during a laboratory test meal after each of two conditions | up to 14 days | 

Secondary Outcome Measures

| Outcome Measure | Measure Description | Time Frame |
| --- | --- | --- |
| Executive functioning | executive functioning performance assessed with a 3-minute task immediately after each of two conditions | Assessed immediately after each of the two experimental conditions administered during two separate study visits approximately 14 days of each other |