Exercise & Overweight Children's Cognition

Study Overview
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Brief Summary
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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
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An ancillary study adding cardiometabolic outcome measures was added (R01HL087923-02S1, http://projectreporter.nih.gov/project_info_description.cfm?aid=7880457&icde=20104167)

Official Title
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Exercise & Overweight Children's Cognition

Conditions
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Overweight and Obesity

Intervention / Treatment
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* Behavioral: Exercise
* Behavioral: After-school program


Participation Criteria
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Eligibility Criteria
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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

Ages Eligible for Study
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Minimum Age: 8 Years
Maximum Age: 11 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

Allocation: Randomized
Intervention Model: Parallel Assignment
Masking: Single


Arms and Interventions

| Participant Group/Arm | Intervention/Treatment |
| --- | --- |
| Experimental: After-school exercise program<br>40 min/day vigorous aerobic games after school | Behavioral: Exercise<br>* Heart rate monitors worn by each child at each session<br>* Other names: Aerobic training;Behavioral: After-school program<br>* Supervised recreational program with token economy<br>|
| Active Comparator: Sedentary after-school program<br>Attention-control condition similar to experimental condition with the exception of exercise | Behavioral: After-school program<br>* Supervised recreational program with token economy<br>|

What is the study measuring?
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Primary Outcome Measures

| Outcome Measure | Measure Description | Time Frame |
| --- | --- | --- |
| Change in Planning Scale scores | The Cognitive Assessment System provides an individually administered standardized psychological assessment of executive function | Baseline, 8 months, one-year follow-up | 
| Change in functional MRI | Change in blood-oxygenation level dependent (BOLD) signal reflecting brain activation during executive function tasks | Baseline, 8 months | 

Secondary Outcome Measures

| Outcome Measure | Measure Description | Time Frame |
| --- | --- | --- |
| Change in BMI | BMI and BMI z-score, per current norms, will be calculated | Baseline, 8 months, one-year follow-up | 
| Change in adiposity | Percent fat via whole-body dual-energy x-ray absorptiometry | Baseline, 8 months, one-year follow-up | 
| Change in aerobic fitness | VO2 peak via treadmill test | Baseline, 8 months, one-year follow-up | 
| Change in Tower of London scores | Individually administered standardized psychological assessment of executive function | Baseline, 8 months, one-year follow-up | 
| Change in teacher ratings of classroom behavior | Behavior Rating Inventory for Executive Functions-Teacher form | Baseline, 8 months | 
| Change in academic achievement | Woodcock-Johnson Test of Achievement III | Baseline, 8 months, one-year follow-up | 
| Change in performance on executive function tasks | Antisaccade and flanker tasks - error rates, interference effect | Baseline, 8 months |