Exercise, lifestyle intervention program improved abdominal fat reductions in children
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Adding exercise to a lifestyle intervention program substantially improved reductions in abdominal fat depots among children with overweight or obesity, according to clinical trial results published in JAMA Network Open.
“Few studies compiled in a meta-analysis examined the effect of multicomponent programs on visceral adipose tissue in children with overweight or obesity, resulting in a medium effect of visceral adipose tissue reduction,” Cristina Cadenas-Sanchez, PhD, of the department of physical and sports education at the Sport and Health University Research Institute at the University of Granada, and colleagues wrote. “However, no information is available on the effects of multicomponent intervention programs on a broad set of fat depots ... using high-quality measuring methods, all of which have been associated with the risk of developing diabetes and cardiovascular morbidity and mortality.”
This two-group, parallel-design, clinical trial included 116 children (mean age, 10.6 years; 53.4% girls) with overweight or obesity in Vitoria-Gasteiz, Spain. All children were assigned to the control group, which consisted of a 22-week family-based lifestyle program of two 90-minute sessions per month (n = 57), or the same program plus an exercise intervention of three 90-minute sessions per week (n = 59).
The primary outcome was change in visceral adipose tissue from baseline to 22 weeks. Secondary outcomes included changes in adipose plus subcutaneous tissue, intermuscular adipose tissue and pancreatic adipose tissue.
Of the study cohort, 57.8% presented with obesity. Researchers observed greater reductions in visceral adipose tissue (–18.1% vs. –8.5%; P = .004), adipose plus subcutaneous tissue (–9.9% vs. –3%; P = .001) and intermuscular adipose tissue (–6% vs. –2.6%; P = .02) among children in the exercise intervention group compared with children who participated in the family-based lifestyle program alone.
In addition, researchers noted that visceral adipose tissue changes helped to explain 87.6% of the improvement observed in insulin resistance (beta = –0.102). Also, changes in cardiorespiratory fitness may mediate visceral adipose tissue changes and explain 26% of the total effect.
“These results highlight the importance of including exercise training in lifestyle therapies for childhood obesity; this component promotes reductions in the size of harmful ectopic fat depots and therefore reduces the risk of developing type 2 diabetes,” the researchers wrote. “Further research is needed to assess the long-term clinical outcomes of such interventions.”
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