Study: Obese Kids Helped by Lifestyle Education Plus Physical Training

After-school lifestyle education classes coupled with physical training programs help obese children decrease their risk of cardiovascular disease, according to researchers at the Medical College of Georgia.

Researchers developed a study to test whether lifestyle education by itself, or in combination with moderate- or high-intensity physical training, provided significant advantages in the fitness and body composition of children and adolescents.

A total of 80 obese boys and girls, ages 13 to 16, were randomly assigned to receive over an eight-month period after-school lifestyle education classes alone, lifestyle education classes combined with moderate-intensity physical training, or lifestyle education classes combined with high-intensity physical training.

The lifestyle education classes consisted of principles of behavior modification, information about nutritional and physical activity, and problem solving and coping skills. An "exercise prescription" was developed for each child based on eating habits and results of treadmill testing. Classes were held five days per week.

Based on results of treadmill testing, teens who were enrolled in the lifestyle education classes along with high-intensity physical training program improved their cardiovascular fitness significantly more than those enrolled in the other groups, the researchers reported in the American Journal of Clinical Nutrition.

Changes in body composition including a reduction in abdominal fat and percentage of body fat were significantly greater in the high-intensity group. Body fat percentages increased slightly in the group that only had the classes. There was not a significant difference in body composition change between the high- and moderate-intensity groups.

Also, investigators found that bone mineral density increased significantly in the groups that were exercising, suggesting that physical training has a positive effect on bone development in adolescents.

Researchers suggest that obese teens participate in high-intensity exercise to improve their cardiovascular fitness.

Other sources: American Journal of Clinical Nutrition