Overweight, Sedentary Children Benefit from “Interruption” Intervention

Interrupting sitting with brief moderate-intensity walking is a promising intervention for overweight children, according to a recent study. The intervention was found to be associated with improved acute carbohydrate metabolism, likely due to increased glucose effectiveness.

Findings from the study were presented at American Society for Metabolic and Bariatric Surgery (ASMBS) Obesity Week 2017, which took place from October 29 to November 2, 2017, in Washington, DC.
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The study included 37 overweight children ages 7 to 11 years, of whom 57% were boys. Each participant underwent two 3-hour experimental oral glucose tolerance test (OGTT) trials in random order. Each trial consisted of continuous sitting, along with sitting that was interrupted every 30 minutes with 3 minutes of moderate-intensity walking at 80% of ventilatory threshold.

Insulin, C-peptide, and glucose measurements were recorded at baseline and every 30 minutes. Attention and working memory measurements were recorded before and after testing, and participants subsequently ate from a 9800-kcal buffet. Patterns in insulin, glucose, and C-peptide were examined via mixed models, and paired t-tests were used to investigate differences between conditions for post-test working memory scores, attention scores, energy intake, and biomarker area under the curve (AUC).

Results of the study revealed that interrupting sitting had led to a 21% decrease in insulin AUC and an 18% decrease in C-peptide AUC. However, according to the mixed model results, glucose had not been significantly changed by interrupting sitting.

The researchers noted that energy intake had not differed between conditions and that there had been no significant differences in cognitive scores after testing.

“These findings suggest interrupting sedentary behavior is a promising intervention for reducing cardiometabolic risk in children,” the researchers concluded. “Future studies are needed to evaluate sustained effects of interrupting sedentary behavior in children.”

—Christina Vogt

Reference:

Broadney MM, Belcher BR, Berrigan D, et al. Interrupting sedentary behavior in overweight children: a randomized, crossover trial. Paper presented at: Obesity Week 2017; October 29-November 2, 2017; Washington, DC. https://obesityweek.com/abstract/interrupting-sedentary-behavior-in-overweight-children-a-randomized-crossover-trial/.