View clinical trials related to Childhood Obesity.
Filter by:Physical inactivity is considered to be one of the ten principal risk factors for death worldwide. Children need to perform one hour of daily moderate-to-vigorous intensity physical activity whereof at least twice a week these activities are of vigorous intensity. In 2010, the percentage of 4-11 year-old normoactive Dutch children was approximately 20%. In addition, there is a dose-response relationship between BMI by sex and physical activity levels. Previous interventions that aimed to increase childhood physical activity produced small to negligible effects. One possible explanation is that individuals were not intrinsically motivated towards PA during the intervention period. Children spend a substantial amount of their time behind a game consule. There are a number of applications that motivate increase in PA in a fun way through engaging individuals in games that mix real and computing worlds. These games became known as serious games. In this study we want to investigate if the incorporation of a serious game BOOSTH in combination with an activity tracker to stimulate physical activity behaviour in overweight/ obese children.
The current epidemic rate of childhood obesity is a leading health concern as overweight/obese youth may suffer from comorbid conditions, once considered exclusive to adults. It has been suggested that physical inactivity is a major determinant of obesity and obesity-related health risk in children and adolescents. Recent studies in adults report that the combination of aerobic and resistance exercise is a better strategy than aerobic or resistance exercise alone for reducing risk factors for type 2 diabetes. Currently, the most effective exercise modality for concurrent reductions of adiposity, in particular abdominal fat, and risk factors for type 2 diabetes and cardiovascular disease (CVD) is unknown in adolescents. Therefore, we will employ a randomized trial to examine the effects of a long-term aerobic exercise, resistance exercise, and a combination of both exercise regimens on: 1) in vivo insulin sensitivity, glucose tolerance and risk for type 2 diabetes, 2) total adiposity, skeletal muscle mass, visceral adiposity and ectopic fat in the liver and skeletal muscle, and 3) traditional and non-traditional risk factors/markers for CVD in overweight boys and girls. We will recruit 168 sedentary overweight (BMI >85th percentile) adolescent boys and girls aged 12-17 years old and randomly assign them to one of three 6-month intervention groups (n = 56 each group): 1) aerobic exercise (180 min/week), 2) resistance exercise (180 min/week), or 3) aerobic and resistance exercise (180 min/week) group. A weight maintenance diet (55-60% carbohydrate, 15-20% protein, and 25-30% fat) will be prescribed and monitored for all groups, so that any changes in energy balance will be induced by exercise intervention alone (e.g., no calorie restriction). We believe that this proposed application will have a significant implication that is directly relevant for one in three American adolescents who are at increased risk of developing obesity-related co-morbidities.
In this 3-phase study, following an initial small-scale (phase 1) feasibility trial, the aim of phase 2 of the project is to investigate whether a community-based, 12-month intervention for overweight and obese preschool children 2-6 years of age and their families will be effective in reducing the participants' degree of overweight (BMI z-score) and in improving quality of life. In the final phase (phase 3), participating children will be randomized to either receiving a multidisciplinary lifestyle intervention during the first 6 months (treatment arm), or 6 months later (control or wait list arm), in order to generate more robust effectiveness data. Participants will receive an additional free 6-month YMCA membership while participating in the study.
Identification and validation of early chronic disease biomarkers in children is of paramount importance especially in the burgeoning arena of pediatric obesity research. Despite the presence of risk factors, few obese children develop overt cardiovascular disease (CVD) early in life. However, because CVD is a cumulative process occurring over time, identifying the earliest signs in order to intervene sooner may have a large impact on slowing its progression. Endothelial activation is one of the earliest detectable signs of the beginnings of CVD. However, accurately quantifying endothelial health in children has proven to be a major challenge. Direct measures of endothelial cell biology, such as circulating endothelial cells (CEC) and endothelial microparticles (EMP), have been extensively studied in adults and are associated with vascular diseases, CVD risk factors, and CVD events. Despite being well-validated in adults, CEC and EMP have not been formally evaluated as disease biomarkers in children and adolescents. Pediatric obesity is an ideal condition in which to validate CEC and EMP as disease biomarkers since adiposity in childhood is associated with CVD, type 2 diabetes mellitus, and premature death, later in life. The investigators primary focus in this study will be the evaluation of CEC and EMP as biomarkers of CVD risk and whether substantial changes in weight affect these biomarkers. The investigators propose to evaluate the change in levels of CEC and EMP in response to substantial weight loss in 32 adolescents with extreme obesity undergoing elective, clinically-indicated bariatric surgery.
This study is designed to evaluate the efficacy of two diets, a low glycemic load diet and a low saturated fat diet, in the treatment of adolescents with some heart disease risk factors associated with being overweight, such as high blood pressure, pre-diabetes, and cholesterol problems. The objective of the study is to determine which diet improves these risk factors more. The design of the study is a modified feeding study, which requests that the participants eat all and only the food provided by the study for 8 weeks, most days per week. Dietary counseling by phone will continue between 2 and 6 months of the study and the effects of this maintenance period will be assessed at 6 months time.