Objective: Adiposity may be associated with poorer cognitive function in children. The purpose of thestudy was to examine the effects of an obesity intervention on cognitive function in children.
Methods: One hundred and fifteen children were randomly allocated to either the Day Camp InterventionArm (DCIA) or the Standard Intervention Arm (SIA). Children in the DCIA participated in a 6-week daycamp intervention and a subsequent 46-week family-based intervention. The camp intervention mainlyconsisted of physical exercise and health classes. The SIA was offered one weekly physical exercisesession for 6 weeks and one educational meeting. Anthropometrics and cognitive function weremeasured at baseline, 6 weeks, and 52 weeks.
Results: At 6 weeks, the improvement in visuospatial construction skills was larger in the DCIA than theSIA (standardized mean difference, 0.47, 95% CI, 0.08 to 0.86, P 5 0.02). At 52 weeks, the improvementsin emotional control (standardized mean difference, 20.42, 95% CI, 20.68 to 20.16, P 5 0.002) andmonitoring (standardized mean difference, 20.32, 95% CI, 20.63 to 20.02, P 5 0.04) were larger in theDCIA than the SIA. No group differences were observed in changes in other cognitive outcomes.
Conclusions: The obesity intervention may benefit emotional control, monitoring, and visuospatialconstruction skills in children