Exercise Key to Weight Loss in Program for Children

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Exercise Key to Weight Loss in Program for Children
Children at physical education lesson in school gym

For children with overweight or obesity, a family-based lifestyle intervention program was much more effective for weight loss when supervised exercise training was added, according to a study published in the journal JAMA Network Open.

Obesity is a major risk factor for type 2 diabetes — so much that some diabetes experts believe that weight loss should be the main treatment target for people with both conditions, as it has been shown to help improve blood glucose control and can even lead to remission of type 2 diabetes (having normal blood glucose levels without taking glucose-lowering medications). For people with obesity, different weight-loss strategies have been shown to be effective at reducing the risk of developing type 2 diabetes. Obesity in teenagers is also linked to a higher risk of developing type 1 diabetes. Obesity in children and adolescents is more common in families with lower income and education levels, while early positive interactions are linked to a lower risk for obesity in children.

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For the latest study, researchers looked at the effects of a family-based lifestyle intervention program on weight loss in 116 children with overweight (49 children) or obesity (67 children) — either with or without the addition of supervised exercised training. The study period lasted 22 weeks, and researchers were most interested in the loss of what’s known as visceral adipose tissue — more commonly known as belly fat, which has been shown to have more harmful health effects than other types of fat tissue. The family-based lifestyle program consisted of educational and instructional sessions twice a month, lasting 90 minutes each. For children who also participated in exercise training, these 90-minute supervised sessions took place three times a week. Body fat was assessed at the end of the study using magnetic resonance imaging (MRI).

Supervised exercise program led to increased loss of belly fat

For children who participated in just the family-based lifestyle intervention program, the average reduction in visceral adipose tissue was 8.5%, while children who also completed supervised exercise lost an average of 18.1% of their visceral adipose tissue. When it came to subcutaneous (under the skin) adipose tissue, the average fat loss in the lifestyle intervention group was 3.0%, while in the intervention-plus-exercise group it was 9.9%. And the average loss of intermuscular (between muscles) adipose tissue was 2.6% in the lifestyle intervention group, compared with 6.0% in the intervention-plus-exercise group. In a finding that speaks to the importance of fat loss for diabetes prevention, children who lost the most body fat also experienced less insulin resistance — and 87.6% of this lower insulin resistance was explained by differences in visceral adipose tissue (belly fat).

“These findings suggest that the addition of exercise to a lifestyle intervention program substantially enhanced the positive effects on abdominal fat depots in children with overweight or obesity,” the researchers wrote. “These results highlight the importance of including exercise as part of lifestyle therapies aimed at treating childhood obesity and preventing the development of type 2 diabetes.”

Want to learn more about exercising with diabetes? Read “Add Movement to Your Life,” “Picking the Right Activity to Meet Your Fitness Goals” and “Seven Ways to Have Fun Exercising.”

Quinn Phillips

Quinn Phillips

Quinn Phillips on social media

A freelance health writer and editor based in Wisconsin, Phillips has a degree from Harvard University. He is a former Editorial Assistant for Diabetes Self-Management and has years of experience covering diabetes and related health conditions. Phillips writes on a variety of topics, but is especially interested in the intersection of health and public policy.

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