Effects of Interrupting Sedentary Behavior on Metabolic and Cognitive Outcomes in Children

Prevention of pediatric obesity and its complications are U.S. public health priorities. Promoting physical activity has been proposed as an intervention strategy. Apart from reducing excessive weight, physical activity improves cardiovascular fitness, insulin sensitivity, and academic performance. However, emerging evidence in adults suggests that increased physical activity may not entirely counteract the negative health effects of a sedentary lifestyle.

Sedentary behavior is defined as a set of low-intensity activities involving limited body movement (e.g.: TV viewing, prolonged sitting). TV viewing is associated with lower cognitive functioning and depressive symptoms. Some studies found higher levels of childhood sedentary behavior predicted higher body mass index (BMI) and cholesterol in adulthood, suggesting that negative health consequences may begin early. Dunstan et al. conducted the first lab-based study in adults investigating interrupting prolonged sedentary behavior with physical activity breaks. The authors found that for overweight adults, adding 2-minute moderate-intensity walking breaks every 20 minutes reduced postprandial insulin and glucose responses by 23.0% and 29.6%, respectively. Thus, interrupting sedentary behavior may be an intervention strategy to reduce health risks.

In children, cross-sectional observational studies indicate that sedentary behavior patterns characterized by short bouts of activity are not associated with increased cardiometabolic risk. However to date, no in-lab studies have manipulated sedentary behavior in children. Therefore, we propose to conduct a randomized crossover pilot feasibility study to assess whether interrupting sedentary behavior influences metabolic and executive function, attention, mood, anxiety, and dietary intake. Children, ages 7-11 years, will complete two conditions in random order: 3 hours of prolonged sitting and 3 hours of sitting interrupted with 3 minutes of moderate-intensity walking every 30 minutes. The specific aim of this project is to investigate whether interrupting sedentary behavior improves metabolic parameters and changes executive function, attention, mood, anxiety, and dietary intake. The primary hypothesis is that postprandial insulin incremental area under the curve (iAUC) will be lower in the interrupted sitting vs. the prolonged sitting condition. The exploratory secondary hypotheses are that glucose iAUC, executive function, attention, mood, anxiety, and dietary intake will differ between the two conditions.

This project will investigate if interrupting sedentary time affects potential negative health consequences of sedentary behavior in children. If interrupting sedentary time in short bouts has beneficial effects among children, interventions examining the frequency, duration, and intensity of such interruptions could be developed. Thus, these results have the potential to provide insight into novel behavioral intervention targets in youth.