The program consisted of two 45-minute sessions per month, which promoted a healthy diet, physical activity, and proper sleep hygiene.
According to a secondary analysis of a nonrandomized controlled trial, exercise is a crucial part of a family-based lifestyle intervention program designed to help youngsters shed fat.
Cristina Cadenas-Sanchez, Ph.D., of the University of Granada in Spain, and colleagues report children with overweight or obese whose families participated in a lifestyle intervention program with supervised exercise training saw an 18.1% reduction in visceral adipose tissue (VAT) over the course of the 22-week program as opposed to those in the basic lifestyle program, who saw an 8.5% reduction (P=0.004). Children participating in the exercise program also experienced considerably higher decreases in intermuscular adipose tissue fat fractions (-6.0% vs. -2.6%,?P=0.02) and abdominal subcutaneous adipose tissue (-9.9% vs. -3.0%,?P=0.001) as compared to controls.
Additionally, the exercise group had 40% more respondents than the control group in terms of VAT area (73.5% vs 36.5%) and fat fraction decrease (81.6% vs 38.5%) (P0.001).
Reductions in VAT are probably the key factor behind 87.6% of the reduction in insulin resistance (? -0.102, 95% CI -0.230 to -0.002), according to Cadenas-Sanchez and colleagues. This emphasises "the necessity of targeting paediatric obesity therapy for this fat depot."
The present work underlines that exercise-induced reduction in VAT might mediate a reduction in insulin resistance. Insulin resistance is an issue that may be corrected by considerable VAT loss, they said.
This result ought to aid in preventing the emergence of type 2 diabetes. The percentage of fat in pancreatic adipose tissue was the sole result that did not substantially differ between the two groups.
Current pediatric clinical practice guidelines from the Endocrine Society, according to Cadenas-Sanchez and colleagues, recommend these weight management interventions but also stress the importance of full family involvement. They also note that exercise should be incorporated as a crucial component of a comprehensive program involving diet, nutrition, and behavioral interventions.
For this secondary analysis, 22-week family-based lifestyle programs (n=57) or the same programs plus an activity intervention (n=59) were given to 116 overweight or obese children aged 8 to 12 (average age 10.6) from Vitoria-Gasteiz, Spain.
The program, which had two 45-minute sessions per month, encouraged a balanced diet, regular exercise, and good sleeping habits. It also included a psychoeducational component, which was divided into two 45-minute sessions per month and taught children coping and emotional wellness techniques. The exercise regimen consisted of three 90-minute sessions per week of supervised and regulated exercise instruction. Children’s parents attended courses with them. MRI, anthropometric and fitness evaluations, fasting blood samples, and other methods were used to gather data on changes in fat mass and other metabolic indicators.
At the outset, 57.8% of kids displayed obesity. The average kid and parent attendance rates for the 22-week family-based lifestyle and psychoeducation program were 85% and 83%, respectively. In contrast, the average level of compliance with the guided training in the exercise group was 72%. There were two adverse exercise-related occurrences, which comprised knee and ankle pain.
Parvathy Sukumaran 
