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Changes in the prevalence of the metabolic syndrome in elementary school children following a 3 year school based physical activity intervention
Author(s) -
Smith Bryan K.,
DuBose Katrina,
Befort Christie,
Donnelly Joseph
Publication year - 2007
Publication title -
the faseb journal
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 1.709
H-Index - 277
eISSN - 1530-6860
pISSN - 0892-6638
DOI - 10.1096/fasebj.21.5.a325-a
Subject(s) - overweight , medicine , anthropometry , obesity , metabolic syndrome , pediatrics , intervention (counseling) , physical therapy , physical activity , demography , psychiatry , sociology
The purpose of this study was to determine the prevalence rates of obesity and the metabolic syndrome (MS) in a group of elementary age children prior to and after the completion of a 3 year school based physical activity (PA) intervention. METHODS: Teachers in 14 elementary schools were trained to incorporate 20 min of moderate intensity PA into their normal teaching curriculum per day. Anthropometric measures and fasting blood samples were obtained at baseline and at the completion of the 3 rd year on 143 children (females, n=85; males, n=58). RESULTS. PA was increased 13.5 ± 5.6 min/day. From year 1 to year 3, the percentage of children that were at risk of being overweight increased from 17.5% to 21.7% and those that were overweight increased from 13.3% to 18.2%. At baseline, 4.9% of the children had MS and 13.3% of the children had MS following the intervention. Forty‐three percent of the children had a greater number of components and 15% of the children had a reduced number of components following the intervention. At baseline and following the intervention, the most prevalent components of MS were elevated blood pressure (37.8% and 57.3%, respectively) and hypertriglycerdemia (17.5% and 32.2%, respectively). CONCLUSION: In elementary school children, the incorporation of a minimal amount of moderate PA per week does not appear to diminish the prevalence rates of obesity or the MS.