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How are physical activity, fitness, and sedentary behavior associated with insulin sensitivity in children?

Mélanie Henderson1, Katherine Gray-Donald, Marie-Eve Mathieu

  • 1Department of Epidemiology, Biostatistics and Occupational Health, McGill University, Montréal, Québec, Canada. melanie.henderson@mail.mcgill.ca

Diabetes Care
|April 12, 2012
PubMed

Insights

In youth with an obese parent, physical activity and sedentary behavior are linked to insulin sensitivity, but adiposity plays a key role. Fitness independently improves insulin sensitivity, especially in girls.

Area of Science:

  • Pediatric Endocrinology
  • Metabolic Health
  • Exercise Physiology

Background:

  • Childhood obesity and associated metabolic dysregulation, including insulin resistance, are significant public health concerns.
  • Understanding the interplay between physical activity, sedentary behavior, fitness, and insulin sensitivity in at-risk youth is crucial for developing targeted interventions.
  • The QUALITY cohort provides a valuable dataset for examining these relationships in children with a parental history of obesity.

Purpose of the Study:

  • To elucidate the independent and mediated associations between moderate-to-vigorous physical activity (MVPA), cardiorespiratory fitness, sedentary behavior (SB), and insulin sensitivity (IS) in youth.
  • To investigate the role of adiposity as a mediator in the relationship between physical activity, sedentary behavior, and insulin sensitivity.
  • To differentiate the impact of different types of sedentary behavior (screen time vs. accelerometer-based) on insulin sensitivity.

Main Methods:

  • Cross-sectional analysis of baseline data from 630 white youth (aged 8-10 years) with at least one obese biological parent.
  • Insulin sensitivity assessed using fasting indices (insulin, HOMA-IR) and an oral glucose tolerance test (OGTT)-based index (Matsuda-ISI).
  • Objective measures included accelerometry for MVPA and sedentary behavior (SBacc), dual-energy X-ray absorptiometry for percent fat mass (PFM), and cardiorespiratory fitness (Vo2peak); self-reported screen time (SBst) was also collected.

Main Results:

  • Moderate-to-vigorous physical activity (MVPA) and accelerometer-measured sedentary behavior (SBacc) were initially associated with insulin sensitivity (IS), but these links were explained by adiposity (PFM).
  • Higher screen time (SBst) was independently associated with lower IS in girls, irrespective of physical activity, fitness, or adiposity.
  • Cardiorespiratory fitness (Vo2peak) demonstrated a significant independent positive association with IS (Matsuda-ISI), even after accounting for physical activity, sedentary behavior, and adiposity.

Conclusions:

  • In youth with a parental history of obesity, the associations of physical activity and accelerometer-measured sedentary behavior with insulin sensitivity are largely mediated by adiposity.
  • Screen time represents a distinct risk factor for reduced insulin sensitivity in girls, independent of its effect on body composition.
  • Cardiorespiratory fitness is a crucial independent determinant of better insulin sensitivity in this at-risk pediatric population.
Abstract

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