title: Cardiac autonomic regulation as a predictor for childhood obesity intervention success.
abstract: Childhood obesity is a major public health concern; behavioural interventions induce weight reduction in some, but success is variable. Heart rate variability (HRV) has been associated with impulse control and extent of dieting success. This study investigated the relationship between HRV and post childhood obesity intervention weight-management success, and involved recording the frequency-domain HRV measures ratio between low frequency and high frequency power (LF/HF) and high frequency power (HF), and the time-domain measure, percentage of successive beat-to-beat intervals that differ by more than 50ms (PNN50). It was expected that greater LF/HF and lower HF would be associated with greater post-intervention weight gain, and that greater PNN50 would be associated with greater impulse control. Seventy-four participants aged 9-14 (M=10.7; s.d.: 1.1) attended a weight-management camp, where HRV was recorded. Stop signal reaction time (SSRT) was also recorded as a measure of impulse control. As expected, SSRT was positively associated with pre-intervention body mass (r=0.301, P=0.010) and negatively associated with PNN50 (β=0.29, P=0.031). Post-intervention body mass change was positively associated with LF/HF (β=0.34, P=0.037), but was not associated with HF. Lifestyle interventions may have a greater chance of effectively supporting long-term weight-management for children with lower LF/HF; assessing HRV of obese children may be helpful in informing obesity treatment decisions.
authors.affiliation: Department of Surgery and Cancer, Imperial College London, London, UK.|Division of Medical Sciences and Graduate Entry Medicine, University of Nottingham, Nottingham, UK.
authors.forename: M J
authors.initials: MJ
authors.lastname: Taylor
authors.affiliation: Warwick Business School, University of Warwick, Coventry, UK.
authors.forename: I
authors.initials: I
authors.lastname: Vlaev
authors.affiliation: Department of Surgery and Cancer, Imperial College London, London, UK.
authors.forename: D
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Taylor
authors.affiliation: Department of Surgery and Cancer, Imperial College London, London, UK.
authors.forename: M
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Kulendran
authors.affiliation: Carnegie School of Sport, Leeds Beckett University, Leeds, UK.
authors.forename: P
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Gately
authors.affiliation: Hamad Medical Corporation, Doha, Qatar.
authors.forename: H
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Al-Kuwari
authors.affiliation: Department of Surgery and Cancer, Imperial College London, London, UK.
authors.forename: A
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Darzi
authors.affiliation: Department of Health Sciences, Qatar University, Doha, Qatar.
authors.forename: M
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Ahmedna
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D001341:Autonomic Nervous System / Q000502:physiology*; D001794:Blood Pressure / Q000502:physiology*; D015992:Body Mass Index; D000072599:Cardiorespiratory Fitness / Q000502:physiology*; D002648:Child; D005260:Female; D005500:Follow-Up Studies; D006339:Heart Rate / Q000502:physiology*; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D063766:Pediatric Obesity / Q000150:complications / Q000503:physiopathology* / Q000517:prevention & control*; D011237:Predictive Value of Tests; D015397:Program Evaluation; D011780:Qatar; D016896:Treatment Outcome; D061217:Weight Reduction Programs