The Purpose of This Research is to Investigate the Effects of Aerobic Exercise on Executive Function in Obese Children

The purpose of this researchis to investigate the effects of aerobic exercise onexecutive function in obese children, with a focus on inhibition, working memory andcognitive flexibility. A confirmatory study was conducted to determine whether obesechildren have weaker executive function than normal‐weight children. On the basis ofexistence, further studies are needed to investigate the effects of aerobic exercise onexecutive function in obese children.General research objective:The aim of this study is to evaluate the effects of aerobicexercise on executive function among Obese children.Specific researchobjectives:1.Level:To determine the developmental level of executive function (inhibitoryfunction, working memory, and cognitive flexibility) in normal weight and obese childrenaged 8‐10 years.2.Effects:To investigate the effects of 12‐week aerobic exerciseintervention on executive function(inhibition, working memory, and cognitive flexibility)in obese children aged 8‐10 years.3.Factors:To investigate whether health, gender, andage factors affect students' executive functioning (inhibition, working memory, andcognitive flexibility).Background: 1. Childhood obesity has become one of the most urgent public health problemsin the world. The obesity rate for children and adolescents aged 6 to 17 years is closeto 20%. 2. Obesity not only increases the prevalence of physical diseases in children,but also has a negative impact on the development of cognitive function in this agegroup. 3. A function is a higher level of cognitive function, is essential forindividuals to directional control behavior. It includes inhibiting function, workingmemory and cognitive flexibility. Cognitive developmental delays in our country the thirdhighest number of children in the world. 4. Physical exercise on the development ofcognitive function in obese children with good effect. 5. National policy guidance andthe attention to Chinese children's mental health and cognitive ability. 6. Childhoodis the important period of executive function development. 7. The current domestic studyof obese children explore more aerobic exercise influence on obese children bodycomposition, but the study of obesity children's executive function is not perfect.As a result, more experiments are needed to verify these conclusions.Significance: 1. Sample selection: Obese children are a special group at a critical age.Understanding of obese children and characteristics of executive function has importantvalue. 2. The theoretical significance: the executive function still is a hot issue inthe field of psychology in the world. Research results can provide a good reference forthe obese child's follow‐up study. 3. Practical significance: through scientific andreasonable means to improve the quality of life in obese children and to improve theexecutive function, reduce the cognitive and behavioral defects. The ultimatesignificance is to determine whether aerobic exercise can affects the obesitychildren's executive function, prove the effectiveness and scientific nature ofaerobic exercise.Preliminary Results or Evidence:The conceptual framework of this study is in thetheoretical framework and formed on the basis of previous research achievements, in orderto solve the research questions of this study. This conceptual framework takes aerobicexercise as the independent variable and executive function as the dependent variable.Executive function includes three aspects: inhibition function, working memory function,and cognitive flexibility. Based on the theoretical basis of "Development andPractice of Physical Activity Program to Enhance Children's Executive Function"written by Chen Aiguo et al, this study investigated the effects of aerobic exercise onexecutive function of children aged 8 to 10 years old. This model was chosen because itwas found to be very useful as a conceptual framework for predicting the effects ofexecutive function during aerobic exercise. Therefore, it is believed that the frameworkmodel will provide a good basis for the current research.Research Design & Methods:Experiment 1:The levels of executive functioning among normal‐weight and obesechildren.Executive function will be tested in obese children compared with normal‐weightchildren. To explore the executive function of children aged 8‐10 years with differentbody mass index (BMI). The subjects will be divided into obese group and normal weightgroup, and the executive function tasks of obese and normal weight children will betested. Flanker task paradigm ,N‐Back task paradigm and more‐odd shifting task paradigmwill be used to test the executive function, and the differences between working memory,inhibitory control function and cognitive flexibility in different groups will beinvestigated. Behavioral tasks will be tested in quiet office conditions, and all threetasks will be tested using the computer program.To measure the levels of executivefunctioning(inhibitory function, working memory, and cognitive flexibility) innormal‐weight and obese children aged 8‐10 years.experiment 2∩╝ÜEffects of aerobic exercise on executive function among obese children.Toinvestigate the effects of 12‐week aerobic exercise intervention on executive function(inhibitory function, working memory, and cognitive flexibility)among obese children aged8‐10 years.The participants will be divided into obese exercise group and obese controlgroup, and the behavioral paradigm of executive function will be tested before theintervention to obtain the pre‐test data. Then, the obese exercise group will be givenaerobic exercise intervention for 12 weeks, and the posttest data will be collected after12 weeks. Executive function will be tested using Flanker, N‐Back and more‐odd shiftingtask paradigms to examine the relationship between the effects of a 12‐week aerobicexercise intervention on working memory , inhibitory control and Flexibility of cognitionin the exercise group. The aerobic exercise intervention will be conducted in designatedareas of the school playground, and the behavioral task will be tested using the computerprogram in quiet office conditions.Experimental Equipment: Decathlon heart rate, height, body weight tester, equipped with E‐ Prime computer software Research environment: 1: aerobic exercise: Primary schoolplayground. 2. Executive function test: Quiet computer room For the purpose of gatheringdata in this study, this study is delimited on the subject of the public primary schoolsin Jinan City. After review and discussion by expert members of the expert panel, thisstudy determined that three computer programs that measure executive function(inhibition,working memory, and cognitive flexibility).The Intervention days regarding aerobicexercise .The present study was limited to executive function testing in children aged8‐10 years (3rd and 5th grade in Chinese primary schools) from selected primary schoolswhere the aerobic exercise intervention was implemented and where multi‐functionalcomputer classrooms with measurable executive function were available .