Influence of smartphone-based physical activity intervention on executive functions and cardiometabolic disease risk in obese young adults: a pilot randomised controlled trial

Abstract

Purpose Smartphone is an impending solution to influence long-term behavior change, including physical activity; however, the evidence regarding personalized prescription remains mixed in obese. We aimed to explore the influence of smartphone-based physical activity promotion on weight loss and cognitive functions in obese young adults. Methods In our pilot randomised controlled trial, 24 obese adults were randomized to two conditions: (1) EXI group receiving a smartphone-application based personalized physical activity prescription; (2) CONT group continuing their routine work for eight weeks. Executive functions and cardiometabolic risk variables [body and fat mass, waist circumference (WC), blood pressure (BP)] and executive functions were measured before and after eight weeks. Results Our study findings revealed a significant improvement in reaction times with overall (H = 7.71, p = 0.005), congruent stimuli (H = 4.43, p = 0.03) and incongruent stimuli (H = 5.35, p = 0.02) between groups. Though EXI participants reduced their fat mass by 5.07 kg more than CONT group users after eight weeks, the findings were statistically insignificant. Similarly, our study did not find significant differences in body mass, WC, BP or accuracy between EXI and CONT groups. There was a decreased user engagement (H = 5.80, p = 0.564) after the 3rd week of the study period. Conclusion Short-term smartphone-based physical activity programs may offer favourable cognitive benefits to young adults; however, the weight loss benefits remain unconvincing. Trial Registration The study was registered prospectively with the Clinical Trials Registry of India (CTRI/2022/02/040202).

The impact of different types of exercise on executive functions in overweight/obese individuals: A Systematic Review and Network Meta-Analysis

“…It may also regulate leptin, cortisol, and brain-derived neurotrophic factor levels, as well as enhance neural synapses and potentiation, which could have favorable effects on reaction times among obese adults. 24,54 We can also observe that RT and AE have effective roles in improving WM and AP in obese populations. Vints et al (2024) conducted a 12-week RT intervention on elderly individuals with mild cognitive impairment.…”

“…This meta-analysis synthesizes ndings from 20 studies published between 2010 and 2023, encompassing a total of 1161 overweight or obese participants (Table 1). Based on the exercise interventions employed across all studies, interventions were categorized into seven types: (1)Control training(CT): involving no exercise intervention, serving as a blank control group; (2) AE: comprising sustained aerobic activities such as running and cycling; 17,[31][32][33][34][35][36][37] (3)RT: involving resistance exercises using body weight or external equipment; 26,38 (3) CPA : incorporating multi-body part movements and/or interaction with objects, requiring precise timing and spatial estimation for goal-directed behavior, with included studies focusing mainly on rope skipping among children and adolescents; 25,39,40 (4) Prolonged time of exercise(PTE) : aimed at increasing participants' physical activity levels without specifying the type of exercise; 17,24,30,41 (5) High-intensity interval training(HIIT): involving repeated bouts of high-intensity training interspersed with active or passive recovery; 17,32,35 (6)AE combines RT (mix mode, MIX). 10,16,42 Most interventions lasted for at least 4 weeks, although three studies implemented a single session of exercise intervention.…”

“…The results revealed that while it did not effectively reduce the weight of those, this intervention signi cantly improved their EFs. 24 In addition to the aforementioned long-term interventions, research has also found that after an acute coordinative physical activity intervention(CPA), obese adolescents exhibited signi cantly reduced reaction times in the Stroop task, indicating an enhancement in their inhibitory control function. 25 In the elderly population, obesity signi cantly increases the risk of developing type 2 diabetes, 26 leading to notable alterations in brain structure and heightened probability of neurodegenerative diseases.…”

Research Trends in Motivation and Weight Loss: A Bibliometric-Based Review

“…Four themes and ten categories were identified. [21] or by improving lifestyle in general [22,23]. Health coaching through video conferencing has shown positive effects on physical activity, metabolic markers, and weight loss [24].…”