Randomized trial examines movement behaviors and mental health in children with obesity, suggesting nuanced associations.
Key Points
This research aims to understand how different types of movement affect mental health in children with overweight or obesity.
Analyzed longitudinal data from the UK Millennium Cohort Study focusing on children with overweight or obesity (N=858).
Used accelerometer-derived data to assess sedentary behavior, light-intensity, and moderate-to-vigorous physical activities at age 7.
Applied generalized random forests to estimate average treatment effects (ATEs) and conditional average treatment effects (CATEs) while adjusting for potential confounders.
Higher sedentary behavior was associated with lower internalizing problems at age 11 (ATE = -0.013 SDQ points per additional min/day; 95% CI, -0.019 to -0.007; q < 0.001).
No other associations between movement behaviors and mental health outcomes were statistically significant post-FDR correction.
CATE analyses provided limited evidence of consistent variability in outcomes based on movement behaviors.