The proposed study will establish a prospective pediatric cohort to identify intervention targets based on the location, timing, barriers, and facilitators of current physical activity and sedentary behavior in a child's day. The project will be a prospective examination of 340 African American and White girls and boys aged 10 to 16 years, including 50% who are classified as severely obese. State-of-the-art technology will be used including accelerometry to quantify physical activity, magnetic resonance imaging to quantify fat accumulation, and geographic position system and ecological momentary assessment to identify environmental and socio-emotional barriers and facilitators. In further detail, this study will examine the following objectives:~Objective 1: Determine the effect of severe obesity on physical activity, sedentary behavior, and cardiometabolic risk factors during childhood and adolescence and whether these associations are modified by race.~Objective 2: Investigate the contribution of (total, regional, and depot-specific) fat accumulation on changes in physical activity, sedentary behavior, and cardiometabolic risk factors during childhood and adolescence.~Objective 3: Determine barriers and facilitators of physical activity that are related to obesity, including environmental and socio-emotional factors.
The purpose of this study is to determine the effect of severe obesity on physical activity, sedentary behavior and cardiometabolic risk factors during childhood and adolescence and whether these associations are modified by race. Additionally, the study will investigate the contributions of (total, regional, and depot-specific) fat accumulation on changes in physical activity, sedentary behavior, and cardiometabolic risk factors during childhood and adolescence.