Nurses can play a pivotal role in reducing cardiovascular disease (CVD) and its' negative sequela by assisting individuals, families, and communities develop appropriate health promotion strategies to reduce CVD risk factors have been modified with exercise in adults; however, no studies are available that explore the feasibility and benefits of an exercise intervention in African American children. African American children have higher prevalence rates of selected cardiovascular disease (CVD) risk factors when compared to Caucasian American children and there is evidence that these risk factors persist into adulthood where they have been associated with increased disability and death. Clearly, there would be an advantage to early interventions aimed at establishing a lifetime of health habits that could positively modify CVD risk factors and delay the onset of CVD in this population. Therefore, the primary aim of this study is to evaluate the effectiveness of an aerobic exercise training intervention as a strategy to reduce CVD risk in African American children with at least one CVD risk factor. This study will use a two group pre-test/post-test design. A sample of 120 African American children 7 to 12 years of age will be assigned from random permuted blocks of size two to experimental and control groups. Experimental subjects will enter an ongoing aerobic exercise training program and will exercise one hour, three times each week for 12 consecutive weeks. Control subjects will enter a 12 week program providing sedentary activities. Major dependent measures include: resting systolic and diastolic blood pressure, blood lipids, cardiovascular reactivity to stressors, percent body fat, and body fat distribution. Maximal oxygen uptake (an objective physiological measure) will be used to determine the level of aerobic power and evaluate the effectiveness of the protocol. Data will be presented descriptively and analyzed using ANCOVA (with appropriate covariates) to compare the changes (post-test minus pre-test) in the study's dependent variables in both the exercise trained and non-exercised trained subjects. This study will supply important data on risk factor reduction using aerobic exercise training in a population at high risk for the development of CVD, African American children, and it will provide empirically based guidelines for nurses to use when assisting these children and their parents develop appropriate health promotion and cardiovascular disease prevention strategies.
| Ramirez-Marrero, F A; Smith, B A; Sherman, W M et al. (2005) Comparison of methods to estimate physical activity and energy expenditure in African American children. Int J Sports Med 26:363-71 |
| Ramirez-Marrero, Farah A; Smith, Barbara A; Kirby, Timothy E et al. (2002) Evaluation of a step-counter during treadmill walking in 7-12 year old African-American children. J Natl Black Nurses Assoc 13:1-5 |
