Rodriguez-Ayllon, M.Esteban-Cornejo, I.Verdejo-Román, J.Muetzel, R. L.Mora-Gonzalez, J.Cadenas-Sanchez, C.Plaza-Florido, A.Molina-Garcia, P.Kramer, A. F.Catena, A.Ortega, F. B.2022-11-212022-11-212020-07-27Rodriguez-Ayllon M, Esteban-Cornejo I, Verdejo-Román J, Muetzel RL, Mora-Gonzalez J, Cadenas-Sanchez C, et al. Physical fitness and white matter microstructure in children with overweight or obesity: the ActiveBrains project. Sci Rep. 2020 Jul 27;10(1):12469http://hdl.handle.net/10668/4367Recent studies investigated the association of cardiorespiratory fitness with white matter microstructure in children, yet little work has explored to what extent other components of physical fitness (i.e., muscular or motor fitness) are associated with white matter microstructure. Indeed, this association has not been previously explored in children with overweight/obesity who present a different white matter development. Therefore, we aimed to examine associations between physical fitness components and white matter microstructure in children with overweight/obesity. In total, 104 (10.04 ± 1.15 years old; 43 girls) children were included in this cross-sectional study. Physical fitness was assessed using the ALPHA-fitness test battery. Fractional anisotropy (FA) and mean diffusivity were derived from diffusion tensor imaging (DTI). No association was found between physical fitness and global DTI metrics (all P > 0.082). Within individual tracts, all associations became non-significant when analyses were adjusted for multiple comparisons. Using the voxel-wise approach, we identified a small cluster in the left lateral frontal lobe where children with greater upper-body muscular fitness showed higher FA (PFWE-corrected = 0.042). Although our results cannot conclude physical fitness is related to white matter microstructure in children with overweight/obesity; those findings indicate that the association of muscular fitness with white matter microstructure might be more focal on frontal areas of the brain, as opposed to global differences.enAtribución 4.0 Internacionalhttp://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/AnisotropyObesityOverweightChildrenBrainPhysical ftnessAnisotropíaObesidadSobrepesoEncéfaloAndalucíaMedical Subject Headings::Phenomena and Processes::Physical Phenomena::Optical Phenomena::AnisotropyMedical Subject Headings::Persons::Persons::Age Groups::ChildMedical Subject Headings::Analytical, Diagnostic and Therapeutic Techniques and Equipment::Investigative Techniques::Epidemiologic Methods::Epidemiologic Study Characteristics as Topic::Epidemiologic Studies::Cross-Sectional StudiesMedical Subject Headings::Analytical, Diagnostic and Therapeutic Techniques and Equipment::Diagnosis::Diagnostic Techniques and Procedures::Diagnostic Techniques, Neurological::Neuroimaging::Diffusion Tensor ImagingMedical Subject Headings::Check Tags::FemaleMedical Subject Headings::Organisms::Eukaryota::Animals::Chordata::Vertebrates::Mammals::Primates::Haplorhini::Catarrhini::Hominidae::HumansMedical Subject Headings::Check Tags::MaleMedical Subject Headings::Analytical, Diagnostic and Therapeutic Techniques and Equipment::Diagnosis::Diagnostic Techniques and Procedures::Physical Examination::Muscle StrengthMedical Subject Headings::Diseases::Nutritional and Metabolic Diseases::Nutrition Disorders::Overnutrition::ObesityMedical Subject Headings::Diseases::Pathological Conditions, Signs and Symptoms::Signs and Symptoms::Body Weight::OverweightMedical Subject Headings::Anthropology, Education, Sociology and Social Phenomena::Human Activities::Leisure Activities::Recreation::Sports::Athletic Performance::Physical FitnessMedical Subject Headings::Health Care::Health Services Administration::Quality of Health Care::Program Evaluation::BenchmarkingMedical Subject Headings::Anatomy::Nervous System::Central Nervous System::BrainMedical Subject Headings::Anatomy::Nervous System::Central Nervous System::Brain::Prosencephalon::Telencephalon::Cerebrum::Cerebral Cortex::Frontal LobeMedical Subject Headings::Geographical Locations::Geographic Locations::Europe::Spainresearch article32719329open access10.1038/s41598-020-67996-22045-2322PMC7385257