Summary

Obesity and type 2 diabetes are major public health problems. Despite much has been advanced in the knowledge about these two pathologies, new approaches need to be identified and implemented to reach sufficient knowledge and strategies to successfully fight against these epidemics.

Whereas there is no doubt that exercise is an effective therapy to prevent and treat many chronic diseases, including obesity and insulin resistance, already in the first decades of life, the molecular/cellular mechanisms underlying these effects remains rather unknown. Moreover, the extent to which the time of the day in which exercise is done influences individuals’ health is poorly understood.

This field is known as a chronobiology and together with exercise seems to plays an important role in the development of obesity and metabolic disease. There is a need to (i) make the best use of the most recent advances in technology to better understand how exercise is able to prevent and treat obesity and insulin resistance, and (ii) to implement and test the efficacy of smart devices, particularly SmartPhones to make people move into a healthier lifestyle.

The overall aims of the SmarterMove project are:

• (1) To analyze the existing biological samples on blood, muscle and fat tissues from the two well-designed randomized controlled trials (ActiveBrains and ACTIBATE projects. Gov identifier: NCT02295072 and NCT02365129, respectively) using the most-up-to date technologies (transcriptomics and epigenomics), to better understand the molecular/cellular mechanisms that explain the benefits of exercise;
• (2) To analyze the existing data from the above-mentioned projects on 24h x 7 days’ accelerometer records in order to better understand the role of chronobiology in obesity and insulin resistance, as well as how exercise can influence circadian rhythms;
• (3) To test the effectiveness of an exercise-based mHealth intervention implemented via SmartPhones in treating obesity and insulin resistance-related outcomes in overweight and obese adolescents.

In addition, we will use magnetic resonance imaging to assess the effects of exercise on cognition and brain, visceral adipose tissue and brown adipose tissue. The added value of the SmarterMove project will be to do the best use of smart analysis and smart interventions.

Status

Analyzing the existing biological samples from ActiveBrains and ACTIBATE projects. Testing the effectiveness of the exercise-based mHealth intervention via SmartPhones.

Funding

This study is supported by the Spanish Ministry of Economy and Competitiveness and the Fondo Europeo de Desarrollo Regional (FEDER) with reference number DEP2016-79512-R.

Publications

The publications of the SmarterMove project are now available at ActiveBrains website and ACTIBATE website.