Vol. 9, Issue 6, Part A (2023)

Background: Overweight is shown to have a detrimental effect on reaction times. Besides this, pathophysiological changes like systemic inflammation, insulin irregulation etc. linked with obesity are seen as reasons for prolonged visual reaction time (VRT). Impaired VRT in the early ages of life can have deleterious effects. Aerobic exercise promotes executive function, weight loss, enhanced muscular coordination, and task performance speed and accuracy, all of which could aid in improving VRT in adolescents.

Method: The experimental study was conducted with 48 overweight adolescents (age: 10-18yrs). The participants with Visual Reaction Time (VRT)>200ms and BMI≥23 percentile to 27 percentile (equivalent of adult BMI) were recruited for the study. The readings for Visual Reaction Time (VRT) were recorded using a Digital Reaction Time Instrument at baseline and after 6 weeks of aerobic dance intervention.

Results: The normality of the data was analyzed for VRT of all colors. Owing to that the pre- post comparison was done using non parametric test like Wilcoxon test & parametric test like paired t-test respectively. The results showed significant improvement in VRT post-intervention of all the colors (p<0.0001).

Conclusion: The study results concluded that overweight adolescents can have increased visual reaction time due to obesity. The Aerobics intervention helps to improve visual reaction time and it will make their daily life stronger and faster.