Aerobic 12-week training reduces cardiovascular risk factors in overweight teenagers

Background: Obesity and low cardiorespiratory fitness are risk factors for cardiovascular diseases and type 2 diabetes.

Objective: To examine changes in cardiorespiratory fitness and cardiovascular risk factors after an exercise program without any dietary change in sedentary overweight teenagers.

Methods: Fifteen obese young males (15.5 ± 0.8 years, 31.5 BMI ± 5.9 kg/m2) participated in this study. Subjects underwent anthropometric and metabolic measurements, peak oxygen consumption (VO2peak), and lipid profile before and after training. Exercise training consisted of treadmill exercise at 70-80% of heart rate maximal (HRmax) during 50 min, 3 days/week for 12 weeks. Before and after training 24-hour recall was recorded and caloric intake was calculated.

Results: Participants did not change their dietary habits during the intervention. Aerobic training diminished the abdominal circumference (p < 0.05), body fat percentage (p < 0.01), and increased VO2peak (p < 0.001). No significant change in body weight, lipid profile, or blood glucose was observed after training.

Conclusions: Our study shows that 12 weeks of aerobic training improved cardiorespiratory fitness and decreased body fat percentage in overweight male teenagers.