A Review of Randomized Controlled Trials of Aerobic Exercise Training on Fitness and Cardiometabolic Risk Factors in Obese Adolescents

Aerobic training is the most prescribed exercise modality for the management of pediatric obesity. There is strong evidence that it decreases waist circumference, percent body fat and visceral fat, increases cardiorespiratory fitness, and decreases blood pressure in obese adolescents. However, the independent effects of aerobic exercise training on other cardiometabolic risk factors (ie, insulin resistance markers, plasma lipid levels, and inflammatory markers) are limited and yield inconsistent findings. Our article reviews randomized controlled trials evaluating the effects of aerobic exercise training on body composition, fitness, lipid levels, and insulin resistance in obese adolescents (aged 13-18 years) and outlines future research directions for this population.