A 12-week online exercise training program with a structured exercise volume above 1200 MET·min/week was associated with reduced arterial pressure percentiles and improved vagal and metabolic control.
Observational
Does a 12-week online exercise training program with a volume >1200 MET·min/week improve autonomic and metabolic controls and blood pressure in children with obesity?
A 12-week online structured exercise program exceeding 1200 MET·min/week is feasible and improves blood pressure and autonomic/metabolic markers in children with obesity.
Exercise is one of the major determinants of a healthy lifestyle, which is particularly important in childhood and serves as a powerful preventive tool. On the other hand, obesity and arterial hypertension rates are increasing in children, representing a huge risk for developing major cardiovascular and metabolic diseases in adult life. Of fundamental importance is the modality and volume of exercise required to obtain benefits. In this feasibility study, we considered a group of obese children, studied before and after a 12-week online exercise training program, and subdivided the participants into two groups considering the volume of exercise performed (above or below 1200 MET·min/week). This threshold level was applied in two different ways: subdivision A considered the total weekly physical activity volume (considering both time spent walking for at least 10 min consecutively and time spent performing structured exercise) and subdivision B considered only the weekly volume of structured exercise. We assessed autonomic and metabolic control and auxological and lifestyle parameters. We observed that the improved volume of structured exercise was associated with reduced arterial pressure percentile only in subdivision B and an improvement in markers of vagal and metabolic control was evident. Moreover, the 12-week online exercise training program, defined considering individual fitness level and progressively adapted as the goal was reached, proved to be sustainable from an economical and organizational point of view.
Calcaterra et al. (Mon,) conducted a observational in Obesity. Online exercise training program vs. Below 1200 MET·min/week was evaluated on Autonomic and metabolic control, auxological and lifestyle parameters. A 12-week online exercise training program with a structured exercise volume above 1200 MET·min/week was associated with reduced arterial pressure percentiles and improved vagal and metabolic control.