Impact of aerobic and resistance exercise training on body composition and basic physical fitness in obese adolescent

The purpose of this study was to examine the changes of body composition and basic physical fitness after aerobic and resistance exercise training in obese adolescent. Twenty obese adolescent (mean age: 15 years) were recruited and they were randomly assigned into exercise training group (ETG, n=10) and control group (CG, n=10). Body composition, including body weight (BW), body mass index (BMI), body fat percentage (%BF) and waist circumference (WC), and basic physical fitness parameters such as agility, muscular strength, muscular endurance, flexibility and power were measured before and after ET. The ET was performed during 16weeks (80 minutes a day, 4 days a week). ETG presented decreases in BW, BMI, %BF and WC after 16 weeks of ET while no changes were observed in CG. ETG presented increased grip strength (indicator of muscular strength, p<0.05) and length of both chair sit and reach (indicator of flexibility, p<0.05) and standing broad and long jump (indicator of power, p<0.01) after ET but there were no changes in side step and sit up (indicators of agility and muscular endurance). Compared to ETG, CG presented no increases in basic physical fitness parameters after study. In conclusion, aerobic and resistance exercise training was beneficial to improve body composition and enhance basic physical fitness including muscular strength, flexibility and power in obese adolescent.