Skinfold Measurements, Oxygen Uptake, and Exercise in Adolescents

Recent surveys have shown adolescents have become more obese than their counterparts in the 1960s. Obesity during adolescence is associated with poor adverse health consequences in adulthood. This study was conducted to test the hypothesis that aerobic exercise over 18 weeks in physical education (PE) classes would be associated with a reduction in skinfold measurements and increased cardiovascular fitness in 87, male and female, adolescents (mean age, 15.6 +/- 0.6 year). Ninth and tenth grade students comprised three study groups according to the intensity of the aerobic exercise (control, n = 26; regular, n = 31; aerobic, n = 30) during PE classes. In a subgroup of 21 adolescents selected at random, VO2 max was recorded on a cycle ergometer at baseline and postintervention. Three skinfold measurements decreased in the aerobic group, two of three skinfold measurements decreased in the regular PE group, and skinfold measurements did not change in the control group during the study. In the subgroup of 21 students who had VO2 max measured, submaximal heart rate decreased in the aerobic group indicating an improvement in cardiovascular fitness, but no change occurred in the regular PE and control groups. VO2 max did not change in the subgroups. We conclude that aerobic exercise in PE classes is associated with reduced skinfold measurements and improved cardiovascular fitness in adolescents.