Publication:

Effects of combined aerobic and resistance training on the inflammatory profile of children with overweight/obesity: a randomized clinical trial

Background: we assessed the effects of a 20-week combined (aerobic and resistance) exercise training programme on the inflammatory profile of prepubertal children with overweight or obesity. Methods: totally 109 participants (10.1±1.1 years, 41% girls) were randomly allocated to an exercise or control group. Adiponectin, C-reactive protein, epidermal growth factor, insulin-like growth factor-1, interleukin (IL)-1β, IL-6, leptin, tumour necrosis factor-α and vascular endothelial growth factor A (VEGFA) were analysed in plasma. Total white blood cell (WBC) count and immune subpopulations (eosinophils, basophils, neutrophils, lymphocytes and monocytes) were also determined. Results: no intervention effect was found for any of the analysed biomarkers (all p≥0.05). We observed a significant sex by intervention interaction for IL-1β (p= 0.03). When stratifying the sample by sex, the exercise programme induced a significant effect on IL-1β levels (mean Z-score difference, 0.66 [95% confidence interval 0.32-1.01]) in girls, but not in boys. A lower number of girls in the exercise group showed a meaningful reduction in IL-1β (i.e., ≥0.2 standard deviations) than in the control group (15% vs. 85%, p=0.01). Conclusions: this exercise programme failed to improve the inflammatory profile in prepubertal children with overweight/obesity. Future studies should explore the effect of longer exercise interventions and in combination with diet.