| The following review aims to describe what is known about the
effects of exercise training in children and adolescents on the following
blood lipids and lipoproteins: total cholesterol (TC), high density
lipoprotein cholesterol (HDL-C), low density lipoprotein cholesterol
(LDL-C), and triglycerides (TG). Only studies that described mode,
frequency, duration and intensity of the exercise were included in
the review. The results of the studies reviewed were equivocal. Clearly
the effects of exercise training on the blood lipid and lipoprotein
levels of normolipidemic children and adolescents are equivocal. Of
the 14 studies reviewed, six observed a positive alteration in the
blood lipid and lipoprotein profile, four of the studies observed
no alteration in the blood lipid and lipoprotein profile and one study
observed a negative effect on HDL-C but an overall improvement in
the lipid and lipoprotein profile due to the decrease in the TC/HDL
ratio. It appears that methodological problems present in the majority
of the exercise training studies limits the ability to make a conclusive,
evidence based statement regarding the effect exercise training has
on blood lipid levels in normolipidemic children. Most of the research
design flaws can be linked to one or more of the following: small
numbers of subjects in each study, low or no representation of girls,
inclusion of both boys and girls in the subject pool, inclusion of
boys and girls at different maturational stages in the subject pool,
exercise training regimes that do not adequately control for exercise
intensity, exercise training regimes that do not last longer than
8 weeks and exercise training studies that do not have an adequate
exercise volume to elicit a change. Ideally, future research should
focus on longitudinal studies which examine the effects of exercise
training from the primary school years through adulthood.
KEY
WORDS: Cardiovascular risk factors, children, adolescents, aerobic
exercise training.
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