Aerobic exercise and lipids and lipoproteins in children and adolescents: a meta-analysis of randomized controlled trials

OBJECTIVE: Use the meta-analytic approach to examine the effects of aerobic exercise on total cholesterol (TC), high-density lipoprotein cholesterol (HDL-C), low-density lipoprotein cholesterol (LDL-C), and triglycerides (TG) in children and adolescents. STUDY DESIGN: Randomized controlled trials which were limited to aerobic exercise >or=4 weeks in children and adolescents 5-19 years of age. RESULTS: Twelve outcomes representing 389 subjects were available for pooling. Using random-effects modeling, a trend for statistically significant decreases of 12% was found for TG (X +/-S.E.M., -11.0+/-6.1mg/dl; 95% CI, -22.8-0.8 mg/dl) with no statistically significant changes for TC, HDL-C, and LDL-C. Decreases in LDL-C were associated with increased training intensity (r=-0.89; 99% CI, -0.99 to -0.04) and older age (r=-0.90; 99% CI, -0.99 to -0.25) while increases in HDL-C were associated with lower initial HDL-C (r=-0.75; 99% CI, -0.94 to -0.80). Statistically significant decreases in TG were observed in overweight/obese subjects with a trend for increases in HDL-C (TG, X +/-S.E.M., -23.9+/-7.0mg/dl; 95% CI, -37.6 to -10.1mg/dl; HDL-C, X +/-S.E.M., 4.0+/-2.3mg/dl; 95% CI, -0.5-8.5mg/dl). CONCLUSIONS: Aerobic exercise decreases TG in overweight/obese children and adolescents.