Physical Activity and Cardiometabolic Biomarkers in Youths: A 2013 Update

Associations of Vigorous-Intensity Physical Activity with Biomarkers in Youth

“…The results are consistent with previous studies using more homogeneous samples, such as Carson et al (6) where no association was found between diastolic blood pressure and VPA, but a significant negative association was reported between waist circumference and VPA in children of the 2 nd and 3 rd quartiles (relative to the 1 st ). The more nuanced analyses presented here, taken with those of Carson et al (6), provide additional insight into the complex relationship between VPA and cardiometabolic biomarkers (11, 25). The results suggest that substituting modest amounts of LPA for VPA may have cardiometabolic benefits above and beyond those conveyed by MPA and avoidance of sedentary behavior (24).…”

“…Emerging research utilizing international samples (7, 17) has indicated that many children globally are spending an insufficient amount of time engaging in physical activity (PA) and an excessive amount of time engaging in sedentary behaviors. Engaging in international guideline recommendations (38) of 60 minutes per day (min/day) of moderate-to-vigorous physical activity (MVPA) is inversely associated with biomarkers of cardiometabolic health (13, 25) including lower rates of obesity (17) independent of time spent sedentary. While the benefits of MVPA are well established cross-sectionally (7) and longitudinally (6), few studies of PA in youth have examined the contribution of specific intensities to the association, despite a growing body of literature that suggests that vigorous-intensity physical activity (VPA) may be more important for the prevention and amelioration of cardiometabolic risk factors (13, 39).…”

Physical Activity, Not Sedentary Time, Predicts Dual-Energy X-ray Absorptiometry–measured Adiposity Age 5 to 19 Years

“…When coupled with these reports, our study suggests that the correct metabolic target for reducing the incidence of childhood obesity is at least moderate-intensity PA. We speculate that MVPA involves different physiological mechanisms than LPA (9,25). Future research in this area is warranted.…”

Low-Active Male Adolescents

“…Preventing the decline of physical activity throughout youth is of key importance in reducing the development of risk factors, which lead to chronic cardiometabolic diseases such as type 2 diabetes, metabolic syndrome, cardiovascular disease, and obesity (32,40). Public health guidelines suggest that children and adolescents undertake at least 60 min of moderate-to-vigorous intensity activity (MVPA) each day to achieve health benefits (31); however, more than 80% of adolescents globally fail to achieve this recommended threshold of activity (22).…”