Effect of aerobic exercise on hunger feelings and satiety regulating hormones in obese teenage girls

Pediatr Exerc Sci. 2014 Nov;26(4):463-9. doi: 10.1123/pes.2013-0200.

Abstract

Exercise is implicated in modifying subsequent energy intake (EI) through alterations in hunger and/or satiety hormones. Our aim was to examine the effects of aerobic exercise on hunger, satiety regulatory peptides, and EI in obese adolescents. Nine obese girls (age: 13-18 years old, BMI: 33.74 ± 4.04 kg/m2) participated in this randomized controlled crossover study. Each participant randomly underwent 2 experimental protocols: control (seated for 150 min) and exercise (exercised for 30 min on a treadmill performed at ventilatory threshold [VT] intensity and then remained seated for 120 min). Leptin, peptide YY(3-36) (PYY(3-36)), and subjective hunger were measured at baseline as well as 30 min and 150 min, followed by 24-hr EI measurement. Exercise session resulted in an acute increase in PYY(3-36) (p < .01) without changes in leptin and/or hunger scores. The control session increased hunger scores (p < .01) and decreased circulating leptin levels (p = .03). There was a strong effect size for carbohydrate intake (d = 2.14) and a modest effect size for protein intake (d = 0.61) after the exercise compared with the control session. Exercise performed at VT intensity in this study appears to provoke a state of transient anorexia in obese girls. These changes may be linked to an increase in circulating PYY3-36 and maintenance of leptin levels.

Publication types

  • Randomized Controlled Trial

MeSH terms

  • Adolescent
  • Cross-Over Studies
  • Exercise / physiology*
  • Female
  • Humans
  • Hunger / physiology*
  • Leptin / blood*
  • Obesity / blood*
  • Obesity / physiopathology*
  • Peptide Fragments / blood*
  • Peptide YY / blood*

Substances

  • Leptin
  • Peptide Fragments
  • Peptide YY
  • peptide YY (3-36)