Objective: The purpose of this prospective cohort study was to determine whether changes in cardiorespiratory fitness are associated with the metabolic response to endurance training in adolescents at risk of type 2 diabetes mellitus (T2DM).
Methods: Seventy-three overweight and obese adolescents completed a 6-month endurance exercise intervention. Total fat mass, trunk fat mass, visceral adipose tissue, and liver fat were assessed with dual energy X-ray absorptiometry and magnetic resonance imaging spectroscopy.
Results: The change in cardiorespiratory fitness with training was independently associated with reductions in BMI z-score (β = -0.09; P = 0.006), total fat mass (β = -1.40; P = 0.007), trunk fat mass (β = -0.70; P = 0.01), and liver fat (β = -1.80; P = 0.053). Adolescents within the highest tertile of change in fitness were 4.67 (95% CI: 1.15-13.73; P = 0.03), 11.90 (95% CI: 2.37-59.77; P = 0.002), and 6.21 (95% CI: 1.14-33.99; P = 0.035) times more likely to experience decreases in body weight, BMI, and liver fat compared with adolescents in the lowest tertile.
Conclusions: The changes in adiposity and hepatic triglyceride content in response to endurance training are significantly related to the increase in cardiorespiratory fitness in adolescents at risk of T2DM.
© 2014 The Obesity Society.