effects of 8-week anaerobic gymnastics training on weight loss and related growth factors in obese children: a clinical trial

Background: overweight and obesity are prominent threats to pediatric health. theprevalence of childhood obesity has dramatically been increasing worldwide.objectives: in this study, we analyze the effects of 8-week anaerobic gymnastic training onweight loss and related growth factors in obese children.methods: in this clinical trial study, 30 obese elementary gymnasts in the age rangeof 8 to 12 years were randomly divided into control (n=15) and experimental (n=15)groups. the experimental group performed 45 minutes of anaerobic gymnastics training.anthropometrical and body composition characteristics, maximal oxygen consumption,and the levels of brain-derived neurotrophic factor (bdnf), and vascular endothelialgrowth factor were measured before and after 8 weeks of training.results: at the baseline, there were no significant differences for any of the dependentvariables between the two groups (p≥0.05). after 8 weeks of training, values of weight,waist-hip ratio, body fat percentage, body fat weight, lean body weight, and maximalheart rate decreased significantly (p<0.05) while maximal oxygen consumption and bdnfincreased significantly (p<0.05).conclusions: we concluded that weight loss because of anaerobic gymnastic training maylead to a high serum concentration of bdnf. high bdnf may help in maintaining a reducedweight after intervention for obesity and may increase fat oxidation. the inhibitory effects ofweight loss on vascular endothelial growth factor may have abolished the stimulatory effectsof exercise and prevented a significant increase in the vascular endothelial growth factor level.