A randomised placebo-exercise controlled trial of Kung Fu training for improvements in body composition in overweight/obese adolescents: the “Martial Fitness” study

Abstractthe purpose of the study was to investigate if chinese martialarts (kung fu, kf) might be effective for improving body composition,as well as being an appealing form of physical activityfor inexperienced, sedentary, overweight/obese adolescents.twenty subjects (age: 13.3±1.8 y; bmi percentile: 98.6(86.5 –99.8); 60% girls) were randomly-assigned to the supervised kfor placebo (tai chi, tc) control group 3 d.wk-1 for 6 months.we assessed body composition, including total and regional fatand lean mass, total and regional bone mineral density (bmd),percent lean and fat mass, body mass index and waist circumference,at baseline and after 6 months of training using anthropometryand dual-energy x-ray absorptiometry (dxa). habitualphysical activity and dietary intake were recorded as covariatesvia self-report at each time-point. as expected due to naturalgrowth, significant increases in height, weight, total andlumbar bmd, and lean mass were seen in the cohort over time,with a trend for increased whole body fat mass, with no differencebetween groups. by contrast, percent fat and android fatmass via dxa did not increase in either group over time. theabsence of a similar expected increase in central adiposity over6 months could indicate a positive effect of participation in bothprograms on the metabolically critical abdominal adiposity inthis cohort. further research in this area is warranted to determineways to increase uptake and compliance, and to see iflonger-term martial arts training not only maintains, but improvesabdominal fat mass and related metabolic health indicesin overweight/ obese adolescents.