Effect of Aerobic Exercise on Selected Cardiometabolic Risk Factors of Prehypertensive Adolescents in Lagos State

Abstract

The study examined the effect of 8-week moderate-intensity aerobic 
exercise on the systolic and diastolic blood pressure, heart rate, blood 
glucose level, and body mass index of prehypertensive adolescents in Lagos 
State. The study adopted a pretest-postest control group design. The 
participants for the study consisted of 50 prehypertensive adolescents 
selected from five junior secondary schools in Education District V of Lagos 
State. The participants’ age ranged from 10-15 years and were selected 
using a purposive sampling technique. All the participants participated in 
the pretest measurement which include participants’ resting heart rate, 
systolic and diastolic blood pressure, blood glucose level, and BMI. Only the 
participants in the experimental group were exposed to 8 weeks of aerobic 
exercises while the control group was not given any treatment. Data 
collected was analysed using description statistics of mean and standard 
deviation and inferential statistics of Multivariate analysis of covariance 
(MANCOVA) to test for differences in pre and post-test measures of the 
variables at 0.05 level of significance. Results revealed that aerobic exercise 
has significant effect on resting heart F(1, 43) = 14.332, p < .023, blood 
glucose level F(1, 43) = 179.49, p < .001 and body mass index F(1, 43) 
= 5.881, p < .020 but aerobic exercise does not have significant effect on 
systolic F(1, 43) = 1.200, p > .279 and diastolic blood pressure F(1, 43) moderate-intensity exercise should be used as an exercise intervention for 
the management of prehypertension in adolescents.
= 1.274, p > .265 of the participant. The study recommends that 8-week