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

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