METHODOLOGY:

• Researchers conducted a cross-sectional study to determine whether different levels of physical activity in adolescents were associated with early cardiac dysfunction and whether this relationship was influenced by adiposity.
• They included 127 adolescents aged 11-18 years (mean age, 14.1-14.6 years; 46.2%-65% boys) from schools in Oxfordshire, England.
• The adolescents were categorised on the basis of BMI as those having overweight, obesity, or normal weight. Other key measures included adiposity and peak oxygen consumption.
• Wrist-worn accelerometers were used to measure physical activity over 7 days, with vigorous physical activity being defined as > 6 metabolic equivalents and categorised as low (≤ 14 min/d) or high (> 14 min/d).
• Abnormal LVDF was assessed using echocardiography.

TAKEAWAY:

• None of the adolescents with normal weight and high vigorous physical activity had adverse LVDF; in comparison, 22% of those with normal weight and low vigorous physical activity, 28% of those with overweight, and 45% of those with obesity had adverse LVDF (P ≤ .001 for all).
• Each additional minute of vigorous physical activity per day reduced the odds of having adverse LVDF by 22% (odds ratio, 0.78; P < .001); the association was independent of adiposity.
• Adolescents doing under 15 min/d of vigorous physical activity had lower peak oxygen consumption — partly attributable to adverse LVDF — than those doing at least 15 min/d of vigorous physical activity.

According to the researchers, failure to acknowledge the importance of VPA [vigorous physical activity] risks demotivating those with overweight or obesity who exercise, but do not lose weight, and falsely reassuring those who achieve normal weight without exercise.

https://www.medscape.com/viewarticle/vigorous-exercise-key-teen-heart-health-beyond-weight-2025a1000m94