Effect of aerobic exercise on blood lipid and glucose in obese or overweight adults: A meta-analysis of randomised controlled trials

Abstract

Aim was to assess the effect of aerobic exercise (AE) on blood lipid and glucose in obese or overweight adults. Literature search was performed on PubMed, EMBASE and Cochrane library, up to June 2015. The pooled weighted mean difference (WMD) and its 95% confidence interval (CI) were calculated to assess the effect of AE on blood glucose and lipid indexes (triglyceride [TG], total cholesterol [TC], high density lipoprotein cholesterol [HDL-C], low-density lipoprotein cholesterol [LDL-C], TC/HDL-C, fasting blood-glucose [FBG]). Subgroup analyses were performed by duration of intervention (≤2 months, 3 months and 6 months), gender (female and mixed population) and intervention protocols (AE vs. no intervention and AE+diet vs. diet only). A total of 9 randomised controlled trials with 619 obese or overweight adults were included. Overall analysis showed AE could significantly enhance the decrease of TG level in obese or overweight adults, but not affect the other lipid and glucose indexes. Subgroup analyses showed that AE significantly changed the HDL-C level in female population and when intervention protocol of AE+diet vs. diet only was used. Meanwhile, the FBG level was also significantly changed by AE in mixed population. These findings indicated that AE could significantly improve TG, but not TC, HDL-C, LDL-C, TC/HDL-C, and FBG in obese or overweight adults. Meanwhile, gender and intervention protocols may be factors affecting the effect of AE on blood lipid and glucose in obese or overweight adults.