ASSESSMENT OF THE EFFECTS OF JOGGING ON SELECTED RISK FACTORS AND BIOMARKERS OF CARDIO-METABOLIC SYNDROME OF ADOLESCENTSIN KANO METROPOLIS, NIGERIA

ABSTRACT

This study assessed the effects of jogging on selected risk factors and biomarkers of cardio- metabolic syndrome (CMS) of adolescents in Kano Metropolis, Nigeria. For the purpose of this study, an experimental research design was used in which the participants were randomly assigned into two groups (experimental and control). Forty (40) male adolescents between the ages of 14 and 17 years, whose body mass indexes (BMI) (kg/m2) were above 85th percentile, constituted the population of the study. The participants‘ body mass index (BMI), visceral fat, systolic blood pressure (SBP), diastolic blood pressure (DBP), C- reactive protein (CRP) and micro-albuminuria were measured at base line, during intervention (6th week) and post-intervention (12th week). Jogging exercise was performed in group, 3 days per week for 12 weeks at low-to-moderate intensity. Descriptive statistics of mean, standard deviation and standard error of the estimate were used to analyze the data of each variable. Inferential statistics of two-way repeated-measures ANOVA was used to test the hypotheses at an alpha level of 0.05. The results of this study showed that jogging exercise caused significant reduction on the BMI (p = 0.037), SBP (p = 0.017), DBP (p = 0.029) and CRP (p = 0.014), but not on the visceral fat (p = 0.296) and micro- albuminuria (p = 0.911) of male adolescents in Kano metropolis. Based on these results, it was concluded that low-moderate intensity jogging exercise of 12 weeks duration reduced selected risk factors and biomarkers of CMS among adolescents in Kano metropolis. It was recommended that regular jogging exercise can be utilized to reduce the risk factors and prevent the development of biomarkers of CMS among adolescents.