The Combined Effect of Basic Gymnastics Exercises and L-Carnitine Supplementation on Physical Factors Related to Health and Lipid Profile in Obese Female Children (Original article)

Abstract

Background: Obesity is a major health problem worldwide. Therefore, the purpose of this study was to determine the effects of l-carnitine supplementation on physical factors related to health and lipid profiles in obese female children with basic gymnastics exercises. Methods: In this quasi-experimental study, with a pre-test-post-test design and a placebo group, 60 obese children among the girl students of Isfahan with BMI=30.28 kg/m2 were selected purposefully and were divided into 4 groups (Basic gymnastics training, L-carnitine consumption, Combined, and Placebo). The training protocol was implemented for 12 weeks, three times a week, and 45 minutes for each session. Furthermore, the groups of L-carnitine consumption and combined used L-carnitine tablets with a dose of 2 g per day for 12 weeks. To analyze the data, multivariate covariance, and post hoc Tukey tests were used. Results: A significant increase in Cardio-respiratory endurance, muscular endurance, muscular strength and flexibility was observed in both basic gymnastics training and combined groups (p≤0.001). In addition, a significant decrease in total cholesterol, triglyceride, and LDL and a significant increase in HDL were observed in the basic gymnastics training, and combined groups (p≤0.002). Also, the changes caused by the combined group on all variables were significantly better than other groups. Conclusions: These findings indicate the beneficial effects of basic gymnastics training along with L-carnitine supplementation on physical factors related to health and lipid profile in obese children. Therefore, the combined use of basic gymnastic exercises and L-carnitine supplementation can be useful to improve these variables.

Keywords

• gymnastics
• l-carnitine
• lipids
• obesity
• children