Vigorous activity may reduce heart risks in adolescents
A study in the Journal of the American Heart Association associated higher levels of vigorous physical activity with a lower risk of adverse left ventricular diastolic function in adolescents. Data showed 22% of adolescents at normal weight but low levels of vigorous physical activity had adverse LVDF, along with 28% of those who were overweight and 45% of those who were obese, but each additional minute of vigorous physical activity was associated with a reduced risk.

Vigorous Exercise Key to Teen Heart Health Beyond Weight

Edited by Archita Rai

August 26, 2025

TOPLINE:

In adolescents, low vigorous physical activity was associated with adverse left ventricular diastolic function (LVDF), an early marker of cardiac dysfunction, and this association was independent of adiposity.

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.

IN PRACTICE:

“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,” the researchers reported.

SOURCE:

This study was led by Samuel J. Burden, BMedSci, PhD, University of Oxford, John Radcliffe Hospital, Oxford, England. It was published online on August 18, 2025, in the Journal of the American Heart Association.