Abstract
Introduction
Childhood obesity is strongly associated with cardiovascular disease (CVD) development. It is necessary to combat unfavorable outcomes of obesity at a young age by utilizing effective interventions, such as exercise.
Purpose
We sought to examine the effects of a jump rope exercise program on CVD risk factors, including body composition, vasoactive substances, inflammation, and vascular function in prehypertensive adolescent girls.
Methods
Forty girls (age 14–16) were recruited and randomly assigned to a jump rope exercise group (EX, n = 20) or control group (CON, n = 20). Body composition, nitrate and nitrite levels, endothelin-1 (ET-1), C-reactive protein (CRP), systolic blood pressure and diastolic blood pressure (SBP, DBP), and arterial stiffness were measured before and after 12 weeks.
Results
There were significant group by time interactions following the 12-week program for body composition (from 33.8 ± 3.6 to 30.2 ± 3.1%), central adiposity (from 86.4 ± 4 to 83.3 ± 5 cm), SBP (from 126 ± 3.3 to 120 ± 2.1 mmHg), and brachial-to-ankle pulse wave velocity (from 8.2 ± 1.0 to 7.4 ± 0.2 m/s). Nitrate/nitrite levels increased (from 54.5 ± 5.1 to 57.2 ± 5.2 µmol) along a reduction in CRP levels (from 0.5 ± 0.4 to 0.2 ± 0.1 mg/L). There were no significant changes in ET-1 (P = 0.22).
Conclusions
These findings indicate that jump rope exercise may be an effective intervention to improve these CVD risk factors in prehypertensive adolescent girls. Jumping rope is an easily accessible exercise modality that may have important health implications for CVD prevention in younger populations.

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Change history
19 March 2020
The Following error was published on page 578. The incorrect IRB number under ���Participants��� section was accidently reported.
Abbreviations
- ANOVA:
-
Analysis of variance
- baPWV:
-
Brachial-to-ankle pulse wave velocity
- BIA:
-
Bioelectrical impedance analysis
- BMI:
-
Body mass index
- BP:
-
Blood pressure
- bpm:
-
Beats per minute
- CON:
-
Control group
- CRP:
-
C-reactive protein
- CVD:
-
Cardiovascular disease
- DBP:
-
Diastolic blood pressure
- ET-1:
-
Endothelin-1
- EX:
-
Exercise intervention group
- HRR:
-
Heart rate reserve
- NO:
-
Nitric oxide
- RPE:
-
Rating of perceived exertion
- SD:
-
Standard deviation of the mean
- SBP:
-
Systolic blood pressure
- WC:
-
Waist circumference
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We are grateful for our participants.
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Authors’ roles: conception and design of the study: KDS and SYP. Collection, assembly, analysis and interpretation of data: KDS, EJP, WMS and SYP. Drafting the article or revising it critically for important intellectual content: KDS, EJP, WMS, and SYP. Final approval of the version to be submitted: KDS, EJP, SDS, WMS and SYP.
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Sung, KD., Pekas, E.J., Scott, S.D. et al. The effects of a 12-week jump rope exercise program on abdominal adiposity, vasoactive substances, inflammation, and vascular function in adolescent girls with prehypertension. Eur J Appl Physiol 119, 577–585 (2019). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00421-018-4051-4
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s00421-018-4051-4