Overweight teens can use lifting weights to improve their health

Reported by Susan Aldridge, PhD, medical journalist

Lifting weights can help overweight teens cut their risk of diabetes, says a new study.
Insulin resistance - a precursor of diabetes - is a common finding among overweight teens. But there is a positive and enjoyable way to reduce the risk - lifting weights. Researchers at the University of Southern California got a group of 22 overweight Latino boys - aged 14 to 17 - lifting weights twice a week in the gym with personal trainers. They focused on Latino teens because this group tends to have an increased risk of diabetes.

The boys' body composition changed during the 16 weeks of the trial - more lean muscle and a lower percent body fat. This was accompanied by a pleasing increase in insulin sensitivity (that is, a decrease in insulin resistance) in the majority of the group. This would be expected to decrease the diabetes risk that overweight teens run. The researchers are now looking at reproducing these positive results with a home exercise routine that can be done with exercise bands and hand weights.

Source
Medicine and Science of Sports Exercise July 2006

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