Background and Study Aim: Prevalence of obesity during growth periods has been increased remarkably worldwide. We placed special emphasis on after-school taekwondo training programs to prevent obesity. The aim of this study was knowledge about the effects of taekwondo training on cardiovascular disease risk factors in obese male adolescents.

Material and Methods: Twenty three obese male adolescents who were above the 95^th percentile for body mass index: 29.7±2.26 kg·m^­2, aged 14.0±0.90 years, were randomly assigned to taekwondo training group (TTG, n = 12) and control group (CON, n = 11). Taekwondo training was conducted 60 min a day, 3 days per week for 16 weeks. Blood lipids, blood pressure, and arterial stiffness were measured as cardiovascular disease risk factors. health-related fitness including flexibility, muscle strength, muscle endurance, and cardiorespiratory fitness were measured.

Results: Taekwondo training significantly decreased body weight (F = 8.667, p<.01), body mass index (F=9.261, p<.05) and improved right brachial-ankle pulse wave velocity (F=5.707, p<.05). The values of sit and reach (F=9.436, p<.01), standing long jump (F=11.465, p<.01), sit-ups (F=7.429, p<.01), and peak VO₂ (F=4.513, p<.05) were significantly increased in TTG after 16 weeks of taekwondo training.

Conclusions: Our study revealed that taekwondo training improves arterial stiffness as well as health-related fitness. Taekwondo training may be recommended as a sports-based physical activity program for improving cardiovascular health in obese male adolescents