ORIGINAL RESEARCH ARTICLE Sports participation improves metabolic profile in adolescents: ABCD growth study Suziane Ungari Cayres-Santos 1 | Jacqueline Bexiga Urban 2 | Maurício Fregonesi Barbosa 3 | Italo Ribeiro Lemes 2 | Han C. G. Kemper 4 | Romulo Araújo Fernandes 1 1 Laboratory of Investigation in Exercise - LIVE, Department of Physical Education, UNESP, Presidente Prudente, Brazil 2 Post-Graduate Program in Physiotherapy, UNESP, Presidente Prudente, S~ ao Paulo, Brazil 3 Post-Graduate Program in Radiology, Federal University of S~ ao Paulo, UNIFESP, Presidente Prudente, S~ ao Paulo, Brazil 4 Amsterdam UMC, Amsterdam Public Health Research Institute, Amsterdam, The Netherlands Correspondence Suziane Ungari Cayres-Santos, Department of Physical Education. Roberto Simonsen Street, 305, Presidente Prudente, S~ ao Paulo, Brazil. Zip Code: 19060900. Email: suziungari@yahoo.com.br Present address Suziane Ungari Cayres Santos, Department of Physical Education. Roberto Simonsen Street, 305, Presidente Prudente, S~ ao Paulo, Brazil. Zip Code: 19060900. Funding information Coordenaç~ ao de Aperfeiçoamento de Pessoal de Nível Superior, Brasil (CAPES), Grant/Award Number: Finance Code 001; S~ ao Paulo Research Foundation (FAPESP), Grant/Award Numbers: Process: 2015/04961-0, Process: 2015/19710-3 (ABCD Growth Study) Abstract To analyze the impact of participation in sports with different cardiorespira- tory fitness (CRF) demands on changes in metabolic and cardiovascular markers in adolescents. Longitudinal study with 12 months of follow-up (Analysis of Behaviors of Children During Growth [ABCD Growth Study]). Overall, 184 adolescents (age 15.6 ± 2.1) were classified according to sports participation: non-sport (control), low CRF sports, and high CRF sports. Meta- bolic outcomes were total cholesterol (TC) and its fractions, triacylglycerol (TG), glucose, insulin levels, and the insulin resistance index. Cardiovascular outcomes were arterial thickness (carotid and femoral [ultrasound]), blood pressure, and resting heart rate. Adolescents engaged in sports classified as high CRF demand presented a significant increase in HDL-c (1.2 mg/dL [95% CI: -0.5 to 3.0]) when compared to the non-sport group (-2.4 mg/dL [95%CI: -4.4 to -0.5]). Regular engagement in high CRF sports was significantly related to changes in TC (β = -0.027 [95%CI: -0.048 to -0.005]), HDL-c (β = 0.009 [95%CI: 0.001 to 0.019]), LDL-c (β = -0.032 [95%CI: -0.049 to -0.016]), and glucose (β = -0.017 [95%CI: -0.025 to -0.008]), while engage- ment in low CRF sports was related to changes in TG (β = -0.065 [95%CI: -0.112 to -0.019]). No significant relationships for cardiovascular parameters were observed in the low CRF group, but one significant relationship was found between high CRF sports and changes in SBP (β = -0.063 [95%CI: -0.117 to -0.009]). In conclusion, engagement in sports seems to be beneficial for improvements in metabolic and cardiovascular parameters in adolescents, mainly sports with higher CRF demand. 1 | INTRODUCTION Compelling evidence supports the fact that early signs of many cardiovascular diseases diagnosed in adulthood start in the first decades of life (Andersen, Wedderkopp, Hansen, Cooper, & Froberg, 2003). From this scenario, it is important to understand how risk factors can affect both metabolic and cardiovascular outcomes (Cayres et al., 2018; Cayres, Urban, & Fernandes, 2018; Pahkala et al., 2011; Torstveit, Johansen, & Haugland, 2018). Due Received: 14 August 2019 Revised: 17 December 2019 Accepted: 18 December 2019 DOI: 10.1002/ajhb.23387 Am J Hum Biol. 2019;e23387. wileyonlinelibrary.com/journal/ajhb © 2019 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. 1 of 10 https://doi.org/10.1002/ajhb.23387