The purpose of this study was to investigate the effects of Taekwondo exercise and nutritional education program on health-related fitness, blood lipid profiles and growth-related factors in elementary school male students.
The subjects for the study were fourteen elementary school male students composed of the obesity group (A, n=7) and the normal weight group (B, n=7).
The variables of health-related fitness, blood lipid profiles and growth-related factors were measured in all the subjects before the start of the exercise program and after the end of 12-week Taekwondo exercise.
The test data were analyzed by paired t-test and %diff independent samples t-test, and the alpha level of p<.05 was set for all tests of significance.
The findings of this study were as follows;

1. Health-related fitness

1) The % body fat in the obesity group had significantly decreased. The skeletal muscle mass in both groups had significantly increased, and the skeletal muscle mass in the normal weight group was significantly increased compared with the obesity group.
2) The muscular strength in both groups had significantly increased. The muscular endurance in both groups had significantly increased, and the muscular endurance in obesity group was significantly increased compared with the normal weight group.
3) The flexibility in both groups had significantly increased. The cardiorespiratory endurance in both groups had significantly increased, and the cardiorespiratory endurance in the obesity group had significantly increased compared with the normal weight group.

2. Blood lipid profiles

1) The TG in obesity group had significantly decreased.
2) The HDL-C in both groups had significantly increased, and the HDL-C in the obesity group had significantly increased compared with the normal weight group.

3. Growth-related factors

1) The GH in both groups had significantly increased, and the GH in obesity group was significantly increased compared with the normal weight group.
2) The IGF-1 in both groups had significantly increased.

In conclusion, the results of this study showed that regular and continuous Taekwondo exercise and nutritional education program improve health-related fitness, TG, HDL-C and growth-related factors in obese elementary school male students. Additional studies conforming the results of this study are needed to compare the effects in various groups.