Background: Recent studies on cardiovascular risk factors have been focused on the new markers of inflammatory diseases such as C-reactive protein (CRP). This study aimed to examine the effect of aerobic activities such as running on CRP level in overweight female students.

Materials and Methods: In this study, 26 moderately obese female students (mean body weight 82.5±5.6 kg, height 166±6.4cm, age 21.2±2.1 years and BMI ≥ 28.4 kg/m2) were selected purposefully. Participants were divided into the experimental and control groups. Training program which was performed in two sessions per week for eight consecutive weeks was consisted of incremental aerobic exercise with determined heart rate monitored by a polar watch. Post-test blood sample and anthropometric measures were repeated 48 hours after the last training session similar to the pretest conditions.

Results: Results indicated that 8 weeks of high-intensity interval training had a significant effect on decreasing the CRP level in obese girls (P=0.0001). Moreover, a significant difference was seen between the control and experimental groups in mean CPR values (P=0.047), while no significant difference was seen between the pre and post tests in the control group (P=0.28).

Conclusion: Considering the strong association between the inflammatory indices and the prevalence of cardiovascular diseases, every factor that decreases these indices can reduce the cardiovascular complications.