The Effectiveness Of High-intensity Interval Training Versus Moderate-intensity Continuous Training On Cardiometabolic Risk Factors In Childhood Obesity: A Meta-analysis

Abstract

Exercise training is mainly prescribed for obese children to decreased cardiometabolic risks, however, studies examining the difference between high-intensity interval training (HIIT) and moderate-intensity continuous training (MICT) are limited. PURPOSE: The purpose of this study was to determine if HIIT differentially impacted on cardiovascular risk factors compared with MICT in obese children. METHODS: The relevant literature was searched from the databases of PubMed, Web of Science, Embase, the Cochrane library, and CNKI, which was completed in September 2018. Only randomized controlled trials involving both HIIT and MICT on obese children were included, and studies involving only one intervention would be excluded. Two researchers independently performed literature screening, literature quality evaluation, and data extraction according to inclusion and exclusion criteria. RESULTS: A total of 9 study with 309 obese children were included. Compared with baseline, both HIIT and MICT can significantly reduce body weight (BW), body mass index, systolic blood pressure, diastolic blood pressure, and increase VO2peak. Similar results were also found with respect to fasting glucose (FG) and fasting insulin in HIIT, while MICT is not significant. HIIT showed a small but significant effect on BW (mean difference (MD): -0.797 kg, 95%CI -1.018 to -0.575, p = 0.0001), total cholesterol (standardized mean difference (SMD) = -0.877, 95%CI -1.733 to -0.022, 0.044), HOMA-IR (MD = -0.620 mmol/L, 95%CI -1.234 to -0.006, 0.048), FG (MD = -0.391 mmol/L, 95%CI -0.608 to -0.173, 0.001) compared than MICT did. The main difference between HIIT and MICT is that HIIT is more effective for VO2peak (MD: 3.364 ml/kg/min, 95% CI 1.902 to 4.826, p = 0.0001). CONCLUSIONS: Our meta-analysis of randomized controlled trails indicates that both HIIT and MICT can significantly reduce cardiovascular risk factors in obese children, while HIIT with greater improvement observed in cardiorespiratory fitness.