Comparison of the effect of high-intensity interval training and moderate-intensity continuous training on cardiometabolic factors in children and teenagers with overweight and obesity: A systematic review and meta-analysis

The aim of this review study was to compare the effect of high-intensity interval training (HIIT), and moderate-intensity continuous training (MICT) on cardiometabolic factors in children and teenagers with overweight and obesity.

A systematic search was conducted in PubMed, Web of Science, SID, Magiran, and Google Scholar databases for English and Persian articles published until December 2022. A meta-analysis was performed to compare the effect of HIIT and MICT on cardiometabolic factors (body fat percentage, free fat mass, maximum oxygen consumption, systolic blood pressure (SBP), and diastolic blood pressure (DBS) in children and teenagers with overweight and obesity.  

The results of 15 studies with 429 children and teenagers with overweight and obesity showed that HIIT caused a significant decrease in body fat percentage [WMD=-0.59, P=0.04], and SBP [WMD=-1.98, P=0.004]. In addition, the results showed that HIIT caused a significant increase in the maximum oxygen consumption [SMD=0.65, P=0.001], compared to MICT in children and teenagers with overweight and obesity. In contrast, HIIT causes a non-significant change in free fat mass [WMD=0.65, P=0.5], serum HDL [SMD=0.06, (CI: P=0.5], DBP [WMD=-0.6, P=0.7], and body weight [WMD=-0.33, P=0.7], compared to MICT in children and teenagers with overweight and obesity.

HIIT reduces body fat percentage and SBP, and increases maximum oxygen consumption, compared to MICT in children and teenagers with overweight and obesity. Therefore, HIIT is recommended as a non-drug solution to reduce cardiometabolic risk factors in children and teenagers with overweight and obesity.