PMID 36832446

Research
All papers

Effects of a High Intensity Interval Training (HIIT) Program on Anthropomorphic and Cardiometabolic Variables in School Children with Overweight and Obesity

Espinoza Silva JM, Latorre Román PÁ, Cabrera Linares JC, Párraga Montilla JA, Martínez Salazar C

Question

Does a 28-week school-based HIIT program improve anthropometric and cardiometabolic variables in first- and second-grade children with overweight and obesity?

Summary

A long school-based HIIT program using games and motor activities was associated with improved BMI, body fat, and skinfold measures in young children with overweight/obesity, but the comparison group was normal-weight children in usual physical education, making causal interpretation limited.

Methodology

  • First- and second-grade schoolchildren; intervention group had overweight or obesity and control group was normal weight.
  • 443 participants.
  • Games, outdoor chase/race activities, jumping, and basic motor-skill exercises.
  • Work intervals: High-intensity activities lasting 30 seconds to 1 minute in one block; lower-intensity activities lasting about 4 minutes in another block.
  • Recovery: 1-2 minutes rest/recovery between bouts or sets.
  • Intensity: Children's modified Borg 10-point scale; high intensity targeted above 8.
  • 40-50 minutes including 5-minute warm-up and 5-minute calm-down.
  • 2 sessions per week.
  • 28 weeks; 56 sessions.
  • School-based controlled intervention comparing overweight/obese children assigned to HIIT with normal-weight children attending usual physical education.
  • BMI and waist circumference, Body fat and skinfolds, Blood pressure and resting heart rate, and Six-minute walk test were tracked.

Outcomes

BMI and body fat

The overweight/obese HIIT group improved BMI, body fat percentage, and sum of four skinfolds.

EG BMI 20.29 to 19.62 kg/m2, p < 0.001; body fat 22.02% to 20.61%, p < 0.001; sum of four skinfolds 49.05 to 44.98, p < 0.001.

Improved

Waist circumference and WHtR

Waist and waist-to-height findings were less consistent; control waist circumference increased.

EG waist 62.08 to 61.78 cm, p = 0.413; CG waist 54.29 to 55.56 cm, p = 0.018.

Mixed

Blood pressure and resting HR

No meaningful changes were reported for blood pressure or resting heart rate.

Authors reported no significant changes for BP and RHR.

No clear change

Six-minute walk test

Both groups improved six-minute walk performance without a between-group difference.

Improvement occurred in both groups; no between-group difference reported.

Mixed

Insights

  • Game-based intervals may be a practical school format for young children.
  • A long two-session-per-week program can be embedded inside PE time.
  • Because the comparator was normal-weight usual-PE children, this should not be used as strong proof of efficacy versus usual PE for children with overweight/obesity.

Limitations

  • Non-randomized design.
  • Comparator group differed by weight status and received usual PE, creating confounding.
  • Intensity was estimated by child Borg scale rather than objective HR monitoring.
  • Diet and extracurricular physical activity were not controlled.
  • Adherence and adverse-event reporting were unclear.

Safety

  • Children required medical certificate permitting physical exercise.
  • Sessions were delivered by a volunteer professional physical education teacher.
  • The article did not report adverse events, attendance, or dropout in the the paper.