Do Short-Term Exercise Interventions Improve Cardiometabolic Risk Factors in Children?

To explore the impact of short-term exercise of varying intensity on traditional risk factors for cardiometabolic disease. A total of 109 children (mean age, 11.1 ± 0.8 years) were conveniently assigned to 5 weeks of moderate-intensity continuous training (MICT; n = 29) set at 65%-70% of maximum heart rate, high-intensity interval training (HIIT; n = 29; >80% maximum heart rate), combined training (HIIT + MICT; n = 27), or no training (control; n = 24). Two-way ANOVA (group × time) was used to evaluate the effects of training on all cardiometabolic disease risk factors. Effect sizes were calculated to assess the magnitude of difference. MICT, HIIT, and HIIT + MICT were associated with significantly improved resting heart rate (effect size, −0.4, −1.1, and −1.1, respectively; P