Effects of high-intensity interval training on visceral adipose tissue and cardiorespiratory fitness in children with obesity LI Shu1，CAO Meng1，ZOU Yu2，TANG Yucheng1
(1. School of Physical Education，Shenzhen University，Shenzhen 518061，China；2.College of Education，Zhejiang University，Hangzhou 310058，China)
Abstract:The present study aimed to investigate the effect of high-intensity interval training (HIIT) and moderate- intensity continuous training (MICT) on visceral adipose tissue and cardiorespiratory fitness in children with obesity over 12 weeks. Sixty obese children (11.0 ± 0.8) years, 30 boys and girls respectively were randomized to HIIT, MICT and CON groups. HIIT group with high-intensity at 100%~110% maximal aerobic speed and MICT group with moderate-intensity at 70%~80% maximal aerobic speed. Body composition, visceral adipose tissue, VO2max, systolic blood pressure and diastolic blood pressure were measured before and after intervention respectively. The measurements were analyzed by SPSS 22.0, and between-group and within-group differences were compared by univariate analysis by general linear model and simple effect model, and the relationship between the changes of each outcome was observed by Pearson correlation analysis. Results showed that: within-group comparison after 12 weeks showed that BMI and trunk fat in HIIT and MICT groups were significantly decreased than baseline, VO2max was significantly increased. Visceral adipose tissue in HIIT group and whole-body fat in MICT group were significantly decreased than baseline. Between-group comparison showed that HIIT significantly increase VO2max and decrease visceral adipose tissue than MICT, while MICT had significantly decrease the whole-body fat and lower limb fat than HIIT. Correlation analysis demonstrated that the reduction of visceral adipose tissue and whole-body fat were negatively correlated with the increment of VO2max (r was -0.78 and -0.75, P<0.01), and the reduction of VAT was positively correlated with the reduction of diastolic blood pressure (r = 0.45, P<0.01). Conclusions revealed that: HIIT and MICT have positive effect on body composition and CRF of obese children, while HIIT has a better effect on decreasing visceral adipose tissue and increasing VO2max. Considering HIIT have more time-efficient and in line with children's exercise mode which short and burst, future study should expand sample size and examine more school-based intervention, in order to find a long-term exercise intervention model for childhood obesity management.