High-Intensity Interval Training versus Moderate-Intensity Continuous Training on Health Outcomes for Children and Adolescents: A Meta-analysis of Randomized Controlled Trials

Table 1

The baseline characteristics of included studies.

Study	Country	Sample size	Mean age (years)	Percentage male (%)	Intervention	Control	Follow-up	JADAD scale
McManus 2005 [28]	China	20	10.4	100.0	Seven maximal speed sprints for 30 s should be completed during a 20-minute session, with a load set at the power elicited at peak VO2. Between each sprint, an active unloaded rest bout of 2 minutes 45 s cycling was allowed	20-minute sessions of continuous cycling period with a heart rate between 160 and 170 beats per minute. This is equated to a mean intensity of 75-85% peak VO2 or 85% HRmax, as established in the pretraining peak VO2 test	8 weeks	2
Corte de Araujo 2012 [29]	Brazil	30	10.6	30.0	Repeated 60-second efforts (covered distance per bout: ) at 100% of the peak velocity (determined by the maximal graded cardiorespiratory test), interspersed by a 3 min active recovery period at 50% of the peak velocity	30-minute continuous endurance exercise at 80% of the peak HR	12 weeks	3
Koubaa 2013 [30]	Tunisia	29	12.9	100.0	Run for 2 min interspersed with recovery periods of one minute. The exercise intensity was 80% of the vVO2 max increased by 5% every four weeks	Continuously at 60% of vVO2 max (first 4 weeks), 65% of vVO2 max (second 4 weeks), and 70% of vVO2 max (3rd 4 weeks)	12 weeks	1
Boer 2014 [31]	Belgium	32	17.4	65.6	Warm-up (stretching of the large muscle groups and cardiovascular exercises at 30% of peak watt for five minutes), a sprint interval block (10 minutes), continuous aerobic exercise (10 minutes), another sprint interval block (10 minutes), and cooling down (stretching of the large muscle groups and cardiovascular exercises at 30% of peak watt for 5 minutes)	Warming up (stretching of the large muscle groups and cardiovascular exercises at 30% of peak watt for five minutes), cycling (10 minutes), walking/running (10 minutes), stepping (10 minutes), and cooling down (stretching of the large muscle groups and cardiovascular exercises at 30% of peak watt for five minutes)	15 weeks	2
Farah 2014 [32]	Brazil	19	15.0	52.6	Personalized aerobic training on a treadmill, three times a week under the supervision of an exercise physiologist at an intensity that corresponds to the ventilatory threshold I	Personalized aerobic training on a treadmill three times a week under the supervision of an exercise physiologist at a speed of 20% below the ventilatory threshold I	24 weeks	3
Starkoff 2014 [33]	USA	27	14.7	37.0	10, two-minute cycling bouts at 90-95% of age as predicted by HRmax, with one minute of active recovery at 55% of age predicted by HRmax between each interval for a total of 30 minutes	Cycle at any speed and workload as long as they stayed within the specified target HR range. Following the warm-up, cycling was continuously done for 30 minutes at 65-70% of age predicted HRmax	6 weeks	3
Murphy 2015 [34]	USA	13	14.0	23.1	A 10-minute warm-up, followed by 30 minutes of 10 cycles of vigorous exercise at 80 to 90% HRmax, 2 minutes of active recovery at 60% HRmax, and 10 minutes of cooldown	50 minutes of supervised aerobic exercise with a regimen consisting of a 10-minute warm-up, 30 minutes of relatively continuous aerobic exercise at 65% of estimated exercise capacity, and a 10-minute cooldown period	4 weeks	2
Lee 2015 [35]	Korea	20	15.3	NA	Supervised high-intensity interval exercise (30 s sprint, 30 s recovery) continuously throughout the session, which burns 400 kcal	Supervised exercise on a treadmill six times weekly for 12 weeks at ≤40% HR reserve (6 days/week)	12 weeks	3
Kargarfard 2016 [36]	Iran	40	12.3	NA	50-60 min of continuous running starting at a work rate corresponding to 60-70% of HR reserve in the first week and then progressively increasing to 80-90% heart rate reserve throughout the intervention period	50-60 minutes of continuous running on a treadmill beginning in the first week at a work rate of 60-70% of HR reserve and then progressively increasing to 80-95% HR reserve throughout the intervention period	8 weeks	4
Martínez 2016 [37]	Spain	94	8.2	55.3	2 sessions of 40-minute duration per week. Each session involved 20 minutes of high-intensity intermittent exercises (around 10-20 s) and 20 minutes of sports activities	2 sessions of 40-minute duration per week. Each session involved 20 minutes of high-intensity intermittent exercises (around 10-20 s) and 20 minutes of sports activities	12 weeks	3
Lazzer 2017 [38]	Italy	30	16.5	100.0	6 repeated 40 s efforts of high-intensity walking at a heart rate that corresponds to 100% of VO2 max and then were intermixed with 5 min of walking at low intensity corresponding to 40% of VO2 max	Exercising at a HR that corresponds to 40% or 70% of VO2 max	3 weeks	4
Dias 2018 [39]	Australia	65	12.2	66.0	Three times each week for 12 weeks and all participants received between four and six, 20-30 min nutrition consultations with a dietitian for over 12-week period	Three times each week for 12 weeks and all participants received between four and six, 20-30 min nutrition consultations with a dietitian for over 12-week period	12 weeks	4
van Biljon 2018 [40]	South Africa	58	11.1	44.8	10 intervals of 1-minute sprinting set at >80% of their predicted HRmax	33 minutes of continuous brisk walking at an intensity level set at 65%-70% of their predicted HRmax	5 weeks	3
Morrissey 2018 [41]	France	29	15.0	27.6	(4 to 6) (2 min to 2 min 30 s) periods at 90-95% of HRmax interspersed by 1 min 30 s periods at 55% of HRmax	40 min at 60% of HRmax progressing to 60 min at 65-70% of HRmax	12 weeks	3
Cvetković 2018 [42]	Serbia	21	11.0-13.0	100.0	Three sets of high-intensity interval run separated by 3 minutes of passive rest, 10-minute warm-up protocol followed by high-intensity interval runs and ended with a 10-minute cooldown (warm-up protocol and cooldown were the same as the football training group)	A 10-minute low intensity warm-up followed by 4 8-minute periods of play interspersed with 2 minutes of passive rest and ending with a 10-minute cooldown	12 weeks	4
Nugent 2019 [43]	UK	16	15.8	37.5	1 hour (2.8 km) per session, each session was divided into a warm-up, main, and cooldown sessions	2 hours (5.6 km) per session, trained as normal, which primarily involved zone 1 training across	7 weeks	4