Effects of high-intensity interval training on health-related physical fitness in children and adolescents: a systematic review

Introduction: High-intensity interval training (HIIT) can promote improvement in health and physical conditioning and contribute to the increase in cardiorespiratory capacity (VO2max), local muscular endurance, and improved body composition. However, its effects on health-related physical fitness in children and adolescents are still unclear. Objective: The objective of the study was to analyze the effectiveness of HIIT in the health-related physical fitness of children and adolescents. Methods: The present study analyzed articles from databases (SPORTDiscus, Web of Science, Medline via Pubmed, Scopus, Scielo, and Bireme). The PICO strategy was applied to select articles and CONSORT to assess the quality of randomized controlled trials. 511 studies were found. Of this total, 101 articles were eligible for analysis of the abstract. Results: At the end of the selection process, 10 articles resulted in the inclusion criteria. The results suggest that among the variables analyzed by the articles referring to health-related physical fitness, HIIT demonstrated effectiveness in VO2max, body mass index (BMI), and percentage of fat (%F) in this population. Conclusion: However, it was not possible to state that HITT promoted adjustments in flexibility, strength and local muscular endurance, and further studies are needed to assess its effects on health-related physical fitness.Keywords: physical exercise, adolescent, primary health care.