Effect of 7 days of exercise on exogenous carbohydrate oxidation and insulin resistance in children with obesity

It has been shown in adults that the capacity to match carbohydrate (CHO) oxidation with carbohydrate availability, known as metabolic flexibility (MetFlex), may be important for type 2 diabetes prevention. Improved MetFlex is associated with improvements to insulin resistance (IR) and can be achieved with as little as 7 days exercise.

In this small study published in the Journal of Applied Physiology and Metabolism, 12 children (8 boys and 4 girls) underwent 7 days of exercise in order to determine whether MetFlex and IR would improve. Participants underwent a combination of continuous and high intensity exercise sessions over the course of seven days. Each session consisting of 3 20-minute blocks. In spite of good adherence, no improvement to MetFlex or IR was found. The authors go on to comment that future research should investigate exercise volume, sex and pubertal effects on the responsiveness of MetFlex to exercise in children.