Introduction

High caloric intake and lack of physical activity are causing alarming increases in the amount of overweight and obese children. The objective of this study was to determinate the effectiveness of an High-Intensity Interval Training (HIIT) program in the reduction of fat percentage, improve nutritional status and physical abilities of schoolchildren.

Material and Methods

153 schoolchildren between the ages of 7 and 10 from a subsidized private school in the city of Temuco (Chile), were randomly selected, distributed in an experimental group (EG) who were applied a 12 week HIIT intervention in physical education classes, twice per week and a control group. The percentage of fat by bioelectrical impedance analysis, weight, height, body mass index and functional capacity, were measured before and after the intervention, using the 6-minute walk test.

Results

In EG, the parameters that showed significant improvements (p<0.05) were weight, fat percentage that decreased while the number of meters traveled in the 6-minute test increased. At comparing ages between 7-8 only the weight and the 6-minute test and for the aged between 9-10 years only the weight and meters traveled in the 6-minute test. While it is true that only in EG all variables show a downward trend, except in the size and in the meters traveled in the 6-minute test, only statistically significant differences were obtained in those mentioned previously.

Conclusions

The HIIT program in schoolchildren showed improvement in the parameters related to overweight and obesity, which highlights the importance of including interventions of this type at the school resume of our country.

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