Abstract
BACKGROUND: Physical activity (PA) has been shown to improve insulin resistance and other cardiovascular disease risk factors in normal and diabetic adults and in obese youth, but not in non-diabetic, normal-weight children.
METHODS: Data from 357 non-diabetic children (10–16 y) were used to examine cross-sectional associations with PA. Insulin sensitivity was assessed with a euglycemic hyperinsulinemic clamp and expressed as Mffm (glucose utilization/kg of fat-free mass/min).
RESULTS: Correlations were adjusted for age, sex, race and Tanner stage. PA was significantly correlated with fasting insulin and insulin sensitivity (r=−0.12, P=0.03 and r=0.13, P=0.001, respectively), more strongly in children with above-median systolic blood pressure (r=−0.17, P=0.03 and r=0.35, P=0.0001, respectively). Further adjustment for body mass index, body fat percentage, waist circumference or lipids did not alter these observations.
CONCLUSIONS: Physical activity is correlated with lower fasting insulin and greater insulin sensitivity in childhood. These results are consistent with the hypothesis that increasing physical activity among youth may reduce the incidence of type 2 diabetes in children and adolescents.
This is a preview of subscription content, access via your institution
Access options
Subscribe to this journal
Receive 12 print issues and online access
$259.00 per year
only $21.58 per issue
Buy this article
- Purchase on Springer Link
- Instant access to full article PDF
Prices may be subject to local taxes which are calculated during checkout
Similar content being viewed by others
References
Haffner SM, Miettinen H . Insulin resistance implications for type II diabetes mellitus and coronary heart disease Am J Med 1997 103: 152–162.
Helmrich SP, Ragland DR, Leung RW, Paffenbarger RS Jr . Physical activity and reduced occurrence of non-insulin-dependent diabetes mellitus New Engl J Med 1991 325: 147–152.
Manson JE, Rimm EB, Stampfer MJ, Colditz GA, Willett WC, Krolewski AS, Rosner B, Hennekens CH, Speizer FE . Physical activity and incidence of non-insulin-dependent diabetes mellitus in women Lancet 1991 338: 774–778.
Eriksson K-F, Lindgarde F . Prevention of type 2 (non-insulin-dependent) diabetes mellitus by diet and physical exercise Diabetologica 1991 34: 891–898.
Holloszy JO, Schultz J, Kusnierkiewicz J, Hagberg JM, Ehsani AA . Effects of exercise on glucose tolerance and insulin resistance: brief review and some preliminary results Acta Med Scand Suppl 1986 711: 55–65.
Mayer-Davis EJ, D'Agostino R Jr, Karter AJ, Haffner SM, Rewers MJ, Saad M, Bergman RN . Intensity and amount of physical activity in relation to insulin sensitivity: The insulin resistance atherosclerosis study JAMA 1998 279: 669–674.
Alpert BS, Wilmore JH . Physical activity and blood pressure in adolescents Pediat Exerc Sci 1994 6: 361–380.
Armstrong N, Simons-Morton B . Physical activity and blood lipids in adolescents Pediat Exerc Sci 1994 6: 381–405.
Ferguson MA, Gutin B, Le N, Karp W, Litaker M, Humphries M, Okuyama T, Riggs S, Owens S . Effects of exercise training and its cessation on components of the insulin resistance syndrome in obese children Int J Obes Relat Metab Disord 1999 22: 889–895.
Fagard R . Exercise characteristics and the blood pressure response to dynamic physical training Med Sci Sports Exerc 2001 33 (6 Suppl): S484–S492.
Kelley DE, Goodpaster BH . Effects of exercise on glucose homeostasis in Type 2 diabetes mellitus Med Sci Sports Exerc 2001 33 (6 Suppl): S495–S501.
Leon AS, Sanchez OA . Response of blood lipids to exercise training alone or combined with dietary intervention Med Sci Sports Exerc 2001 33 (6 Suppl): S502–S515.
Matsui I, Nambu S, Baba S . Evaluation of fasting serum insulin levels among Japanese school-age children J Nutr Sci Vitaminol 1998 44: 819–828.
Kahle EB, Zipf WB, Lamb DR, Horswill CA, Ward KM . Association between mild, routine exercise and improved insulin dynamics and glucose control in obese adolescents Int J Sports Med 1996 17: 1–6.
Kawabe H, Murata K, Shibata H, Hirose H, Tsujioka M, Saito I, Saruta T . Participation in school sports clubs and related effects on cardiovascular risk factors in young males Hypertens Res 2000 23: 227–232.
Raitakari OT, Porkka KVK, Taimela S, Telama R, Rasanen L, Viikari JSA . Effects of persistent physical activity and inactivity on coronary risk factors in children and young adults Am J Epidemiol 1994 140: 195–205.
Rocchini AP, Katch V, Schork A, Kelch RP . Insulin and blood pressure during weight loss in obese adolescents Hypertension 1987 10: 267–273.
Pinhas-Hamiel OL, Dolan M, Daniels SR, Standiford D, Khoury PR, Zeitler P . Increased incidence of non-insulin dependent mellitus among adolescents J Pediatr 1996 128: 608–615.
Tanner JM . Growth at Adolescence 2nd edn Blackwell: Oxford 1962 32–33.
Slaughter MH, Lohman TG, Boileau RA, Stillman RJ, Van Loan M, Horswill CA, Wilmore JH . Influence of maturation on relationship of skinfolds to body density: a cross-sectional study Hum Biol 1984 56: 681–689.
Slaughter MH, Lohman TG, Boileau RA, Horswill CA, Stillman RJ, Van Loan MD, Bemben DA . Skinfold equations for estimation of body fatness in children and youth Hum Biol 1988 60: 709–723.
Paffenbarger RS, Wing AL, Hyde RT . Physical activity as an index of heart attack risk in college alumni Am J Epidemiol 1978 108: 161–175.
Pereira MA, FitzGerald SJ, Gregg EW, Joswiak ML, Ryan WJ, Suminski RR, Utter AC, Zmuda JM . A collection of physical activity questionnaires for health-related research Med Sci Sports Exerc 1997 29: S1–S201.
Sallis JF, Buono MJ, Roby JJ, Micale FG, Nelson JA . Seven-day recall and other physical activity self-reports in children and adolescents Med Sci Sports Exerc 1993 25: 99–108.
Friedewald WT, Levy RI, Fredrickson DS . Estimation of the concentration of low-density lipoprotein cholesterol in plasma without the use of the preparative ultracentrifuge Clin Chem 1972 18: 499–502.
Fagard RH, Tipton CM . Physical activity, fitness, and hypertension. In: Bouchard C, Shephard RJ, Stephens T (eds) Physical activity, fitness, and health Human Kinetics: Champaign, IL 1994 pp 633–655.
Goodyear LJ, Kahn BB . Exercise, glucose transport, and insulin sensitivity A Rev Med 1998 49: 235–261.
Perseghin G, Price TB, Petersen KF, Roden M, Cline GW, Gerow K, Rothman DL, Shulman GL . Increased glucose transport-phosphorylation and muscle glycogen synthesis after exercise training in insulin-resistant subjects New Engl J Med 1996 335: 1357–1362.
Shulman GI, Landenson PW, Wolfe MH, Ridgway EC, Wolfe RR . Quantitation of muscle glycogen synthesis in normal subjects and subjects with non-insulin-dependent diabetes by 13C nuclear magnetic resonance spectroscopy New Engl J Med 1990 322: 223–228.
Sinaiko AR, Steinberger J, Moran A, Prineas RJ, Jacobs DR Jr . Relation of insulin resistance to blood pressure in childhood J Hypertension 2002 20: 1–9.
Andersen RE, Crespo CJ, Bartlett SJ, Cheskin LJ, Pratt M . Relationship of physical activity and television watching with body weight and level of fatness among children: results from the Third National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey JAMA 1998 279: 938–942.
Berkey CS, Rockett HR, Field EA, Gillman MW, Frazier AL, Camargo CA Jr, Colditz GA . Activity, dietary intake, and weight changes in a longitudinal study of preadolescent and adolescent boys and girls Pediatrics 2000 105 (4, part 1 of 2): 854.
Treuth MS, Figueroa-Colon R, Hunter GR, Weinsier RL, Butte NF, Goran MI . Energy expenditure and physical fitness in overweight vs non-overweight prepubertal girls Int J Obes Relat Metab Disord 1998 22: 440–447.
Ward DS, Trost SG, Felton G, Saunders R, Parsons MA, Dowda M, Pate RR . Physical activity and physical fitness in African-American girls with and without obesity Obes Res 1997 5: 572–577.
Tolfrey K, Jones AM, Campbell IG . The effect of aerobic exercise training on the lipid-lipoprotein profile of children and adolescents Sports Med 2000 29: 99–112.
Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC). Youth risk behavior surveillance—United States, 1999 CDC Surveillance Summaries MMWR 2000 p 49 (no. SS-5)
Telama R, Yang X, Laakso L, Viikari J . Physical activity in childhood and adolescence as predictor of physical activity in young adulthood Am J Prev Med 1997 13: 317–323.
Acknowledgements
This work was supported by NHLBI grant no. HL 52851 and NIH grant M01-RR-00400 (GCRC). Dr Schmitz was awarded the Jeremiah Stamler Research Award for New Investigators for this research at the American Heart Association Council on Epidemiology and Prevention annual meeting in March 2000.
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Corresponding author
Rights and permissions
About this article
Cite this article
Schmitz, K., Jacobs, D., Hong, CP. et al. Association of physical activity with insulin sensitivity in children. Int J Obes 26, 1310–1316 (2002). https://doi.org/10.1038/sj.ijo.0802137
Received:
Revised:
Accepted:
Published:
Issue Date:
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/sj.ijo.0802137
Keywords
This article is cited by
-
Fat-free/lean body mass in children with insulin resistance or metabolic syndrome: a systematic review and meta-analysis
BMC Pediatrics (2022)
-
Relationships between physical activity, healthy eating and cortical thickness in children and young adults
Brain Imaging and Behavior (2022)
-
Selected components of physical fitness in rhythmic and artistic youth gymnast
Sport Sciences for Health (2021)
-
A cognitive behavioral therapy intervention to reduce fear of hypoglycemia in young adults with type 1 diabetes (FREE): study protocol for a randomized controlled trial
Trials (2019)
-
Insulin sensitivity is reduced in children with high body-fat regardless of BMI
International Journal of Obesity (2018)