Acute changes in glucose induced by continuous or intermittent exercise in children and adolescents with type 1 diabetes

OBJECTIVE: To estimate the rate of change during exercise and during recovery in moderate-continuous exercise (MCE) and high-intensity intermittent exercise (HIIE) in children and adolescents with type 1 diabetes (T1D). SUBJECTS AND METHODS: Participants performed 2 sessions of exercise: thirty minutes of continuous activity on a cycle ergometer (60% of VO(2max)) and thirty minutes (60% VO(2max)) interspersed with five bouts of maximum intensity lasting ten seconds every five minutes. Capillary blood glucose was measured before and after each test. The glucose rate of change in exercise (RoC(E)) was calculated (final blood glucose – onset blood glucose/exercise time), and the glucose rate of change in recovery (RoC(R)) (blood glucose 30 minutes after exercise – end of exercise blood glucose/recovery time). RESULTS: The study included thirty-one participants (aged 13 ± 1.88 years). A lower blood glucose reduction was observed in the HIIE group, as well as better recovery values before, after, and thirty minutes after the test, respectively (333.14 ± 69.53, 226.19 ± 68.05 and 201.77 ± 66.84 versus 211.36 ± 91.03, 155.98 ± 82,68 and 165.76 ± 72.94). Covariance analyses showed a significant difference in glycemic variation between continuous and intermittent protocols immediately after exercise (−2.90 versus −2.08) and during the recovery period (−0.677 versus −0.389). CONCLUSIONS: HIIE led to a lower glucose reduction rate per minute during exercise and better recovery in the first 30 minutes after exercise compared to MCE in children and adolescents with T1D.