ORIGINAL ARTICLES  EXERCISE PHYSIOLOGY AND BIOMECHANICS 

The Journal of Sports Medicine and Physical Fitness 2011 September;51(3):393-400

Copyright © 2011 EDIZIONI MINERVA MEDICA

language: English

Aerobic training programs and glycemic control in diabetic children in relation to exercise frequency

Aouadi R. ^{1, 2}, Khalifa R. ^{1, 2}, Aouidet A. ³, Ben Mansour A. ⁴, Ben Rayana M. C. ⁵, Mdini F. ¹, Bahri S. ⁶, Stratton G. ⁷ ✉

¹ Research Unit “Evaluation and analysis of factors influencing sport performance”, Tunis, Tunisia 2 Superior Institute of Sport and Physical Education, Ksar Saïd, Manouba, Tunisia 3 Superior School of Sciences and Techniques of Health, Tunis, Tunisia 4 Department of Physiology, Faculty of Medicine, Tunis, Tunisia 5 National Institute of Nutrition, Tunis, Tunisia 6 Institute of Health and Security in Work, Tunis, Tunisia 7 REACH (Research into Exercise Activity and Children’s Health) Group, Faculty of Education, Community and Leisure, Liverpool John Moores University, Liverpool, UK

AIM:The aim of this study was to assess the effect of an aerobic training on glycemic control and lipid profile in diabetic children.
METHODS: Thirty-three children with type 1 diabetes mellitus (T1DM) were equally divided in three groups. The control group (CG) did not perform any training intervention during the period of the investigation and the subjects were instructed to continue with their daily lifestyle patterns. The second group (G1) and the third group (G2) completed a six-month aerobic training programs. During the period of the investigation, G1 participated in one daily session (~60 min) of aerobic exercise twice weekly, while G2 performed in the form of daily session four times a week (~60 min). HbA1c and lipid profile were measured before training intervention, then after three and six months.
RESULTS:The three-month periods was without significant changes of HbA1c in the two groups but significantly increased high-density lipoprotein cholesterol (HDL-C) in G1 (P<0.05). In G2, an increase of HDL-C was accompanied by a decrease of serum triglyceride (TG) (P<0.05). After six months, only HDL-C and TG levels were significantly lower in G1 (P<0.01), while in G2 HDL-C increased (68.8±5.7 mg/dL vs. 56.7±7.2 mg/dL; P<0.01), low-density lipoprotein cholesterol (LDL-C) (69.2±8.5 mg/dL vs. 81.6±11.8 mg/dL; P<0.01), TG concentrations decreased (60.7±6.9 mg/dL vs. 77.4±9.3 mg/dL; P<0.01) and HbA1c was significantly lower (6.8±1.1% vs. 8.2±1.5%; P<0.05), comparatively to those before training. CONCLUSION: However, the six-month periods showed that children exercising more than two times weekly significantly improved HbA1c and lipid profile. These results must encourage children with T1DM to regularly practice sporty activities for long periods.