Does regular exercise without weight loss reduce insulin resistance in children and adolescents?

Despite considerable efforts to tackle childhood obesity, it is recognized as one of the biggest health problems globally. Childhood obesity is a leading cause of many comorbid conditions such as metabolic syndrome and insulin resistance as well as type 2 diabetes. A strong body of evidence suggests that regular exercise without calorie restriction or weight loss is associated with reduced insulin resistance as well as improved insulin sensitivity in overweight and obese adults. However, despite the well-known benefits associated with regular exercise alone, the independent role of exercise training without calorie restriction on insulin resistance is still uncertain in youth. Some studies observed that both the aerobic and resistance type of exercise training without calorie restriction resulted in meaningful changes in insulin sensitivity, suggesting that exercise alone is an effective therapeutic strategy for reducing insulin resistance in overweight and obese youth. However, only few studies are available on the optimal dose of exercise training without calorie restriction or preferred exercise modality for reducing insulin resistance, which warrants further investigations in the pediatric population.