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Associations Between Movement Behaviors and Glycemic Variability in Healthy Adolescents: A Multiday Accelerometry and
Sahar Afeef1,2, Roberto Salvaggio3, Laura A Barrett2
1Department of Clinical Nutrition, Faculty of Applied Medical Sciences, King Abdulaziz University, Jeddah,Saudi Arabia.
Pediatric Exercise Science
|May 21, 2026
Summary
Vigorous physical activity (PA) in adolescents is linked to reduced glycemic variability, a key factor in cardiometabolic health. Moderate-to-vigorous PA also showed benefits, highlighting the importance of intensity for metabolic well-being.
Area of Science:
- Metabolic Health
- Adolescent Physiology
- Cardiovascular Disease Risk Factors
Background:
- Glycemic variability is an emerging risk factor for cardiometabolic diseases.
- Adolescence is a critical developmental window for establishing long-term metabolic health.
- Understanding lifestyle factors influencing glycemic control during adolescence is crucial.
Purpose of the Study:
- To investigate the association between daily physical activity (PA) levels and sedentary time with glycemic variability.
- To examine these associations in healthy adolescents under free-living conditions.
- To identify optimal PA intensities for improving glycemic control in youth.
Main Methods:
- Eighty-seven healthy adolescents (mean age 12.9 years) concurrently wore continuous glucose monitors and accelerometers for 8 days.
- Generalized estimating equations were used to analyze daily associations between PA, sedentary time, and glycemic variability metrics.
- Analyses adjusted for relevant confounders in participants with at least 3 days of valid data.
Main Results:
- Vigorous PA was significantly associated with lower glucose coefficient of variation, mean amplitude of glycemic excursion, and glucose SD.
- Higher vigorous PA was also linked to a greater percentage of time within the optimal glucose range (3.9-7.8 mmol·L-1).
- Moderate-to-vigorous PA showed inverse associations with glucose variability metrics; however, light, moderate, total PA, and sedentary time were not significantly associated.
Conclusions:
- Physical activity at moderate-to-vigorous intensities, particularly vigorous intensity, is associated with reduced glycemic variability in healthy adolescents.
- These findings underscore the importance of PA intensity for metabolic health during adolescence.
- Targeting higher intensity PA may be beneficial for mitigating cardiometabolic risk in youth.
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