HIGH-INTENSITY INTERVAL TRAINING EFFECTS ON SLEEP, ANXIETY AND QUALITY OF LIFE IN OBESE AND OVERWEIGHT ADOLESCENTS

Abstract

Background: It is estimated that more than 7 million Indonesians aged 5–19 years were living with obesity. The rise of obesity is also highly associated with increasing sleep disturbance, psychological distress, and reduced quality of life. High-Intensity Interval Training (HIIT) is a time-efficient exercise strategy that may improve these outcomes. Objective: To analyze the effects of twelve weeks HIIT program on sleep quality, depression, anxiety, stress symptoms, and quality of life among overweight and obese adolescents in Indonesia. Methods: Quasi-experimental pre–post study compared a HIIT group with a control group. Participants were recruited from two senior high schools in Semarang. HIIT was performed three times weekly for twelve weeks. Sleep quality was assessed using PSQI, psychological symptoms with DASS-21, and quality of life with the Indonesian WHOQOL-BREF. Wilcoxon and Mann–Whitney tests were used (p<0.05). Results: The HIIT group showed improved sleep quality with lower PSQI scores (median 5 to 3; p<0.001), while the control group was indifferent. DASS-21 subscales improved in the HIIT group, with reductions in depression (p=0.005), anxiety (p<0.001), and stress (p=0.006); post-intervention scores favored HIIT for depression (p=0.003), anxiety (p<0.001), and stress (p=0.026). At Indonesian WHOQOL-BREF, HIIT increased the psychological domain (p=0.002), social relationships domain (p=0.015), and the environmental domain (p=0.011), but not the physical domain (p>0.05). Post-intervention, between-group differences were significant for psychological (p<0.001) and environmental domains (p=0.021), but not for social relationships. Conclusions: Twelve weeks HIIT program improved sleep quality, reduced depression, anxiety, stress symptoms and enhanced quality-of-life domains, supporting HIIT as school-based option for overweight and obese adolescents.