Effects of short-bout accumulated exercise on postprandial metabolism in adults: A systematic review and meta-analysis.

Authors

Jie Gong, Liping Tan, Ying Wang, Jing Yan, Yusu Li

Published in

Complementary therapies in medicine. Pages 103416. Aug 12, 2026. Epub Aug 12, 2026.

Abstract

To systematically evaluate the acute effects of short-bout accumulated exercise (SBAE) interrupting prolonged sedentary behaviour on postprandial glucose, insulin, and triglycerides in adults.
Systematic searches in PubMed, Web of Science, Embase, Cochrane Library, CINAHL, SPORTDiscus, and CNKI (inception to 10 December 2025) identified randomised crossover trials comparing SBAE (≤10min/bout, inter-bout interval ≥30min or adequate recovery) with continuous sedentary behaviour. Outcomes included postprandial glucose, insulin, and triglyceride AUCs. Standardised mean differences (SMD) were pooled using random-effects models.
Thirty-one publications reporting data from 29 independent cohorts involving 573 unique participants (mean age 47.8 ± 20.3 years; 47.5% female; mean BMI 29.0 ± 5.1kg/m²) were included. Compared with continuous sedentary behaviour, SBAE significantly reduced glucose AUC (SMD = -0.53, 95% CI: -0.71 to -0.34, P < 0.001) and insulin AUC (SMD = -0.58, 95% CI: -0.85 to -0.31, P < 0.001), but not triglyceride AUC (SMD = -0.17, 95% CI: -0.48 to 0.15, P = 0.306). Exploratory subgroup analyses showed statistically significant reductions in glucose and insulin for walking and for inter-bout intervals <60min, but not for standing alone or intervals ≥60min. A statistically significant insulin-lowering effect was observed in obese individuals.
SBAE acutely improves postprandial glucose and insulin control. Exploratory subgroup analyses showed statistically significant effects for walking and for inter-bout intervals <60min, but these comparisons are observational and no formal interaction test was conducted. These findings provide preliminary evidence for acute SBAE in sedentary populations, though long-term health effects and real-world generalisability require further investigation.

PMID:
42586449
Bibliographic data and abstract were imported from PubMed on 13 Aug 2026.

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