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

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

doi:10.1016/j.ctim.2026.103416

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

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

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Abstract

OBJECTIVE: To systematically evaluate the acute effects of short-bout accumulated exercise (SBAE) interrupting prolonged sedentary behaviour on postprandial glucose, insulin, and triglycerides in adults. METHODS: 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 (≤10 min/bout, inter-bout interval ≥30 min 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. RESULTS: 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 ± 5.1 kg/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 < 60 min, but not for standing alone or intervals ≥ 60 min. A statistically significant insulin-lowering effect was observed in obese individuals. CONCLUSION: SBAE acutely improves postprandial glucose and insulin control. Exploratory subgroup analyses showed statistically significant effects for walking and for inter-bout intervals < 60 min, 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.

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Adult Female Humans Middle Aged Blood Glucose Exercise Insulin Postprandial Period Sedentary Behavior Triglycerides Meta-analysis Postprandial Sedentary behaviour Short-bout accumulated exercise Journal Article Meta-Analysis Systematic Review

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Jie Gong, Liping Tan, Ying Wang, Jing Yan, Yusu Li. 2026-08-12. Effects of short-bout accumulated exercise on postprandial metabolism in adults: A systematic review and meta-analysis.. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ctim.2026.103416

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Journal Article; Meta-Analysis; Systematic Review resource Adult subject Blood Glucose subject Exercise subject Female subject Humans subject Journal Article subject Meta-Analysis subject Middle Aged subject Postprandial subject Postprandial Period subject Systematic reviews study

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