The Importance of Physical Exercise in the Autonomic Modulation of Schoolchildren

Physical exercise plays a very important role in maintaining health and preventing various cardiovascular diseases. The regular practice of physical exercise has proven to be an effective way to improve adolescents’ health, and studies have shown a beneficial association between physical exercise performed within and outside the school context. Therefore, the present study aimed to verify the scientific discussions regarding the impact of physical exercise practice on cardiac autonomic modulation in schoolchildren. This is an integrative review, and to obtain the articles, searches were conducted in the MEDLINE, LILACS, SciELO, Elsevier, and Adolec databases, using the descriptors physical exercise/physical activity, autonomic nervous system, and adolescent. A total of 63 articles were obtained. After applying the inclusion criteria, 6 studies were included, analyzed, and their main information was systematized in a table. The results showed that the practice of physical exercise has a positive impact on cardiac autonomic modulation in adolescents, and that, when practiced regularly, physical exercise becomes a mechanism for combating risk factors for the development of cardiovascular diseases, such as overweight and obesity.