Effectiveness of Information and Communication Technology on Obesity in Childhood and Adolescence: Systematic Review and Meta-analysis

• Published in: Journal of medical Internet research Vol. 23; no. 11; p. e29003
• Main Authors: Park, Jihyun, Park, Mi-Jeong, Seo, Young-Gyun
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Canada Gunther Eysenbach MD MPH, Associate Professor 17.11.2021; JMIR Publications
• Subjects: Adolescent; Adolescent girls; Analysis; Bias; Body fat; Body Mass Index; Body weight; Cellular telephones; Child development; Childhood; Childhood obesity; Children & youth; Clinical trials; Communication; Communications technology; Female; Girls; Handbooks; Humans; Information technology; Internet; Intervention; Lifestyles; Male; Meta-analysis; Obesity; Overweight; Pediatric Obesity - prevention & control; Performance evaluation; Randomized Controlled Trials as Topic; Review; Systematic review; Technology; Teenagers; Telemedicine; Waist; Weight control; Weight Loss; adolescents; children; mobile phone; mHealth; meta-analysis; weight loss; ICT; eHealth; obesity; BMI; randomized controlled trial
• DOI: 10.2196/29003
• ISSN: 1438-8871; 1439-4456

Internet or mobile device use as a form of information and communication technology (ICT) can be more effective in weight loss and weight maintenance than traditional obesity interventions. The study aims to assess the effectiveness of child-centered ICT interventions on obesity-related outcomes. Articles were retrieved from the Cochrane Central Register of Controlled Trials, Embase, and PubMed web-based databases. We selected randomized controlled trials in which the participants were aged <18 years. The primary outcomes were BMI, body weight, BMI z-score, waist circumference, and percentage body fat. In total, 10 of the initial 14,867 studies identified in the databases were selected according to the inclusion criteria. A total of 640 participants were included in the intervention group and 619 in the comparator group. Meta-analyses were conducted considering various subgroups (intervention type, comparator type, target participants, mean age, sex, BMI status, and follow-up period). Overall, ICT interventions demonstrated no significant effect on BMI, body weight, BMI z-score, waist circumference, and percentage body fat. Subgroup analyses revealed that the effect of the intervention was statistically significant for the following: web intervention (weighted mean difference [WMD]=-1.26 kg/m , 95% CI -2.24 to -0.28), lifestyle modification comparator (WMD=-1.75, 95% CI -2.76 to -0.74), intervention involving both boys and girls (WMD=-1.30, 95% CI -2.14 to -0.46), and intervention involving obesity only (WMD=-1.92, 95% CI -3.75 to -0.09). The meta-analysis results for children with obesity who used the web intervention program confirmed significant effects on BMI reduction compared with lifestyle modification. Evidence from the meta-analysis identified internet technology as a useful tool for weight loss in children with obesity.