Effectiveness of educational and lifestyle interventions to prevent paediatric obesity: systematic review and meta‐analyses of randomized and non‐randomized controlled trials

Summary Objective This review and meta‐analysis aim at updating a previous meta‐analysis carried out by Waters et al. on the efficacy of interventions aimed at preventing childhood obesity and at identifying predictors of outcome. Methods Using an ad‐hoc search string, PubMed database was searched for studies assessing body mass index reduction associated with programmes lasting ≥12 weeks in overweight and obese children aged 2–18 years. Studies designed for children with eating disorders or relevant comorbidities were excluded. Studies meeting inclusion criteria were classified according to patient age (1 year). The search was also extended to other databases. Hand‐searching techniques were also applied. The Cochrane ‘risk of bias’ was applied for quality assessment. Results Seventy‐two studies were meta‐analysed. Overall, the best results were achieved by programmes combining diet and physical activity (n = 39). With regard to the setting, programmes involving both school and family and lasting ≤1 year were the most efficacious for 6‐ to 12‐year‐old children (n = 26); family‐based‐only interventions were also effective in children