Digital tools added to obesity care may modestly reduce fat mass in young people
A review found a small fat-mass benefit when digital support supplemented conventional care. Effects on other outcomes, and effects of digital tools used alone, remained unclear.
Based on the published abstract. The full paper may contain additional methods, results and limitations.
The 30-second takeaway
Adding digital support to conventional care may modestly reduce fat mass in children and adolescents with obesity. Evidence for that outcome had moderate certainty, while effects on other important outcomes were unclear. Digital tools used alone also had unclear effects. The review could not establish lasting clinical benefit, and missing adverse-event data prevented an adequate safety assessment.
The abstract does not explain the fat-mass percentage scale, so the numerical difference is omitted. No trial reported adverse-event data, and small studies limited assessment of lasting clinical benefit.
What researchers found
Fat mass at study end
Digital support added to conventional care versus conventional care alone; moderate-certainty evidence. The abstract leaves the measurement scale unclear.
A range of digital approaches
Eligible interventions included wearables, websites, messaging, apps, active video games and telehealth. Studies addressed diet, physical activity or both. The findings therefore summarize varied approaches to support, rather than establishing the effectiveness of a particular product.
Keep the outcome in view
The clearest result concerned fat mass measured when studies ended. That finding does not establish broader improvements in health or well-being. Unclear results for other outcomes leave those questions open, and unreported adverse events leave safety uncertain.
The original publication
Digital health, technology-driven or technology-assisted interventions for the management of obesity in children and adolescents.
Palacios C, Hernandez J, Ajmal A et al.
Cochrane Database Syst Rev · 2025
- PubMed ID
- 40637164
- Record checked
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