Evidence map›Paper›PMID 34012820›Full record

ArticleTranslational pediatrics2021

Effectiveness of dietary interventions on weight outcomes in childhood: a systematic review meta-analysis of randomized controlled trials.

Qi Long, Ting Zhang, Fei Chen, Wenqiao Wang, Xia Chen, Ming Ma

Open access · diamondAbstract read
PubMed Full text at PMC Publisher
In one paragraph

Article in Translational pediatrics, 2021. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 7 papers, 2 of them syntheses that pooled it.

0numbers the graph read from it
0cells of the map it votes in
7citing papers in PubMed, 2 pooled it
0.8field-weighted citation impact, top 27% of its field
1 · What the graph read from it

What it found

Each row is one number read from the abstract, on the scale the paper reported it, with its interval. Left of the dashed line favours the treatment, right favours the comparator. Under each row is the sentence it came from. New to these charts? A ten-minute tutorial.

The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.

2 · The registry

The trial behind it

Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.

Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.

3 · Its place in the literature

Who cites it

7 citing papers in PubMed, 2 syntheses or guidelines pooled it, 9 citations in OpenAlex.

  1. Pooled it
  2. Pooled it
  3. Heavy moms, wheezy kids: how maternal obesity harms breathing in offspring.American journal of respiratory cell and molecular biology · 2026
    Review
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4 · The record

Corrections and comments

PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.

5 · Who and what money

Authors and funding

6 authors at 2 institutions in 1 country.

Qi LongDepartment of Clinical Nutrition, Children's Hospital of Zhejiang University School of Medicine, National Clinical Research Center for Child Health, Hangzhou, China.
Ting ZhangDepartment of Clinical Nutrition, Children's Hospital of Zhejiang University School of Medicine, National Clinical Research Center for Child Health, Hangzhou, China.
Fei ChenDepartment of Clinical Nutrition, Children's Hospital of Zhejiang University School of Medicine, National Clinical Research Center for Child Health, Hangzhou, China.
Wenqiao WangDepartment of Clinical Nutrition, Children's Hospital of Zhejiang University School of Medicine, National Clinical Research Center for Child Health, Hangzhou, China.
Xia ChenDepartment of Clinical Nutrition, Children's Hospital of Zhejiang University School of Medicine, National Clinical Research Center for Child Health, Hangzhou, China.
Ming MaDepartment of Clinical Nutrition, Children's Hospital of Zhejiang University School of Medicine, National Clinical Research Center for Child Health, Hangzhou, China.
Children's Hospital of Zhejiang University · CNZhejiang University · CN

Funding

No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.

6 · The paper itself

Abstract

backgroundRapid growth and elevated weight in childhood are significantly associated with obesity in later life, but evidence regarding dietary interventions and weight outcomes is lacking. This study aimed to determine the effectiveness of dietary interventions on body mass index (BMI) and BMI z-score in childhood.

methodsPubMed, EmBase, and the Cochrane library were searched from inception till June 2019. Studies that investigated the effectiveness of dietary interventions on BMI and BMI z-score in childhood were considered eligible in our study. The changes in BMI and BMI z-score between dietary interventions and control were calculated by pooled weighted mean differences (WMDs) and 95% CIs were evaluated using random-effects model.

resultsTwenty-eight randomized controlled trials involving a total of 17,488 children were included. The summary WMDs indicated that children who received dietary interventions had greater reduction in BMI (WMD: -0.12; 95% CI: -0.20 to -0.05; P=0.001) and BMI z-score (WMD: -0.04; 95% CI: -0.06 to -0.02; P=0.001) when compared to the usual controls. Subgroup analyses revealed that the sample size, mean age, duration of interventions, and study quality could affect the effectiveness of dietary interventions in children.

conclusionsThe findings of this meta-analysis suggested that dietary interventions improved BMI and BMI z-score, whereas these results are limited due to substantial heterogeneity and study quality of the included studies.

Indexed as

childhoodDietary interventionsmeta-analysisrandomized controlled trialsweight outcomes

Identifiers

PMID34012820
PMCPMC8107859
OpenAlexW3155517330

What Socratic holds

Textmetadata
LicenceCC BY-NC-ND
Read underepoch 390

Registered trials

None linked

Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the Socratic graph.