SynthesisActa paediatrica (Oslo, Norway : 1992)2025
The Effect of Exergaming on BMI and Fitness in Children and Adolescents With Obesity: A Systematic Review.
Synthesis in Acta paediatrica (Oslo, Norway : 1992), 2025. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 4 papers, 2 of them syntheses that pooled 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.
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.
Who cites it
4 citing papers in PubMed, 2 syntheses or guidelines pooled it.
- Digital Tools' Effectiveness on Physical Activity Outcomes in Children and Adolescents: Umbrella Review.JMIR public health and surveillance · 2026Pooled it
- Effectiveness of active video games for promoting physical activity: an umbrella review.Frontiers in sports and active living · 2025Pooled it
- Article
- Associations between walkability and physical activity among children and adolescents: evidence from a gamified intervention.BMC public health · 2025Article
Corrections and comments
PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.
Authors and funding
4 authors.
Funding
No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.
Abstract
aimPaediatric overweight and obesity are global health concerns linked to various physical and psychosocial challenges. Over the past decade, online games for exercise, exergames, have re-emerged in homes and schools as a possible solution to encourage physical activity and address childhood overweight and obesity. However, evidence on their effectiveness remains limited. This systematic review aimed to analyse the effects of exergaming on body mass index and physical activity in children and adolescents.
methodsUsing keywords such as 'child', 'adolescent', 'obesity', 'overweight', 'exergaming' and 'active video gaming', a comprehensive search was conducted across PubMed and Embase, yielding 801 initial articles. Articles were screened following PRISMA guidelines and assessed using Covidence and Cochrane's quality assessment tools.
resultsTwelve articles met the inclusion criteria. Sample sizes ranged from 29 to 445 participants, with intervention durations from 2 to 48 weeks. The results indicated that exergaming showed a subtle to moderate effect on body mass index and promising effects on moderate to vigorous physical activity.
conclusionThese findings suggest that exergames have potential as adjunctive tools in treating paediatric overweight and obesity. However, the limited number of studies and heterogeneity in the interventions highlight the need for further research in this field.
Indexed as
Identifiers
What Socratic holds
Registered trials
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.