ReviewJMIR serious games2026
Effects and Moderators of Exergaming on Glucose and Lipid Metabolism in Children and Adolescents: Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis.
Review in JMIR serious games, 2026. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Not yet cited in PubMed.
What it found
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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
0 citing papers in PubMed.
No citing paper in PubMed yet.
Corrections and comments
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Authors and funding
5 authors.
Funding
No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.
Abstract
Background: Exergaming, or active video gaming, may make physical activity more engaging for children and adolescents. Earlier reviews have focused on activity, adiposity, fitness, or psychosocial outcomes, leaving effects on glycemic and lipid biomarkers uncertain. Their cardiometabolic relevance warrants synthesis. Objective: This systematic review and meta-analysis evaluated the effects of exergaming on glucose and lipid metabolism in children and adolescents, and explored potential moderators. Methods: Following PRISMA 2020 (Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews and Meta-Analyses), we searched PubMed, Embase, Scopus, Web of Science, the Psychology and Behavioral Sciences Collection, and CENTRAL from inception to April 27, 2026, with backward and forward citation searching. Eligible controlled interventions enrolled participants aged ≤18 years and compared exergaming with nonexergaming controls. Outcomes were glucose, insulin, total cholesterol (TC), triglycerides, high-density lipoprotein cholesterol (HDL-C), and low-density lipoprotein cholesterol (LDL-C). Standardized mean differences (Hedges Results: Ten controlled intervention studies involving 732 participants were included. Pooled effects were nonsignificant for glucose (9 studies, 528 participants; Hedges Conclusions: This review provides a synthesis of pediatric glycemic and lipid biomarkers and potential moderators, extending earlier broader exergaming reviews. Exergaming may be an engaging complementary strategy for physical activity and lipid health, including LDL-C, in schools, families, and community settings. However, heterogeneous protocols, risk-of-bias concerns, very low-to-low certainty, and PIs crossing the null mean that the magnitude and generalizability of any metabolic benefit remain uncertain.
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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.