SynthesisBMJ open2019
What change in body mass index is associated with improvement in percentage body fat in childhood obesity? A meta-regression.
Synthesis in BMJ open, 2019. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 20 papers, 1 of them a synthesis 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
20 citing papers in PubMed, 1 synthesis or guideline pooled it.
- Themes in Train-the-Trainer Nutrition Education Interventions Targeting Middle School Students: A Systematic Review.Nutrients · 2021Pooled it
- Seasonal variation in BMI outcomes at 6 months: secondary analyses of a multidisciplinary healthy lifestyle programme for children and adolescents with obesity.World journal of pediatrics : WJP · 2026Trial
- Anthropometric trajectories of Korean children and adolescents with severe obesity.Clinical and experimental pediatrics · 2026Article
- One-Year Follow-Up of Weight Trajectories After the EDDY School-Based Nutrition and Physical Activity Program.Children (Basel, Switzerland) · 2026Article
- PROTOCOL: Effectiveness of Interventions for the Prevention and Treatment of Obesity in Children and Adolescents From Low- and Middle-Income Countries: A Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis.Campbell systematic reviews · 2025Article
- Predictors of Static Postural Loading in Primary-School-Aged Children: Comparing Elastic Net and Multiple Regression Methods.Children (Basel, Switzerland) · 2025Article
- Differential effects of dietary and physical activity interventions on adiposity of children with obesity.Clinical and experimental pediatrics · 2025Article
- Prevalence of overweight and obesity in 6-15-year-old boys and girls before the COVID-19 pandemic: results from anthropological research 2001-2019 in the Czech Republic.Central European journal of public health · 2024Article
- Article
- Gestational age and trajectories of body mass index and height from birth through adolescence in the Danish National Birth Cohort.Scientific reports · 2023Article
- A 24-h activity profile and adiposity among children and adolescents: Does the difference between school and weekend days matter?PloS one · 2023Article
- Randomized control trial of a childhood obesity prevention family-based program: "Abriendo Caminos" and effects on BMI.Frontiers in pediatrics · 2023Article
- Weight Gain after Hormone Receptor-Positive Breast Cancer.Current oncology (Toronto, Ont.) · 2022Article
- Metabolic syndrome in childhood cancer survivors: delta BMI a risk factor in lower-middle-income countries.Supportive care in cancer : official journal of the Multinational Association of Supportive Care in Cancer · 2022Article
- Evaluating 12 Years of Implementing a Multidisciplinary Specialist Child and Adolescent Obesity Treatment Service: Patient-Level Outcomes.Frontiers in nutrition · 2022Article
- Observational
- What Change in Body Mass Index Is Required to Improve Cardiovascular Outcomes in Childhood and Adolescent Obesity through Lifestyle Interventions: A Meta-Regression.Childhood obesity (Print) · 2020Article
- Effects of the application of a prolonged combined intervention on body composition in adolescents with obesity.Nutrition journal · 2020Article
- Mindfulness affects stress, ghrelin, and BMI of obese children: a clinical trial.Endocrine connections · 2020Article
- Overweight/obesity and associated cardiovascular risk factors in sub-Saharan African children and adolescents: a scoping review.International journal of pediatric endocrinology · 2020Article
Corrections and comments
PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.
Authors and funding
7 authors.
Funding
No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.
Abstract
objectiveUsing meta-regression this paper sets out the minimum change in body mass index-SD score (BMI-SDS) required to improve adiposity as percentage body fat for children and adolescents with obesity.
designMeta-regression.
settingStudies were identified as part of a large-scale systematic review of the following electronic databases: AMED, Embase, MEDLINE via OVID, Web of Science and CENTRAL via Cochrane library.
participantsIndividuals aged 4-19 years with a diagnosis of obesity according to defined BMI thresholds.
interventionsStudies of lifestyle treatment interventions that included dietary, physical activity and/or behavioural components with the objective of reducing obesity were included. Interventions of <2 weeks duration and those that involved surgical and/or pharmacological components (eg, bariatric surgery, drug therapy) were excluded. PRIMARY AND SECONDARY OUTCOME MEASURES: To be included in the review, studies had to report baseline and post-intervention BMI-SDS or change measurements (primary outcome measures) plus one or more of the following markers of metabolic health (secondary outcome measures): adiposity measures other than BMI; blood pressure; glucose; inflammation; insulin sensitivity/resistance; lipid profile; liver function. This paper focuses on adiposity measures only. Further papers in this series will report on other outcome measures.
resultsThis paper explores the potential impact of BMI-SDS reduction in terms of change in percentage body fat. Thirty-nine studies reporting change in mean percentage body fat were analysed. Meta-regression demonstrated that reduction of at least 0.6 in mean BMI-SDS ensured a mean reduction of percentage body fat mass, in the sense that the associated 95% prediction interval for change in mean percentage body fat was wholly negative.
conclusionsInterventions demonstrating reductions of 0.6 BMI-SDS might be termed successful in reducing adiposity, a key purpose of weight management interventions. TRIAL REGISTRATION NUMBER: CRD42016025317.
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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 OpenQuestion graph.