ReviewPreventive medicine reports2022
Effectiveness of mobile health interventions targeting parents to prevent and treat childhood Obesity: Systematic review.
Review in Preventive medicine reports, 2022. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 27 papers, 4 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
27 citing papers in PubMed, 4 syntheses or guidelines pooled it.
- Digital Interventions Targeting Parents to Improve Early Childhood Movement, Nutrition, and Sleep Behaviors: Systematic Review.Journal of medical Internet research · 2026Pooled it
- Digital Tools' Effectiveness on Physical Activity Outcomes in Children and Adolescents: Umbrella Review.JMIR public health and surveillance · 2026Pooled it
- Mobile- and Web-Based Interventions for Promoting Healthy Diets, Preventing Obesity, and Improving Health Behaviors in Children and Adolescents: Systematic Review of Randomized Controlled Trials.Journal of medical Internet research · 2025Pooled it
- Effects of eHealth Interventions on 24-Hour Movement Behaviors Among Preschoolers: Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis.Journal of medical Internet research · 2024Pooled it
- Balancing digital and in-person support: parents' perspectives on delivering childhood obesity treatment.BMC public health · 2026Trial
- Effectiveness of a telephone-based randomised clinical trial targeting obesity risk of preschool-aged children: An extension study during the COVID-19 pandemic.International journal of obesity (2005) · 2025Trial
- The impact of the Change4Life Food Scanner app on children's diets and parental psychological outcomes: a randomised pilot and feasibility study.BMC public health · 2025Trial
- Process and effect evaluation of the app-based parenting programFrontiers in public health · 2022Trial
- Obesity Interpreter: A Digital Tool for Assessment of Childhood Obesity.Indian pediatrics · 2026Article
- A Formative Evaluation of Parental Perceptions Related to Acceptability, Appropriateness, Feasibility, and Reported Use of an e-Learning Resource Targeting Diet in the First 1000 Days: Survey Study.JMIR formative research · 2026Article
- Opportunities, challenges, and ethical implications of online pediatric nutrition consultation: a nursing perspective.Frontiers in pediatrics · 2026Article
- Integrating plan-do-check-act (pdca)-based closed-loop management into lifestyle intervention for pediatric primary obesity.Frontiers in pediatrics · 2026Article
- Lessons learned from approaches in COVID-19 risk Communication and community engagement in Malawi: an exploratory study.International journal of qualitative studies on health and well-being · 2025Article
- Evaluating the Impact of an 8-Week Family-Focused E-Health Lifestyle Program for Adolescents: A Retrospective, Real-World Evaluation.Nutrients · 2025Article
- The Good Start Matters mHealth Parenting Program: Protocol for a Randomized Controlled Trial.JMIR research protocols · 2025Article
- Treating Childhood Obesity: Building and Evaluating Evidence-Based Models of Integrated Care.Journal of the Endocrine Society · 2025Review
- Parental and Demographic Predictors of Engagement in an mHealth Intervention: Observational Study From the Let's Grow Trial.JMIR mHealth and uHealth · 2025Observational
- Caregiver inclusion influence on adolescent acceptance and engagement of an mHealth app, a randomized controlled trial.mHealth · 2025Article
- Implementing an early-life nutrition intervention through primary healthcare: staff perspectives.BMC health services research · 2024Article
- Barriers and facilitators to parents' engagement with and perceived impact of a childhood obesity app: A mixed-methods study.PLOS digital health · 2024Article
Corrections and comments
PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.
Authors and funding
11 authors.
Funding
No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.
Abstract
Childhood obesity is a high prevalence condition that causes a high burden of disease in adulthood. Mobile phone app are increasingly used to prevent it. We summarized the evidence on the effectiveness of mobile apps for devices used by parents to prevent and treat childhood and adolescent obesity. An update of a systematic review of the literature (De Lepeleere et al., 2017) was carried out. PubMed, Embase, Cochrane, CINAHL, PsycINFO, Scopus, and ERIC were searched up to 2020. The included studies should target children 1-18 years, compare an app aimed at preventing or treating overweight and obesity, as stand-alone intervention or as part of a complex program, installed on parents' mobile devices, to no intervention or an intervention without the app. Outcomes related to weight status, diet, and physical activity (PA) behaviors were considered. Nineteen studies (14 RCTs and 5 non-randomized trials) were included. The app was mainly used to record food consumption and PA, to set goals, to view progress, and send health promotion messages. One study reported a significant decrease and one a suggestive decrease in anthropometric measures in obese and overweight children, while other studies observed no effect. One study reported a significant increase in PA. Six interventions proved to be effective in changing dietary behaviors. Interventions targeting overweight and/or obese children had the most positive results. All studies reported high acceptability and feasibility of interventions. The differences between interventions and the small sample size of the studies did not allow this review to reach conclusion on effectiveness.
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What OpenQuestion 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 OpenQuestion graph.