Table 2.
Main findings of studies on long-term interventions in children.
| References | Study Design | Population and methods | Main findings |
|---|---|---|---|
| [40] | Parallel RCT Duration: 24 weeks |
N = 322 (EG n = 160, CG = 162) Children with overweight or obesity aged 10–14 years, regularly using sedentary video games Intervention: active video game to play at home. Subgroup analysis (baseline outcome, age, sex, and ethnicity) |
At 24 weeks, significant differences for BMI, BMI Z-score, and body fat percentage were found in EG vs. CG. No statistically significant interactions were observed between the treatment and any subgroups across all regression models (p = 0.36 to 0.93). |
| [41] | Group-RCT Duration: 6 months |
N = 64 (intervention n = 32, control n = 32) Male children, between 9 and 10 years old, from an elementary school in Italy Intervention: 45 min exergaming sessions (Kinect Adventures) 3 times a week + supplementary physical activity outside the regular school program |
BMI (-1.6 in EG vs 0 in CG), body weight (-2.3 in EG vs +1 in CG), and relative fat mass, (-1.7 in EG vs, +0.5 in CG) showed a significant reduction (all p < 0.001). Significant improvement of aerobic fitness (+80.51 ± 10.66 m in EG, p = 0.004 vs + 10.4 2.59 m in CG, p = 0.485) and flexibility (+75 % in EG vs + 28 % in CG (p < 0.001) was observed. No significant improvement in standing long jump test was found (150.20 ± 6.1 cm in EG vs 149.92 ± 6.8 cm in CG, p > 0.05). No sustained children enjoyment after 20 weeks. |
| [43] | Longitudinal observational multicenter study. Duration: 6 months. |
N = 357 adolescents (13–16 years) from 4 European countries (Italy, UK, Spain, Netherlands) Mobile app “e-Diary” for real-time food tracking, gamification features, notifications, personalized suggestions, visual feedback and dietary indices. |
Both fruit and vegetable intake significantly increased (p < 0.0001 and p = 0.0087, respectively) Adolescents with app usage >2 weeks demonstrated significantly higher odds of breakfast consumption adherence over the study duration (aOR 2.5, 95 % CI 1.0–6.3). A higher engagement among females (aOR 3.8, 95 % CI 1.6–8.8), participants 14-year-olds (aOR 5.1, 95 % CI 1.4–18.8), and adolescents with self-reported good health (aOR 4.2, 95 % CI 1.3–13.3) was found. |
Abbreviations: aOR, adjusted odds ratio; BMI, body mass index; CG: control group; EG: experimental group; RCT, Randomized controlled trial.