Digital Health Interventions May Improve Physical Activity in Children With Obesity

Digital health interventions were associated with small to moderate improvements in physical activity.

Childhood obesity is a growing global health concern, with physical inactivity being an important contributing factor. Digital health interventions (DHIs) may offer a practical way to encourage physical activity (PA) among children and adolescents with obesity. An umbrella review published in Pediatric Research evaluated the effectiveness of DHIs in improving PA and examined whether these benefits could be sustained over time.

The review included 9 systematic reviews identified from 5 databases. The included reviews assessed different types of DHIs targeting PA in children and adolescents with obesity. Overall, DHIs were associated with small to moderate improvements in PA. Text messaging showed a modest effect based on meta-analytic evidence (SMD 1.011; 95% CI 0.251–1.771). Exergaming interventions also showed favorable effects in the narrative syntheses, suggesting that interactive digital approaches may help encourage greater physical activity.

However, evidence on the sustainability of these improvements was limited. The quality of the available evidence was also a concern, with 7 of the 9 included reviews rated as critically low quality.

Overall, DHIs may help improve physical activity among children and adolescents with obesity. However, the current evidence is limited by the quality of the underlying reviews and the lack of data on whether improvements in physical activity are maintained over the long term.

(Reference: Yabinze B, Okoroafor S, Walsh M, Powell D, Barbosa A, Whiting S, Mendes R, Smith BH, Leese C. Digital health interventions for physical activity in children and adolescents with obesity: umbrella review. Pediatric Research. 2026 May 22:1-1.)