Targeted dietary approaches for the management of obesity and severe obesity in children and adolescents: A systematic review and meta‐analysis

Summary There is a need for a detailed understanding of effective dietary interventions for children with obesity. This systematic review examined the effectiveness of diets of varying energy content as a component of weight treatment in children and adolescents with obesity, severe obesity and obesity‐related comorbidity. A systematic search of six databases, from 2000 to 2021, for intervention studies of targeted dietary treatment for obesity in children aged 2–18 years identified 125 studies. Dietary interventions were grouped according to diet type and energy target. Risk of bias was assessed using the Effective Public Healthcare Panacea Project assessment tool. Meta‐analysis examined change in body mass index (BMI) at intervention end. A broad array of diet types were effective at reducing BMI in children with obesity. When dietary types were considered by energy target, a gradient effect was observed. Very‐low energy diets were most effective with a − 4.40 kg/m 2 ( n = 3; 95% CI –7.01 to −1.79). While dietary interventions with no specified energy target were ineffective, resulting in a BMI gain of +0.17 kg/m 2 ( n = 22; 95% CI 0.05 to 0.40). Practical definitions of dietary energy target in the management of obesity and severe obesity are urgently required to ensure treatment seeking children have timely access to efficacious interventions.