Public health interventions for the prevention and management of overweight and obesity in children and adolescents: a rapid review.

BACKGROUND: Overweight and obesity among children and adolescents have become major global public health concerns. Given the critical role of childhood and adolescence in the development of lifelong health behaviors, identifying effective intervention strategies for obesity prevention and management is essential. This rapid review aimed to synthesize evidence from systematic reviews evaluating interventions for the prevention and management of overweight and obesity among children and adolescents. METHODS: The review protocol was registered with PROSPERO (CRD420261281992) and conducted in accordance with PRISMA 2020 guidelines. A literature search of the PubMed database was performed to identify systematic reviews and meta-analyses published between January 2015 and 29 July 2026. Eligible reviews included interventions targeting children and adolescents aged 0-19 years. Methodological quality was assessed using AMSTAR 2. Findings were synthesized narratively according to intervention type and categorized as prevention, management, or combined approaches. RESULTS: Of the 765 records identified, 77 systematic reviews, including 51 meta-analyses, met the inclusion criteria. Interventions included dietary, physical activity, behavioral/educational, digital health, nutraceutical, and multicomponent approaches. Multicomponent interventions integrating dietary, physical activity, and behavioral strategies demonstrated the most consistent effectiveness in improving anthropometric outcomes among children and adolescents. Family involvement, school-based delivery, and interventions initiated during early childhood appeared to enhance effectiveness. In contrast, single-component interventions showed mixed or limited effects. Digital health interventions demonstrated variable effectiveness, while evidence related to environmental and policy-level determinants remained limited. Methodological assessment indicated that most included reviews were of low or critically low quality, with only seven reviews rated as high quality. CONCLUSION: Multicomponent interventions combining dietary, physical activity, and behavioral strategies appear to be the most effective approaches for preventing and managing overweight and obesity among children and adolescents. However, substantial methodological limitations and heterogeneity across studies warrant cautious interpretation of findings. Future research should prioritize rigorous, high-quality multicomponent studies incorporating environmental and contextual determinants to support sustainable and scalable public health interventions.