Leveraging Telemedicine to Manage Adolescent Obesity: A Systematic Literature Review

Obesity and adolescent obesity are international problems that have increased three-fold since 1975. Adolescent obesity is highly correlated with long-term health consequences. Sedentism and diet are mostly to blame for this condition. Telemedicine offers solutions, but other systematic reviews do not link telemedicine efforts to health outcomes. The objective of this systematic literature review is to analyze the effectiveness of telemedicine interventions in adolescent obesity through analysis of data over the last 10 years internationally. Adolescents were defined as ages 10 to 19. Interventions of telemedicine included mHealth, eHealth, and video conferencing.

Four research databases were queried with a Boolean search string. The systematic literature review was conducted in accordance with a published protocol and reported in accordance with PRISMA (2020). Research articles were accepted if they used a telemedicine intervention to address adolescent obesity.

Three interventions (mHealth, eHealth, and video call) were identified in 17 RCTs that originated in nine countries. Interventions reported improvements in BMI, zBMI, weight loss, waist and hip circumference, physical activity, cholesterol, low-density lipoprotein, triglycerides, fasting blood sugar, symptoms of food addiction, health knowledge, muscle mass, strength, agility, body fat, behavior change, adherence to weight-loss programs, life perspectives, global lifestyles, nutrition, psychological impacts, stress, and depression.

Telemedicine offers interventions in the management of adolescent obesity that address both physical and mental health, however, not all interventions reported statistically significant or long-term results. Successful designs engaged parents, the school system, and adolescents through mHealth and eHealth apps.