Effects of weighted vest on bone health and body fat in middle-aged and older adults: a systematic review and meta-analysis
Authors' conclusion
Vest plus exercise improves BMD and reduces adiposity versus usual activity. As an exercise adjunct, it yields additional fat loss without confirmed skeletal benefit, based on limited data.
Study context
- Population
- Middle-aged and older adults
- Participants
- 368 participants9 RCTs
- Comparison
- Weighted vest plus exercise vs usual activity and vs exercise alone
- Outcome
- BMD and body fat mass
Methodological detailsfixed-effect models where feasible, GRADE certainty assessment, Searched PubMed, Embase, Cochrane Library, Web of Science, Scopus from inception to March 9, 2026, plus manual searches
- Fixed-effect models where feasible
- GRADE certainty assessment
- Searched PubMed, Embase, Cochrane Library, Web of Science, Scopus from inception to March 9, 2026, plus manual searches
Pooled result
As reported in the abstract
Estimate (95% CI)P value
Vest plus exercisevs Usual activityI2 = 37%
SMD (femoral neck BMD) 0.59(0.05–1.13)
P = 0.03Vest plus exercisevs Usual activityI2 = 0%
SMD (lumbar spine BMD) 0.73(0.29–1.16)
P = 0.001MD (body fat mass), kg (95% CI)P value
Vest plus exercisevs Usual activity
−2.67(−4.08 to −1.27)
P = 0.0002Vest plus exercisevs Exercise alone
−0.73(−1.20 to −0.27)
P = 0.002Original publication
Effects of weighted vest on bone health and body fat in middle-aged and older adults: a systematic review and meta-analysis. Osteoporos Int. Published 14 August 2026. doi:10.
Composed by AI from the published abstract and checked against it. How Briefs are made →