Pharmacotherapy for Children and Adolescents With Overweight or Obesity: A Systematic Review and Network Meta‐Analysis of Randomized Controlled Trials
Authors' conclusion
Both semaglutide and phentermine-topiramate were closely linked to weight management
Study context
- Population
- Children and adolescents with overweight or obesity
- Participants
- 3,923 children41 randomized controlled trials (RCTs)
- Comparison
- Pharmacologic interventions as adjuncts to lifestyle therapy vs lifestyle modification alone
- Outcome
- Reduction in 95th BMI percentile
Methodological detailsfrequentist, random-effects model, GRADE certainty assessment, Searches of PubMed, Embase, Cochrane Library (CENTRAL), WHO International Clinical Trials Registry Platform (ICTRP) and ClinicalTrials.gov from inception to July 28, 2025
- Frequentist
- Random-effects model
- GRADE certainty assessment
- Searches of PubMed, Embase, Cochrane Library (CENTRAL), WHO ICTRP and ClinicalTrials.gov from inception to July 28, 2025
Pooled result
As reported in the abstract
Each group vs lifestyle modification aloneMD, % (95% CI)
Semaglutide
−20.40(−24.22 to −16.58)
Phentermine-topiramate
−18.35(−22.26 to −14.45)
Further pooled results
Additional responders achieving ≥ 5% and ≥ 10% BMI reduction vs lifestyle modification alone
- Semaglutide: additional patients per 1000 person-years achieving ≥ 5% BMI reduction
- 500
- Semaglutide: additional patients per 1000 person-years achieving ≥ 10% BMI reduction
- 399
- Phentermine-topiramate: additional responders per 1000 person-years (≥ 5% BMI reduction)
- 554
- Phentermine-topiramate: additional responders per 1000 person-years (≥ 10% BMI reduction)
- 734
Original publication
Pharmacotherapy for Children and Adolescents With Overweight or Obesity: A Systematic Review and Network Meta‐Analysis of Randomized Controlled Trials. Diabetes Obes Metab. Published 17 June 2026. doi:10.
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