Effects of different exercise interventions on inhibitory control in overweight and obese children and adolescents: a systematic review and network meta-analysis

Background The inhibitory control deficits of overweight and obese children and adolescents can negatively impact their cognitive development and metabolic health. Exercise therapy has gradually become a widely used intervention to improve inhibitory control deficits. Some studies have focused on the relationship between exercise interventions and inhibitory control in overweight and obese children and adolescents. However, the existing studies fail to develop sufficient evidence-based foundations, making it difficult to pick the optimal solution among numerous exercise interventions. Therefore, this study aims to compare and rank different exercise interventions to identify the best intervention method for improving inhibitory control in overweight and obese children and adolescents. Methods We searched eight databases, including PubMed, Embase, Cochrane Library, Web of Science, ProQuest, CNKI, Wanfang, and VIP, to find randomized controlled trials (RCTs) on the impact of exercise interventions on inhibitory control in overweight and obese children and adolescents. The search covered all literature from the establishment of the databases up to March 20, 2025. Two researchers performed literature screening, data extraction, and quality assessment independently. Network meta-analysis was conducted using Stata 17.0. Results A total of 17 studies were included in this analysis. The results showed that cognitively engaging physical activities had the most significant effect on improving inhibitory control in overweight and obese children and adolescents (SUCRA = 85.5%). This was followed by aerobic exercise (SUCRA = 81.4%). Coordination exercises (SUCRA = 67.9%) ranked third and acute exercise (SUCRA = 65.3%) fourth. Conclusions Our study indicates that cognitively engaging physical activities and aerobic exercise have better performance on improving inhibitory control in overweight and obese children and adolescents. Moreover, although the effectiveness of exercise interventions has been confirmed, how to help subjects establish healthy behavioral habits through behavioral incentive strategies remains a key challenge in clinical practice.