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

Effects of different exercise interventions on inhibitory control in overweight and obese children and adolescents: a systematic review and network meta-analysis | Research Square window.SnipcartSettings = { analytics: { enabled: false } }; (function() { var accessVector = localStorage.getItem('access_vector') || ''; window.dataLayer = window.dataLayer || []; if (accessVector) { window.dataLayer.push({ user: { profile: { profileInfo: { snid: accessVector } } } }); } })(); (function(w,d,s,l,i){w[l]=w[l]||[];w[l].push({'gtm.start':new Date().getTime(),event:'gtm.js'});var f=d.getElementsByTagName(s)[0],j=d.createElement(s),dl=l!='dataLayer'?'&l='+l:'';j.async=true;j.src='https://www.googletagmanager.com/gtm.js?id='+i+dl;f.parentNode.insertBefore(j,f);})(window,document,'script','dataLayer','GTM-K279D39R'); Browse Preprints In Review Journals COVID-19 Preprints AJE Video Bytes Research Tools Research Promotion AJE Professional Editing AJE Rubriq About Preprint Platform In Review Editorial Policies Our Team Advisory Board Help Center Sign In Submit a Preprint Cite Share Download PDF Research Article Effects of different exercise interventions on inhibitory control in overweight and obese children and adolescents: a systematic review and network meta-analysis Pengfei Wang, Yuhan Zhao, Jinrong He, Zhuo Chen, Lei He, Dong Li This is a preprint; it has not been peer reviewed by a journal. https://doi.org/ 10.21203/rs.3.rs-6729483/v1 This work is licensed under a CC BY 4.0 License Status: Posted Version 1 posted You are reading this latest preprint version Abstract 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. Exercise Overweight and Obese Children and Adolescents Inhibitory Control Network Meta-Analysis Figures Figure 1 Figure 2 Figure 3 Figure 4 Figure 5 what is known The benefits of exercise interventions on inhibitory control in overweight and obese children and adolescents have been confirmed. Previous meta-analyses failed to provide conclusive evidence demonstrating which type of exercise intervention has the optimal effect on improving inhibitory control in overweight and obese children and adolescents. what is new: Cognitively engaging physical activities, aerobic exercises, coordination exercises, and acute exercises all significantly improve inhibitory control in overweight and obese children and adolescents. Cognitively engaging physical activities are the best intervention method for improving inhibitory control in overweight and obese children and adolescents. We recommend appropriately selecting cognitively engaging physical activities or aerobic exercises as intervention methods to treat inhibitory control deficits, based on the physical and mental conditions of overweight and obese children and adolescents. 1 Introduction In recent years, with changes in lifestyle and the prevalence of unhealthy dietary habits, the issues of overweight and obesity among children and adolescents have become increasingly severe. According to the World Health Organization, as of 2022, over 390 million children and adolescents aged 5 to 19 worldwide are overweight, of whom 160 million are obese[ 1 ]. In 1990, there were only 31 million obese children and adolescents, indicating a more than fivefold increase in just over three decades. In August 2024, a study from JAMA Pediatrics showed that, as of 2023, the obesity prevalence among children and adolescents was approximately 8.5%, and the overweight prevalence was about 14.8%, which suggests that one in every five children or adolescents is at risk of being overweight[ 2 ]. In March 2025, a study from The Lancet predicted that between 2022 and 2030, the absolute proportion of obese people worldwide will see a significant increase compared to previous years, and this increasing trend will continue from 2031 to 2050[ 3 ]. It is expected that by 2050, the probability of obesity among the 5–14 age group will increase to 15.6%, with the number reaching 186 million. Overweight and obesity not only increase the risk of chronic diseases (e.g., diabetes, asthma, hypertension, fatty liver, etc.) in children and adolescents but also have negative impacts on their executive functions[ 4 , 5 ]. Executive function has a multidimensional structure, and inhibitory control is one of its core components, primarily referring to the ability to inhibit impulsive or automatic (dominant) responses during cognitive activities[ 6 ]. Studies have shown that overweight and obese children and adolescents exhibit significant deficits in inhibitory control compared to normal-weight individuals[ 7 ]. Additionally, research indicates a correlation between poor inhibitory control and higher BMI[ 8 ]. Guxens et al., through a longitudinal study, found that low executive function at age 4 is closely related to high BMI at age 6, while children with better executive function at age 4 do not have the risk of being overweight[ 9 ]. This may suggest that executive function deficit is the key factor leading to overweight and obesity. When executive function deficits occur, especially in inhibitory control, behaviors related to obesity may be induced, such as disordered eating behaviors, reduced physical activity, and increased sedentary behavior[ 10 – 12 ]. Mamrot et al.'s research also mentioned that inhibitory control is the executive function dimension with the greatest potential for application.[ 8 ]. Therefore, in clinical interventions, improving inhibitory control in this population should be a focus. As a non-pharmacological therapy, exercise intervention has shown promising prospects in improving inhibitory control among overweight and obese children and adolescents. Previous meta-analysis have also confirmed the positive impact of exercise interventions on inhibitory control[ 13 , 14 ]. However, these studies have not delved into the intervention effects of different types of exercise. For example, aerobic exercise (AE) and coordination exercise (CE) may exert effects through different molecular mechanisms, leading to different effect sizes (e.g., AE: standard mean difference [SMD] = − 1.04; CE: SMD = − 0.81). Therefore, exercise type is an important factor that needs to be considered in clinical interventions. However, comparative studies on the effectiveness of different types of exercise interventions are still relatively lacking. This study aims to conduct a systematic review and network meta-analysis (NMA) to compare the effects of different types of exercise interventions on inhibitory control in overweight and obese children and adolescents. By integrating direct and indirect evidence, NMA can comprehensively evaluate the relative efficacy of multiple interventions and rank their effectiveness based on their efficacy. Even in the absence of direct comparisons between two interventions, NMA can calculate the relative efficacy of each intervention through indirect comparisons. This is an advantage of NMA over traditional meta-analysis. Based on this, we can identify the most suitable exercise interventions for improving inhibitory control in this population, providing scientific and systematic references and guidance for clinical interventions. 2 Materials and Methods 2.1 Protocol and registration This systematic review and meta-analysis were conducted in accordance with the Cochrane Handbook for Systematic Reviews of Interventions and reported following the PRISMA guidelines[ 15 , 16 ]. The study protocol has been registered in PROSPERO (CRD420251004101). 2.2 Data sources and search strategy To explore the relationship between exercise interventions and inhibitory control in overweight and obese children and adolescents, a comprehensive search was conducted in the following eight databases: PubMed, Embase, Cochrane Library, Web of Science, ProQuest, CNKI, Wanfang, and VIP. The search covered all literature from the inception of the databases up to March 20, 2025. Based on the PICO (Population, Intervention, Comparison, Outcome) framework, the following keywords were used for search: "exercise" or "exercises" or "physical activity" or "physical activities" or "sport" or "taijiquan" or "dancing" or "cycling" or "swimming" or "jogging" or "aerobics" or "training" or "trainings" or "walking" or "ambulation" or "qigong" or "baduanjin" or "resistance" or "stair climbing" or "HIIT" or "high intensity interval training" or "plyometric drills" or "athletics" or "treadmill" or "pilates" or "stretching" or "physically active" or "biking" or "anaerobic" or "strength training" or "resistance training" or "weight training" or "running" or "wuqinxi" or "yijinjing" or "yoga" or "ball" or "soccer" or "football" or "basketball" or "ping pong" or "badminton" or "tennis" or "baseball" or "volleyball" or "softball" or "racket sport" or "racquetball" and "executive function" or "inhibitory control" or "executive control" or "cognitive function" or "cognition" or "response inhibition" or "inhibition" or "interference control" and "overweight" or "obesity" or "obese" or "excess weight" or "body mass index" or "body fat" or "weight gain" or "fat accumulation" or "high body weight" or "excess body weight" and "child" or "children" or "adolescent" or "teen" or "teenager" or "youth". Detailed search strategies are provided in Appendix B . 2.3 Study selection After completing the literature search, two members of the research team (PFW and DL) independently conducted the literature screening. First, they reviewed the titles and abstracts of the articles to preliminarily identify potentially relevant studies. Subsequently, they performed detailed full-text reading and evaluation of articles highly relevant to the research topic. Finally, studies that met the inclusion criteria were selected for statistical analysis. In cases of disagreement during the screening process, resolutions were achieved through group discussions to reach a consensus. 2.4 Inclusion and exclusion criteria Inclusion criteria for the literature were as follows: (1) Participants in the sample were under 19 years of age and met the criteria for being overweight or obese for their age group. (2) The intervention consisted of various types of exercise or physical activity. (3) The study design was a randomized controlled trials (RCTs). (4) Measurements related to inhibitory control were reported both before and after the intervention. (5) The study provided original data. (6) The study was written in English or Chinese. Exclusion criteria for the literature were as follows: (1) Participants over 19 years old. (2) Non-overweight or non-obese populations. (3) Interventions that did not include exercise or physical activity. (4) There was no reporting on inhibitory control outcomes. (5) The study type was a review, conference paper, conference abstract, qualitative research, etc. (6) Study designs other than RCTs, including non-randomized controlled trials, cross-sectional studies, case-control studies, and cohort studies. (7) Original data were not provided. (8) The study was written in languages other than Chinese or English. 2.5 Data extraction Two researchers (PFW and DL) extracted the trial data independently, resolving any disagreements through group discussion. Extracted information included: (1) Descriptive information: first author, year of publication. (2) Participant characteristics: sample size, age, gender distribution. (3) Intervention details: duration, frequency, session length, type of exercise. (4) Outcome measures: indices related to inhibitory control. 2.6 Quality Assessment The quality assessment of this study was performed using the Risk of Bias 2 (ROB 2) developed by the Cochrane Collaboration. Two researchers (PFW and DL) completed the assessments independently and cross-checked the results. Disagreements were resolved through group discussion to reach a consensus. The ROB 2 tool assesses the risk of bias in RCTs across five domains: (1) Randomization process; (2) Deviation from intended interventions; (3) Missing outcome data; (4) Outcome measurement; (5) Selection of the reported result. We categorized the overall risk of bias for each study as low risk, high risk, or having some concerns. 2.7 Statistical analysis Statistical analyses were conducted using Stata 17.0 software within a frequentist framework. Network diagrams were plotted to visualize the comparisons. The outcome indicators in the included studies were continuous variables, but the assessment tools varied slightly among studies. Therefore, standardized mean difference (SMD) combined with 95% confidence intervals (CI) was used as the effect size for pooling the data. Global inconsistency was tested to evaluate the agreement between direct and indirect comparisons of interventions. When the test indicated that the direct and indirect comparisons were consistent (P > 0.05), a consistency model was employed for analysis. In the network diagram, each node represents an intervention, and the size of the node corresponds to the sample size. Lines between nodes represent direct comparisons between two interventions, and the thickness of the lines indicates the number of comparisons—the thicker the line, the more comparisons conducted. To rank the effectiveness of different exercise interventions, we calculated the Surface Under the Cumulative Ranking curve (SUCRA) and presented the probability rankings in a table[ 17 ]. SUCRA values are expressed as percentages, and a higher percentage indicates a better intervention effect. In this study, publication bias was assessed visually using funnel plots and quantitatively using Egger's test, with P = 0.05 set as the threshold; P > 0.05 indicates no publication bias, whereas P < 0.05 suggests the presence of publication bias. 3 Results 3.1 Trial selection To ensure the accuracy of the literature search and screening process, two researchers specializing in cognitive development and exercise science in children and adolescents reviewed the titles, abstracts, and full texts independently. Cohen's kappa coefficients were used to calculate the consistency at the title/abstract and the full-text screening stage, with agreement levels categorized as moderate agreement (0.40–0.59), good agreement (0.60–0.74), and excellent agreement (> 0.75)[ 18 ]. We systematically searched eight Chinese and English databases from their inception to March 20, 2025. The initial search yielded 5,853 articles. After removing 1,807 duplicates, 4,046 relevant articles remained. Two reviewers performed preliminary screening based on titles and abstracts, excluding 3,988 articles, resulting in 58 articles for full-text review. Two reviewers achieved a "good agreement” at this stage (Cohen's kappa = 0.72). After full-text review, 41 articles were further excluded: 7 were non-randomized controlled trials, 3 had non-conforming interventions, 4 full texts were unobtainable, 10 did not meet the outcome criteria, 2 had non-conforming study populations, and 15 had incomplete data. Ultimately, 17 studies were included in the quantitative analysis (Fig. 1 ). The reviewers achieved an "excellent agreement " at this stage (Cohen's kappa = 0.77). 3.2 Trial characteristics Table 1 shows the characteristics of the 17 included studies. These studies were published between 2014 and 2024. The sample sizes of the experimental groups ranged from 18 to 93 participants, while the control groups ranged from 18 to 91 participants. The ages of participants in both groups ranged from 8 to 15. The participants were predominantly male. The average duration of chronic exercise interventions was 17 weeks (ranging from 4 weeks to 52 weeks), with 2 to 7 sessions per week; the most common frequency was 3 times per week. The duration of a single intervention session ranged from 30 minutes to 300 minutes, with 40 minutes being the most common. The duration of acute exercise interventions ranged from 20 minutes to 40 minutes, most commonly 30 minutes. Exercise interventions included acute exercise[ 19 – 22 ], aerobic exercise[ 23 , 24 ], exercise combined with family intervention[ 25 , 26 ], mixed exercise[ 27 – 29 ](a combination of two or more types of exercise), cognitively engaging physical activities[ 30 – 33 ], and coordination exercise[ 34 , 35 ]. To measure inhibitory control, 8 studies used the flanker task[ 21 – 24 , 29 , 30 , 33 , 35 ], another 8 used the Stroop test[ 19 , 20 , 25 , 27 , 28 , 31 , 32 , 34 ], and only one study used the color-word conflict task[ 26 ]. Table 1 Summary table of included reviews. Study Sample size Gender (M/F) Age (year) Intervention Outcome diagnostics IG CG IG CG IG CG Intervention content Intervention time, frequency, period Type Intervention content Intervention time, frequency, period Type Li HY et al.,2022 40 40 40/40 IG1:10.50 ± 0.51 IG2:10.40 ± 0.50 CG1:10.30 ± 0.73 CG2:10.20 ± 0.70 Basketball dribbling training + rope skipping IG1:20 mins/ 1 session IG2:40 mins/ 1 session Acute exercise NI NR No exercise intervention Flanker test Shang N et al.,2020 26 26 34/18 NR NR Open motor skill exercise 60 min, 3 weekly, 8 weeks Cognitively engaging physical activity Regular physical activity 50–60 min, 3 weekly, 8 weeks Regular physical activity Flanker test Ortega FB et al.,2022 47 43 NR 9.99 ± 1.13 10.10 ± 1.13 Aerobic exercise + resistance training 90 min, 3–5 weekly, 20 weeks Mixed exercise Regular physical activity 50–55 min, 2 weekly, 20 weeks Regular physical activity Stroop test Xiang MQ et al., 2019 18 18 20/16 12.50 ± 1.92 13.28 ± 0.83 Aerobic exercise + ball exercise + outdoor training + yoga + resistance training 300 min, 6 weekly, 6 week Mixed exercise NI NR No exercise intervention Stroop test Logan NE et al.,2020 56 47 45/58 8.73 ± 0.51 8.82 ± 0.54 Bodybuilding + dancing + motor skill exercise + mini-games 120 min, 5 weekly, 36 weeks Mixed exercise NI NR No exercise intervention Flanker test Liu JH et al.,2017 35 35 40/30 13.94 ± 0.94 14.17 ± 0.71 Rope skipping 75 min, 2 weekly, 12 weeks Coordination exercise NI NR No exercise intervention Stroop test Zhang L et al.,2022 48 24 57/15 IG1:11.58 ± 1.14 IG2:11.71 ± 1.16 11.38 ± 0.77 IG1:HIIE IG2:HICE 30 mins/ 1 session Acute exercise Watching cartoons 30 mins/ 1 session No exercise intervention Stroop test Zhang L et al.,2020 19 19 18/20 14.60 ± 0.50 14.65 ± 0.49 Rope skipping 30 mins/ 1 session Acute exercise Reading 30 mins/ 1 session No exercise intervention Stroop test Krafft CE et al.,2014 23 17 15/28 9.7 ± 0.8 9.9 ± 0.9 Aerobic exercise 40 min, 5 weekly, 32 weeks Aerobic exercise Sedentary activities NR No exercise intervention Flanker task Huang T et al.,2015 48 38 NR 12.0 ± 0.4 12.0 ± 0.4 Exercise intervention + family intervention Exercise intervention:7weekly, 6weeks family intervention :46 weeks Exercise combined with family intervention Regular physical activity 120 min, 1 weekly, 6 weeks Regular physical activity Stroop test Chou CC et al.,2020 44 40 52/32 12.30 ± 0.66 12.08 ± 0.69 Running games + rope skipping games + ball games 40 min, 3 weekly, 8 weeks Cognitively engaging physical activity Regular physical activity 40 min, 3 weekly, 8 week Regular physical activity Stroop test Chou CC et al.,2023 50 25 36/39 IG1:11.00 ± 0.64 IG2:11.37 ± 0.58 11.32 ± 0.54 IG1:Running games + rope skipping games + ball games IG2:Running games + rope skipping games + ball games + Reading 40 min, 5 weekly, 10 weeks Cognitively engaging physical activity Sedentary activities 40 min, 5 weekly, 10 weeks No exercise intervention Stroop test Xie DD,2020 60 20 40/40 IG1:9.75 ± 0.64 IG2:9.75 ± 0.64 IG3:9.65 ± 0.67 9.90 ± 0.72 Basketball dribbling training + skipping rope IG1:40 mins/ 1 session IG2:30 mins/ 1 session IG3:20 mins/ 1 session Acute exercise Self-study in the classroom 40 mins/ 1 session No exercise intervention Flanker task Liu XF,2023 30 30 30/30 7.53 ± 0.43 7.42 ± 0.42 Basketball games 35–40 min, 4 weekly, 10 weeks Cognitively engaging physical activity Basketball training 35–40 min, 4 weekly, 10 weeks Aerobic exercise Flanker task Zhu HL,2022 20 20 20/20 10.75 ± 0.85 10.55 ± 0.76 Basketball training 40 min, 3 weekly, 8 weeks Aerobic exercise Regular physical activity 40 min, 3 weekly, 8 weeks Regular physical activity Flanker task Liu Q,2024 93 91 NR 9.75 ± 1.13 9.72 ± 1.18 Exercise intervention + family intervention 40 min, 3 weekly, 12 weeks; 30 min, 3 weekly, 12 weeks Exercise combined with family intervention NI NR No exercise intervention Color-word conflict task Zeng LB,2022 25 25 25/25 13.72 ± 0.94 13.68 ± 1.03 Martial arts training 60 min, 6 weekly, 4 weeks Coordination exercise Aerobics training + ball exercise + resistance training + tabata + rope ladder combination training + sports games 60 min, 6 weekly, 4 weeks Mixed exercise Flanker task IG, intervention group; CG, control group; NR, no report; NI, no intervention; M, male; F, female. 3.3 Risk of bias We used ROB 2.0 to assess the quality of the included studies, evaluating the overall risk of bias for each study. Since all the included studies were related to exercise interventions, it was nearly impossible to blind participants and researchers in the "deviations from intended interventions" domain. Therefore, all studies were assessed as having some concerns or high risk in this aspect. Among the 17 studies, 4 were classified as having low overall risk of bias, 2 as high overall risk of bias, and 11 as having some concerns. Figure 2 shows the methodological quality distribution of the included studies, with detailed bias assessments for each study provided in the Appendix C . 3.4 Network meta-analysis To evaluate inconsistency across the entire network, we conducted a global inconsistency test. The results showed no significant inconsistency in the overall network (p = 0.4198 > 0.05). Therefore, we used a consistency model for analysis. Figure 3 presents the network meta-analysis diagram. Interventions with larger sample sizes included no exercise intervention, regular physical activity, acute exercise, mixed exercise, and cognitively engaging physical activities. The most common comparisons involved acute exercise versus no exercise intervention, mixed exercise versus no exercise intervention, cognitively engaging physical activities versus no exercise intervention, and cognitively engaging physical activities versus regular physical activity. This study presents the changes in inhibitory control after various exercise interventions. The SMD with 95% CI was used as the effect size measure. It is worth noting that all measurement tools used reaction time as the evaluation criterion, which means that a lower effect size corresponds to greater improvement. As shown in Table 2 , pairwise comparison results indicate that, compared with regular physical activity, cognitively engaging physical activities [SMD=-1.07, 95% CI=(-1.57, -0.56)], aerobic exercise [SMD=-1.04, 95% CI=(-1.77, -0.31)], coordination exercise [SMD=-0.81, 95% CI=(-1.58, -0.04)], and acute exercise [SMD=-0.78, 95% CI=(-1.45, -0.11)] all showed significant improvement effects. Except for coordination exercise, cognitively engaging physical activities [SMD=-0.85, 95% CI=(-1.34, -0.36)], aerobic exercise [SMD=-0.82, 95% CI=(-1.54, -0.11)], and acute exercise [SMD=-0.56, 95% CI=(-1.00, -0.13)] also showed significant improvement compared with no exercise intervention. Additionally, cognitively engaging physical activities [SMD=-0.73, 95% CI=(-1.35, -0.11)] demonstrated significant improvement compared to mixed exercise. Exercise combined with family intervention showed improvement [SMD=-0.52, 95% CI=(-1.13, 0.08)], but it was not statistically significant. Table 2 League table on interventions. CEPA Aerobic exercise Coordination exercise Acute exercise ECFI Mixed exercise No exercise intervention Regular physical activity CEPA 0.03 (-0.77,0.83) 0.26 (-0.52,1.04) 0.29 (-0.37,0.94) 0.54 (-0.14,1.23) 0.73 (0.11,1.35) 0.85 (0.36,1.34) 1.07 (0.56,1.57) -0.03 (-0.83,0.77) Aerobic exercise 0.23 (-0.71,1.17) 0.26 (-0.57,1.09) 0.52 (-0.35,1.38) 0.70 (-0.11,1.51) 0.82 (0.11,1.54) 1.04 (0.31,1.77) -0.26 (-1.04,0.52) -0.23 (-1.17,0.71) Coordination exercise 0.03 (-0.74,0.80) 0.29 (-0.56,1.13) 0.47 (-0.18,1.12) 0.59 (-0.05,1.23) 0.81 (0.04,1.58) -0.29 (-0.94,0.37) -0.26 (-1.09,0.57) -0.03 (-0.80,0.74) Acute exercise 0.26 (-0.47,0.99) 0.44 (-0.20,1.08) 0.56 (0.13,1.00) 0.78 (0.11,1.45) -0.54 (-1.23,0.14) -0.52 (-1.38,0.35) -0.29 (-1.13,0.56) -0.26 (-0.99,0.47) ECFI 0.18 (-0.52,0.89) 0.31 (-0.28,0.89) 0.52 (-0.08,1.13) -0.73 (-1.35,-0.11) -0.70 (-1.51,0.11) -0.47 (-1.12,0.18) -0.44 (-1.08,0.20) -0.18 (-0.89,0.52) Mixed exercise 0.12 (-0.35,0.60) 0.34 (-0.23,0.91) -0.85 (-1.34,-0.36) -0.82 (-1.54,-0.11) -0.59 (-1.23,0.05) -0.56 (-1.00,-0.13) -0.31 (-0.89,0.28) -0.12 (-0.60,0.35) No exercise intervention 0.21 (-0.29,0.72) -1.07 (-1.57,-0.56) -1.04 (-1.77,-0.31) -0.81 (-1.58,-0.04) -0.78 (-1.45,-0.11) -0.52 (-1.13,0.08) -0.34 (-0.91,0.23) -0.21 (-0.72,0.29) Regular physical activity CEPA, Cognitively engaging physical activity; ECFI, Exercise combined with family intervention; The bold values represent the signify statistical significance. In terms of the probability of different interventions affecting inhibitory control, according to the SUCRA index, cognitively engaging physical activities ranked first (SUCRA = 85.5%), followed by aerobic exercise (SUCRA = 81.4%). Coordination exercise (SUCRA = 67.9%) ranked third, and acute exercise fourth (SUCRA = 65.3%). Details are shown in Fig. 4 . 3.5 Publication bias As shown in Fig. 5 , we first used a funnel plot to assess publication bias. The distribution of studies in the funnel plot was roughly symmetrical, and visual inspection did not reveal obvious signs of publication bias. Subsequently, we performed Egger's test, and the results also showed no significant bias (p = 0.1169). See the Appendix D for details. 4. Discussion This study used a network meta-analysis to evaluate the effects of different exercise interventions on inhibitory control in overweight and obese children and adolescents. The results showed that different exercise interventions have varying effects on improving inhibitory control in this population, and not all exercise interventions can significantly impact their inhibitory control. Specifically, cognitively engaging physical activities, aerobic exercise, coordination exercise, and acute exercise have significant benefits in improving inhibitory control. Table 3 presents the ranking of interventions. Table 3 Ranking of SUCRA probabilities. Intervention Sucra Rank Cognitively engaging physical activity 85.5 1 Aerobic exercise 81.4 2 Coordination exercise 67.9 3 Acute exercise 65.3 4 Exercise combined with family intervention 45.7 5 Mixed exercise 29.6 6 No exercise intervention 18.7 7 Regular physical activity 5.8 8 Cognitively engaging physical activities (SUCRA = 85.5%) ranked first in improving inhibitory control among overweight and obese children and adolescents. Our findings align with previous studies. Wang et al. investigated the effects of different types of physical activities on the executive functions of healthy children and adolescents[ 36 ]. For the inhibitory control dimension, the results indicated that cognitively engaging physical activities ranked among the top two both in improving the accuracy of inhibitory control tests (SUCRA = 71.7%) and in reducing reaction time (SUCRA = 70.5%). This study demonstrated that cognitively engaging physical activities are the most effective intervention for improving inhibitory control in healthy children and adolescents. Tao et al. explored the effects of different types of physical activities on the executive functions of children and adolescents with neurodevelopmental disorders[ 37 ]. The results showed that Exergaming was the most effective intervention for improving executive functions in this population. Exergaming integrates physical movement with cognitive tasks, providing a mixed exercise environment. This is similar to traditional cognitively engaging physical activities, both emphasizing the simultaneous development of body and mind. Although inhibitory control was not separately distinguished, as an important component of executive function, the findings of that study provide a reference for our results. The mechanism by which cognitively engaging physical activities affect inhibitory control can be analyzed from physiological and psychological perspectives. Physiologically, exercise interventions can promote the release of brain-derived neurotrophic factor (BDNF), a consensus reached in numerous studies[ 38 , 39 ]. BDNF is a key neurotrophic factor commonly found in the hippocampus, cerebral cortex, and amygdala[ 40 ]. It plays an important role in regulating neuronal growth and repair, promoting neuron proliferation and survival, and enhancing synaptic plasticity and cognitive functions[ 41 , 42 ]. Exercise can also stimulate the cardiovascular system's function. Studies have shown that during moderate-intensity exercise interventions, cardiac output and skeletal muscle blood flow can increase up to 8-fold and 100-fold compared to normal levels, and cerebral blood flow can increase by 10–20% compared to the resting state[ 43 , 44 ]. When cerebral blood flow increases, executive functions can benefit accordingly[ 45 , 46 ]. In addition to these two mechanisms, exercise interventions may enhance inhibitory control functions by regulating neurotransmitter levels[ 47 , 48 ], increasing dendritic spine density[ 49 ], and reducing systemic inflammation[ 50 ]. The above physiological mechanisms are not only reflected in cognitively engaging physical activities but also play a role in interventions such as aerobic exercise. Therefore, the difference in intervention effects between cognitively engaging physical activities and other types of exercise may mainly stem from whether cognitive engagement is involved. Cognitively engaging physical activities usually have more complex task designs in practice, and such tasks can lead children and adolescents to invest more cognitive resources into the current task, which is conducive to promoting the development of inhibitory functions[ 51 ]. This view has been confirmed in both human and animal studies[ 52 , 53 ]. In addition to complex task design, variability in practice is also an important characteristic of cognitively engaging physical activities. Participants often make changes during practice based on external stimuli or changes in task goals[ 54 ]. For example, in this study, the research by Shang et al. and Chou et al. was classified as cognitively engaging physical activities[ 30 , 31 ]. They adopted open-skill exercise practice and competitive team games as interventions, which contain rich elements of variability. This variability causes participants to inhibit unreasonable actions through feedback from action execution during practice, a process that activates prefrontal regions associated with inhibitory control[ 55 , 56 ]. From a psychological perspective, cognitively engaging physical activities involve more elements of games or competitions, which can stimulate children's and adolescents' interest in exercise and provide them with positive emotional experiences. Intervention programs that can stimulate participants' interest in exercise and positive emotional experiences can promote their performance in executive function tasks[ 54 ]. Aerobic exercise (SUCRA = 81.4%) ranked second among all types of exercise interventions. Its physiological mechanism of influencing inhibitory control is roughly the same as that of cognitively engaging physical activities, except that it does not involve more cognitive engagement. Neuroimaging studies have shown that after overweight children underwent a 15-week aerobic exercise intervention, not only did their executive functions improve, but the activity of their bilateral prefrontal cortex also increased[ 57 ]. However, due to the relatively fixed practice patterns of aerobic exercise, when participants engage in multiple practices and their mastery of the exercise movements reaches an automated stage, their psychological engagement gradually weakens, and activation of the prefrontal region also decreases[ 55 , 56 ]. This may be the reason why its intervention effect is not as good as that of cognitively engaging physical activities. Coordination exercise (SUCRA = 67.9%) ranked third among all types of exercise interventions. Completing the practice of coordination exercises requires high coordination among various organs and systems in time and space in the human body, accomplishing complex movements through the mutual conversion of excitation and inhibition in neural processes. The more complex the practice movements, the more precise the coordination of excitation and inhibition processes in the cerebral cortex needs to be[ 58 , 59 ]. An event-related potential study on the effects of coordination exercise on young children's executive functions showed that both low-intensity and moderate-intensity coordination exercise can promote the development of inhibitory functions in young children[ 60 ]. Their research also speculated that coordination exercise might be an effective intervention to stimulate prefrontal cortex development in young children. Therefore, practicing coordination exercises can not only improve the neural activity performance of the central nervous system (e.g., brain neural circuits) and peripheral nervous system (e.g., neuromuscular control) but also help to improve individuals inhibitory control performance. This study shows that acute exercise can also have a significant intervention effect on inhibitory control, ranking fourth among all types of exercise interventions (SUCRA = 65.3%). However, related studies have shown that a single 15-minute continuous or interval acute exercise in healthy children can improve their inhibitory control, with the improvement taking effect within 1 minute after the exercise intervention stops, but only lasting about 30 minutes[ 61 ]. Therefore, when conditions permit, conducting chronic cognitively engaging physical activities, aerobic exercise, and coordination exercise may be better choices. In summary, this study indicates that different exercise interventions have varying degrees of impact on inhibitory control in overweight and obese children and adolescents. Cognitively engaging physical activities perform outstandingly in improving inhibitory control in this population. This training method integrates cognitive tasks into physical activities, making the exercise process more interesting and challenging, which can increase the participation enthusiasm and persistence of children and adolescents. However, for younger participants or those with poorer physical conditions, aerobic exercise may be a more suitable choice. This is because cognitively engaging physical activities often involve competition and teamwork, which may impose too much neurocognitive load on them, thereby producing negative effects on inhibitory control. Although coordination exercise can also positively influence inhibitory control, its technical movements are more difficult to master, making it challenging to achieve the intended intervention intensity, and its impact on cardiovascular health is limited. Therefore, combining coordination exercise with aerobic exercise may yield more comprehensive intervention effects. 5. Strengths and Limitations This study has several strengths. First, it is the first network meta-analysis examining the impact of exercise interventions on inhibitory control in overweight and obese children and adolescents, providing scientific references for choosing appropriate exercise interventions for this population. Second, to enhance the reliability of the results, this study included only randomized controlled trials, excluding non-randomized controlled trials, observational studies, and cross-sectional studies. Third, to ensure the accuracy of effect size synthesis, this study included only studies using reaction time as the outcome indicator. However, this network meta-analysis also has some limitations. First, due to incomplete reporting of relevant information in the original studies, we did not explore in detail the moderating effects of age and obesity degree on intervention outcomes. In addition, when classifying types of exercise interventions, we did not further subdivide the types of acute exercise. Future research can consider the following aspects. First, acute exercise can be subdivided, such as acute aerobic exercise, acute coordination exercise, acute resistance exercise, etc., and a network meta-analysis can be conducted solely on acute exercise. Second, exploring whether factors such as different ages (< 13 years and ≥ 13 years) and different degrees of obesity (BMI < 25 and ≥ 25) have moderating effects on the effectiveness of exercise interventions. Finally, investigating the optimal dose of exercise interventions on inhibitory control in overweight and obese children and adolescents, including intervention duration, frequency, session duration, and intensity, will help improve the precision of exercise interventions. 6. Conclusion This study explored the effects of different types of exercise interventions on inhibitory control in overweight and obese children and adolescents. Based on these findings, we suggest that this population consider participating in cognitively engaging physical activities or aerobic exercise to achieve better intervention effects. Additionally, 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. Abbreviations RCTs (randomized controlled trials) PRISMA (Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews and Meta-Analyses) SMD (Standardized Mean Difference) CI (confidence interval) Declarations Author Contributions All authors contributed to the study conception and design; P.W. and D.L. conceived and designed the study; P.W. and D.L. collected the data; P.W., Y.Z., J.H., Y.G. and Z.C. analyzed and interpreted the data; P.W. and D.L. drafted the manuscript; P.W. and D.L. revised the manuscript; All authors have read and agreed to the published version of the manuscript. Data Availability Statement All datasets generated for this study are included in the article/supplementary material. Ethics approval Not applicable. Consent to participate Not applicable. Consent to publish Not applicable. Conflict of interest The authors declare that the research was conducted in the absence of any commercial or financial relationships that could be construed as a potential conflict of interest. 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Tari B, Vanhie JJ, Belfry GR, Shoemaker JK, Heath M. Increased cerebral blood flow supports a single-bout postexercise benefit to executive function: evidence from hypercapnia. J Neurophysiol. 2020;124(3):930–40. Shirzad M, Tari B, Dalton C, Van Riesen J, Marsala MJ, Heath M. Passive exercise increases cerebral blood flow velocity and supports a postexercise executive function benefit. Psychophysiology. 2022;59(12):e14132. Lista I, Sorrentino G. Biological mechanisms of physical activity in preventing cognitive decline. Cell Mol Neurobiol. 2010;30(4):493–503. Lin TW, Kuo YM. Exercise benefits brain function: the monoamine connection. Brain Sci. 2013;3(1):39–53. Ebrahimnejad M, Azizi P, Alipour V, Zarrindast MR, Vaseghi S. Complicated role of exercise in modulating memory: a discussion of the mechanisms involved. Neurochem Res. 2022;47(6):1477–90. Ayari S, Abellard A, Carayol M, Guedj E, Gavarry O. A systematic review of exercise modalities that reduce pro-inflammatory cytokines in humans and animals' models with mild cognitive impairment or dementia. Exp Gerontol. 2023;175:112141. Diamond A, Lee K. Interventions shown to aid executive function development in children 4 to 12 years old. Science. 2011;333(6045):959–64. Carey JR, Bhatt E, Nagpal A. Neuroplasticity promoted by task complexity. Exerc Sport Sci Rev. 2005;33(1):24–31. Pesce C, Masci I, Marchetti R, Vazou S, Sääkslahti A, Tomporowski PD. Deliberate play and preparation jointly benefit motor and cognitive development: mediated and moderated effects. Front Psychol. 2016;7:349. Pesce C, Croce R, Ben-Soussan TD, Vazou S, McCullick B, Tomporowski PD, et al. Variability of practice as an interface between motor and cognitive development. Int J Sport Exerc Psychol. 2019;17(2):133–52. Sakai K, Hikosaka O, Miyauchi S, Takino R, Sasaki Y, Pütz B. Transition of brain activation from frontal to parietal areas in visuomotor sequence learning. J Neurosci. 1998;18(5):1827–40. Tomporowski PD, Pesce C. Exercise, sports, and performance arts benefit cognition via a common process. Psychol Bull. 2019;145(9):929–51. Davis CL, Tomporowski PD, McDowell JE, Austin BP, Miller PH, Yanasak NE, et al. Exercise improves executive function and achievement and alters brain activation in overweight children: a randomized, controlled trial. Health Psychol. 2011;30(1):91–8. Young WB, Willey B. Analysis of a reactive agility field test. J Sci Med Sport. 2010;13(3):376–8. Shi P, Feng X. Motor skills and cognitive benefits in children and adolescents: relationship, mechanism and perspectives. Front Psychol. 2022;13:1017825. Chang YK, Tsai YJ, Chen TT, Hung TM. The impacts of coordinative exercise on executive function in kindergarten children: an ERP study. Exp Brain Res. 2013;225(2):187–96. Lambrick D, Stoner L, Grigg R, Faulkner J. Effects of continuous and intermittent exercise on executive function in children aged 8–10 years. Psychophysiology. 2016;53(9):1335–42. Additional Declarations No competing interests reported. Supplementary Files Supplmentarymaterial.docx.docx Cite Share Download PDF Status: Posted Version 1 posted You are reading this latest preprint version Research Square lets you share your work early, gain feedback from the community, and start making changes to your manuscript prior to peer review in a journal. As a division of Research Square Company, we’re committed to making research communication faster, fairer, and more useful. We do this by developing innovative software and high quality services for the global research community. Our growing team is made up of researchers and industry professionals working together to solve the most critical problems facing scientific publishing. Also discoverable on Platform About Our Team In Review Editorial Policies Advisory Board Help Center Resources Author Services Accessibility API Access RSS feed Manage Cookie Preferences © Research Square 2026 | ISSN 2693-5015 (online) Privacy Policy Terms of Service Do Not Sell My Personal Information {"props":{"pageProps":{"initialData":{"identity":"rs-6729483","acceptedTermsAndConditions":true,"allowDirectSubmit":true,"archivedVersions":[],"articleType":"Research Article","associatedPublications":[],"authors":[{"id":485170885,"identity":"1004c9dd-4fe5-40e7-8c88-42f1b832adf1","order_by":0,"name":"Pengfei Wang","email":"","orcid":"","institution":"Zhaoqing University","correspondingAuthor":false,"prefix":"","firstName":"Pengfei","middleName":"","lastName":"Wang","suffix":""},{"id":485170887,"identity":"9b912854-4c49-4456-b2c5-e45a629da012","order_by":1,"name":"Yuhan Zhao","email":"","orcid":"","institution":"Hebei sport University","correspondingAuthor":false,"prefix":"","firstName":"Yuhan","middleName":"","lastName":"Zhao","suffix":""},{"id":485170889,"identity":"9ee2b00d-ab1b-4349-ae4a-fb923493efa9","order_by":2,"name":"Jinrong He","email":"","orcid":"","institution":"Shanghai University of Sport","correspondingAuthor":false,"prefix":"","firstName":"Jinrong","middleName":"","lastName":"He","suffix":""},{"id":485170890,"identity":"9cc1f1ad-05eb-4a2f-8a28-ce80790b26bc","order_by":3,"name":"Zhuo Chen","email":"","orcid":"","institution":"Northwest Normal University","correspondingAuthor":false,"prefix":"","firstName":"Zhuo","middleName":"","lastName":"Chen","suffix":""},{"id":485170891,"identity":"e6a4902d-e456-4a6d-90c1-2e96af6a524c","order_by":4,"name":"Lei He","email":"","orcid":"","institution":"Woosuk University","correspondingAuthor":false,"prefix":"","firstName":"Lei","middleName":"","lastName":"He","suffix":""},{"id":485170892,"identity":"f0e62542-41dd-4907-942c-62d366d46731","order_by":5,"name":"Dong Li","email":"data:image/png;base64,iVBORw0KGgoAAAANSUhEUgAAAZAAAAAyAQMAAABI0h/eAAAABlBMVEX///8AAABVwtN+AAAACXBIWXMAAA7EAAAOxAGVKw4bAAAA1ElEQVRIiWNgGAWjYBACA2YGAyD1T46fvfngg4SKGqK1HDCW7DmWbPDgzDEitDBAtCRuuJFjJvmwhZkILezMGx8X/LpjbADUUpHYwMbA396dQMBhbMXGM/ueyUmeeVZ2I3GHDIPEmbMbCGjhMZPm7WE25juevO1G4hk2BgOJXOK0JDYcSDArSGxjJlILz4/DiRNOpJgxEKkF6BfehjRwIEsknDnGQ9Av9v2HNz7m+WMDjsqPPypq5Pjbe/FrAQPGNgSbh7ByMPhDpLpRMApGwSgYmQAAyUZK6h4xPO8AAAAASUVORK5CYII=","orcid":"","institution":"Zhaoqing University","correspondingAuthor":true,"prefix":"","firstName":"Dong","middleName":"","lastName":"Li","suffix":""}],"badges":[],"createdAt":"2025-05-23 05:23:24","currentVersionCode":1,"declarations":"","doi":"10.21203/rs.3.rs-6729483/v1","doiUrl":"https://doi.org/10.21203/rs.3.rs-6729483/v1","draftVersion":[],"editorialEvents":[],"editorialNote":"","failedWorkflow":false,"files":[{"id":86777377,"identity":"bf06e85c-a37a-441f-a055-dea1db7e9576","added_by":"auto","created_at":"2025-07-15 12:49:55","extension":"png","order_by":1,"title":"Figure 1","display":"","copyAsset":false,"role":"figure","size":3372927,"visible":true,"origin":"","legend":"\u003cp\u003ePRISMA flow diagram of the study process\u003c/p\u003e","description":"","filename":"Fig.1.png","url":"https://assets-eu.researchsquare.com/files/rs-6729483/v1/b74eaea1a0ce62b05c3b620b.png"},{"id":86778595,"identity":"a9b1f563-d6f7-4dfd-a427-df9255eb1695","added_by":"auto","created_at":"2025-07-15 12:57:55","extension":"png","order_by":2,"title":"Figure 2","display":"","copyAsset":false,"role":"figure","size":858319,"visible":true,"origin":"","legend":"\u003cp\u003eRisk of bias of included studies\u003c/p\u003e","description":"","filename":"Fig.2.png","url":"https://assets-eu.researchsquare.com/files/rs-6729483/v1/a1cb503aa5276ba77faabbe4.png"},{"id":86778594,"identity":"e5d1c538-da5c-45da-bd58-9ea215966b07","added_by":"auto","created_at":"2025-07-15 12:57:55","extension":"png","order_by":3,"title":"Figure 3","display":"","copyAsset":false,"role":"figure","size":51886,"visible":true,"origin":"","legend":"\u003cp\u003eNetwork diagram: CEPA, Cognitively engaging physical activity; CE, Coordination exercise; ECFI, Exercise combined with family intervention; ME, Mixed exercise; NEI, No exercise intervention; RPA, Regular physical activity\u003c/p\u003e","description":"","filename":"Fig.3.png","url":"https://assets-eu.researchsquare.com/files/rs-6729483/v1/52d73960d7aa64bcca4e32de.png"},{"id":86778892,"identity":"b67d62ec-94a9-4a39-8297-8b08416aae4c","added_by":"auto","created_at":"2025-07-15 13:05:55","extension":"png","order_by":4,"title":"Figure 4","display":"","copyAsset":false,"role":"figure","size":104035,"visible":true,"origin":"","legend":"\u003cp\u003eSUCRA plot: CEPA, Cognitively engaging physical activity; ECFI, Exercise combined with family intervention\u003c/p\u003e","description":"","filename":"Fig.4.png","url":"https://assets-eu.researchsquare.com/files/rs-6729483/v1/a8fae82d8e595a67f015245e.png"},{"id":86778600,"identity":"4237de2c-2b86-4509-a8ca-d1b9c0e92cb6","added_by":"auto","created_at":"2025-07-15 12:57:55","extension":"png","order_by":5,"title":"Figure 5","display":"","copyAsset":false,"role":"figure","size":85350,"visible":true,"origin":"","legend":"\u003cp\u003eFunnel plot on publication bias\u003c/p\u003e","description":"","filename":"Fig.5.png","url":"https://assets-eu.researchsquare.com/files/rs-6729483/v1/d5ef3289c298189e5db17d10.png"},{"id":102410956,"identity":"bbd18ea6-f0e8-4c5c-bd8a-caa2b0010071","added_by":"auto","created_at":"2026-02-11 11:57:47","extension":"pdf","order_by":0,"title":"","display":"","copyAsset":false,"role":"manuscript-pdf","size":4381607,"visible":true,"origin":"","legend":"","description":"","filename":"manuscript.pdf","url":"https://assets-eu.researchsquare.com/files/rs-6729483/v1/64cae057-34f6-4643-a81e-31f552bf4433.pdf"},{"id":86777373,"identity":"97e14503-8b87-427b-80a2-338b96d7294b","added_by":"auto","created_at":"2025-07-15 12:49:55","extension":"docx","order_by":0,"title":"","display":"","copyAsset":false,"role":"supplement","size":239641,"visible":true,"origin":"","legend":"","description":"","filename":"Supplmentarymaterial.docx.docx","url":"https://assets-eu.researchsquare.com/files/rs-6729483/v1/ea7b1b692cff1147fa4e665b.docx"}],"financialInterests":"No competing interests reported.","formattedTitle":"Effects of different exercise interventions on inhibitory control in overweight and obese children and adolescents: a systematic review and network meta-analysis","fulltext":[{"header":"what is known","content":"\u003cul\u003e\n \u003cli\u003eThe benefits of exercise interventions on inhibitory control in overweight and obese children and adolescents have been confirmed.\u003c/li\u003e\n \u003cli\u003ePrevious meta-analyses failed to provide conclusive evidence demonstrating which type of exercise intervention has the optimal effect on improving inhibitory control in overweight and obese children and adolescents.\u003c/li\u003e\n\u003c/ul\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cstrong\u003ewhat is new:\u003c/strong\u003e\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003cul\u003e\n \u003cli\u003eCognitively engaging physical activities, aerobic exercises, coordination exercises, and acute exercises all significantly improve inhibitory control in overweight and obese children and adolescents.\u003c/li\u003e\n \u003cli\u003eCognitively engaging physical activities are the best intervention method for improving inhibitory control in overweight and obese children and adolescents.\u003c/li\u003e\n \u003cli\u003eWe recommend appropriately selecting cognitively engaging physical activities or aerobic exercises as intervention methods to treat inhibitory control deficits, based on the physical and mental conditions of overweight and obese children and adolescents.\u003c/li\u003e\n\u003c/ul\u003e"},{"header":"1 Introduction","content":"\u003cp\u003eIn recent years, with changes in lifestyle and the prevalence of unhealthy dietary habits, the issues of overweight and obesity among children and adolescents have become increasingly severe. According to the World Health Organization, as of 2022, over 390\u0026nbsp;million children and adolescents aged 5 to 19 worldwide are overweight, of whom 160\u0026nbsp;million are obese[\u003cspan citationid=\"CR1\" class=\"CitationRef\"\u003e1\u003c/span\u003e]. In 1990, there were only 31\u0026nbsp;million obese children and adolescents, indicating a more than fivefold increase in just over three decades. In August 2024, a study from JAMA Pediatrics showed that, as of 2023, the obesity prevalence among children and adolescents was approximately 8.5%, and the overweight prevalence was about 14.8%, which suggests that one in every five children or adolescents is at risk of being overweight[\u003cspan citationid=\"CR2\" class=\"CitationRef\"\u003e2\u003c/span\u003e]. In March 2025, a study from The Lancet predicted that between 2022 and 2030, the absolute proportion of obese people worldwide will see a significant increase compared to previous years, and this increasing trend will continue from 2031 to 2050[\u003cspan citationid=\"CR3\" class=\"CitationRef\"\u003e3\u003c/span\u003e]. It is expected that by 2050, the probability of obesity among the 5\u0026ndash;14 age group will increase to 15.6%, with the number reaching 186\u0026nbsp;million. Overweight and obesity not only increase the risk of chronic diseases (e.g., diabetes, asthma, hypertension, fatty liver, etc.) in children and adolescents but also have negative impacts on their executive functions[\u003cspan citationid=\"CR4\" class=\"CitationRef\"\u003e4\u003c/span\u003e, \u003cspan citationid=\"CR5\" class=\"CitationRef\"\u003e5\u003c/span\u003e].\u003c/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eExecutive function has a multidimensional structure, and inhibitory control is one of its core components, primarily referring to the ability to inhibit impulsive or automatic (dominant) responses during cognitive activities[\u003cspan citationid=\"CR6\" class=\"CitationRef\"\u003e6\u003c/span\u003e]. Studies have shown that overweight and obese children and adolescents exhibit significant deficits in inhibitory control compared to normal-weight individuals[\u003cspan citationid=\"CR7\" class=\"CitationRef\"\u003e7\u003c/span\u003e]. Additionally, research indicates a correlation between poor inhibitory control and higher BMI[\u003cspan citationid=\"CR8\" class=\"CitationRef\"\u003e8\u003c/span\u003e]. Guxens et al., through a longitudinal study, found that low executive function at age 4 is closely related to high BMI at age 6, while children with better executive function at age 4 do not have the risk of being overweight[\u003cspan citationid=\"CR9\" class=\"CitationRef\"\u003e9\u003c/span\u003e]. This may suggest that executive function deficit is the key factor leading to overweight and obesity. When executive function deficits occur, especially in inhibitory control, behaviors related to obesity may be induced, such as disordered eating behaviors, reduced physical activity, and increased sedentary behavior[\u003cspan additionalcitationids=\"CR11\" citationid=\"CR10\" class=\"CitationRef\"\u003e10\u003c/span\u003e\u0026ndash;\u003cspan citationid=\"CR12\" class=\"CitationRef\"\u003e12\u003c/span\u003e]. Mamrot et al.'s research also mentioned that inhibitory control is the executive function dimension with the greatest potential for application.[\u003cspan citationid=\"CR8\" class=\"CitationRef\"\u003e8\u003c/span\u003e]. Therefore, in clinical interventions, improving inhibitory control in this population should be a focus.\u003c/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eAs a non-pharmacological therapy, exercise intervention has shown promising prospects in improving inhibitory control among overweight and obese children and adolescents. Previous meta-analysis have also confirmed the positive impact of exercise interventions on inhibitory control[\u003cspan citationid=\"CR13\" class=\"CitationRef\"\u003e13\u003c/span\u003e, \u003cspan citationid=\"CR14\" class=\"CitationRef\"\u003e14\u003c/span\u003e]. However, these studies have not delved into the intervention effects of different types of exercise. For example, aerobic exercise (AE) and coordination exercise (CE) may exert effects through different molecular mechanisms, leading to different effect sizes (e.g., AE: standard mean difference [SMD]\u0026thinsp;=\u0026thinsp;\u0026minus;\u0026thinsp;1.04; CE: SMD\u0026thinsp;=\u0026thinsp;\u0026minus;\u0026thinsp;0.81). Therefore, exercise type is an important factor that needs to be considered in clinical interventions. However, comparative studies on the effectiveness of different types of exercise interventions are still relatively lacking.\u003c/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eThis study aims to conduct a systematic review and network meta-analysis (NMA) to compare the effects of different types of exercise interventions on inhibitory control in overweight and obese children and adolescents. By integrating direct and indirect evidence, NMA can comprehensively evaluate the relative efficacy of multiple interventions and rank their effectiveness based on their efficacy. Even in the absence of direct comparisons between two interventions, NMA can calculate the relative efficacy of each intervention through indirect comparisons. This is an advantage of NMA over traditional meta-analysis. Based on this, we can identify the most suitable exercise interventions for improving inhibitory control in this population, providing scientific and systematic references and guidance for clinical interventions.\u003c/p\u003e"},{"header":"2 Materials and Methods","content":"\u003cdiv id=\"Sec3\" class=\"Section2\"\u003e\u003ch2\u003e2.1 Protocol and registration\u003c/h2\u003e\u003cp\u003eThis systematic review and meta-analysis were conducted in accordance with the Cochrane Handbook for Systematic Reviews of Interventions and reported following the PRISMA guidelines[\u003cspan citationid=\"CR15\" class=\"CitationRef\"\u003e15\u003c/span\u003e, \u003cspan citationid=\"CR16\" class=\"CitationRef\"\u003e16\u003c/span\u003e]. The study protocol has been registered in PROSPERO (CRD420251004101).\u003c/p\u003e\u003c/div\u003e\u003cdiv id=\"Sec4\" class=\"Section2\"\u003e\u003ch2\u003e2.2 Data sources and search strategy\u003c/h2\u003e\u003cp\u003eTo explore the relationship between exercise interventions and inhibitory control in overweight and obese children and adolescents, a comprehensive search was conducted in the following eight databases: PubMed, Embase, Cochrane Library, Web of Science, ProQuest, CNKI, Wanfang, and VIP. The search covered all literature from the inception of the databases up to March 20, 2025. Based on the PICO (Population, Intervention, Comparison, Outcome) framework, the following keywords were used for search: \"exercise\" or \"exercises\" or \"physical activity\" or \"physical activities\" or \"sport\" or \"taijiquan\" or \"dancing\" or \"cycling\" or \"swimming\" or \"jogging\" or \"aerobics\" or \"training\" or \"trainings\" or \"walking\" or \"ambulation\" or \"qigong\" or \"baduanjin\" or \"resistance\" or \"stair climbing\" or \"HIIT\" or \"high intensity interval training\" or \"plyometric drills\" or \"athletics\" or \"treadmill\" or \"pilates\" or \"stretching\" or \"physically active\" or \"biking\" or \"anaerobic\" or \"strength training\" or \"resistance training\" or \"weight training\" or \"running\" or \"wuqinxi\" or \"yijinjing\" or \"yoga\" or \"ball\" or \"soccer\" or \"football\" or \"basketball\" or \"ping pong\" or \"badminton\" or \"tennis\" or \"baseball\" or \"volleyball\" or \"softball\" or \"racket sport\" or \"racquetball\" and \"executive function\" or \"inhibitory control\" or \"executive control\" or \"cognitive function\" or \"cognition\" or \"response inhibition\" or \"inhibition\" or \"interference control\" and \"overweight\" or \"obesity\" or \"obese\" or \"excess weight\" or \"body mass index\" or \"body fat\" or \"weight gain\" or \"fat accumulation\" or \"high body weight\" or \"excess body weight\" and \"child\" or \"children\" or \"adolescent\" or \"teen\" or \"teenager\" or \"youth\". Detailed search strategies are provided in \u003cb\u003eAppendix B\u003c/b\u003e.\u003c/p\u003e\u003c/div\u003e\u003cdiv id=\"Sec5\" class=\"Section2\"\u003e\u003ch2\u003e2.3 Study selection\u003c/h2\u003e\u003cp\u003eAfter completing the literature search, two members of the research team (PFW and DL) independently conducted the literature screening. First, they reviewed the titles and abstracts of the articles to preliminarily identify potentially relevant studies. Subsequently, they performed detailed full-text reading and evaluation of articles highly relevant to the research topic. Finally, studies that met the inclusion criteria were selected for statistical analysis. In cases of disagreement during the screening process, resolutions were achieved through group discussions to reach a consensus.\u003c/p\u003e\u003c/div\u003e\u003cdiv id=\"Sec6\" class=\"Section2\"\u003e\u003ch2\u003e2.4 Inclusion and exclusion criteria\u003c/h2\u003e\u003cp\u003eInclusion criteria for the literature were as follows:\u003c/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e(1) Participants in the sample were under 19 years of age and met the criteria for being overweight or obese for their age group.\u003c/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e(2) The intervention consisted of various types of exercise or physical activity.\u003c/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e(3) The study design was a randomized controlled trials (RCTs).\u003c/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e(4) Measurements related to inhibitory control were reported both before and after the intervention.\u003c/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e(5) The study provided original data.\u003c/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e(6) The study was written in English or Chinese.\u003c/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eExclusion criteria for the literature were as follows:\u003c/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e(1) Participants over 19 years old.\u003c/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e(2) Non-overweight or non-obese populations.\u003c/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e(3) Interventions that did not include exercise or physical activity.\u003c/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e(4) There was no reporting on inhibitory control outcomes.\u003c/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e(5) The study type was a review, conference paper, conference abstract, qualitative research, etc.\u003c/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e(6) Study designs other than RCTs, including non-randomized controlled trials, cross-sectional studies, case-control studies, and cohort studies.\u003c/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e(7) Original data were not provided.\u003c/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e(8) The study was written in languages other than Chinese or English.\u003c/p\u003e\u003c/div\u003e\u003cdiv id=\"Sec7\" class=\"Section2\"\u003e\u003ch2\u003e2.5 Data extraction\u003c/h2\u003e\u003cp\u003eTwo researchers (PFW and DL) extracted the trial data independently, resolving any disagreements through group discussion. Extracted information included:\u003c/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e(1) Descriptive information: first author, year of publication.\u003c/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e(2) Participant characteristics: sample size, age, gender distribution.\u003c/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e(3) Intervention details: duration, frequency, session length, type of exercise.\u003c/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e(4) Outcome measures: indices related to inhibitory control.\u003c/p\u003e\u003c/div\u003e\u003cdiv id=\"Sec8\" class=\"Section2\"\u003e\u003ch2\u003e2.6 Quality Assessment\u003c/h2\u003e\u003cp\u003eThe quality assessment of this study was performed using the Risk of Bias 2 (ROB 2) developed by the Cochrane Collaboration. Two researchers (PFW and DL) completed the assessments independently and cross-checked the results. Disagreements were resolved through group discussion to reach a consensus. The ROB 2 tool assesses the risk of bias in RCTs across five domains: (1) Randomization process; (2) Deviation from intended interventions; (3) Missing outcome data; (4) Outcome measurement; (5) Selection of the reported result. We categorized the overall risk of bias for each study as low risk, high risk, or having some concerns.\u003c/p\u003e\u003c/div\u003e\u003cdiv id=\"Sec9\" class=\"Section2\"\u003e\u003ch2\u003e2.7 Statistical analysis\u003c/h2\u003e\u003cp\u003eStatistical analyses were conducted using Stata 17.0 software within a frequentist framework. Network diagrams were plotted to visualize the comparisons. The outcome indicators in the included studies were continuous variables, but the assessment tools varied slightly among studies. Therefore, standardized mean difference (SMD) combined with 95% confidence intervals (CI) was used as the effect size for pooling the data. Global inconsistency was tested to evaluate the agreement between direct and indirect comparisons of interventions. When the test indicated that the direct and indirect comparisons were consistent (P\u0026thinsp;\u0026gt;\u0026thinsp;0.05), a consistency model was employed for analysis. In the network diagram, each node represents an intervention, and the size of the node corresponds to the sample size. Lines between nodes represent direct comparisons between two interventions, and the thickness of the lines indicates the number of comparisons\u0026mdash;the thicker the line, the more comparisons conducted. To rank the effectiveness of different exercise interventions, we calculated the Surface Under the Cumulative Ranking curve (SUCRA) and presented the probability rankings in a table[\u003cspan citationid=\"CR17\" class=\"CitationRef\"\u003e17\u003c/span\u003e]. SUCRA values are expressed as percentages, and a higher percentage indicates a better intervention effect. In this study, publication bias was assessed visually using funnel plots and quantitatively using Egger's test, with P\u0026thinsp;=\u0026thinsp;0.05 set as the threshold; P\u0026thinsp;\u0026gt;\u0026thinsp;0.05 indicates no publication bias, whereas P\u0026thinsp;\u0026lt;\u0026thinsp;0.05 suggests the presence of publication bias.\u003c/p\u003e\u003c/div\u003e"},{"header":"3 Results","content":"\u003cdiv id=\"Sec11\" class=\"Section2\"\u003e\u003ch2\u003e3.1 Trial selection\u003c/h2\u003e\u003cp\u003eTo ensure the accuracy of the literature search and screening process, two researchers specializing in cognitive development and exercise science in children and adolescents reviewed the titles, abstracts, and full texts independently. Cohen's kappa coefficients were used to calculate the consistency at the title/abstract and the full-text screening stage, with agreement levels categorized as moderate agreement (0.40\u0026ndash;0.59), good agreement (0.60\u0026ndash;0.74), and excellent agreement (\u0026gt;\u0026thinsp;0.75)[\u003cspan citationid=\"CR18\" class=\"CitationRef\"\u003e18\u003c/span\u003e]. We systematically searched eight Chinese and English databases from their inception to March 20, 2025. The initial search yielded 5,853 articles. After removing 1,807 duplicates, 4,046 relevant articles remained. Two reviewers performed preliminary screening based on titles and abstracts, excluding 3,988 articles, resulting in 58 articles for full-text review. Two reviewers achieved a \"good agreement\u0026rdquo; at this stage (Cohen's kappa\u0026thinsp;=\u0026thinsp;0.72). After full-text review, 41 articles were further excluded: 7 were non-randomized controlled trials, 3 had non-conforming interventions, 4 full texts were unobtainable, 10 did not meet the outcome criteria, 2 had non-conforming study populations, and 15 had incomplete data. Ultimately, 17 studies were included in the quantitative analysis (Fig.\u0026nbsp;\u003cspan refid=\"Fig1\" class=\"InternalRef\"\u003e1\u003c/span\u003e). The reviewers achieved an \"excellent agreement \" at this stage (Cohen's kappa\u0026thinsp;=\u0026thinsp;0.77).\u003c/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003c/p\u003e\u003c/div\u003e\u003cdiv id=\"Sec12\" class=\"Section2\"\u003e\u003ch2\u003e3.2 Trial characteristics\u003c/h2\u003e\u003cp\u003eTable\u0026nbsp;\u003cspan refid=\"Tab1\" class=\"InternalRef\"\u003e1\u003c/span\u003e shows the characteristics of the 17 included studies. These studies were published between 2014 and 2024. The sample sizes of the experimental groups ranged from 18 to 93 participants, while the control groups ranged from 18 to 91 participants. The ages of participants in both groups ranged from 8 to 15. The participants were predominantly male. The average duration of chronic exercise interventions was 17 weeks (ranging from 4 weeks to 52 weeks), with 2 to 7 sessions per week; the most common frequency was 3 times per week. The duration of a single intervention session ranged from 30 minutes to 300 minutes, with 40 minutes being the most common. The duration of acute exercise interventions ranged from 20 minutes to 40 minutes, most commonly 30 minutes. Exercise interventions included acute exercise[\u003cspan additionalcitationids=\"CR20 CR21\" citationid=\"CR19\" class=\"CitationRef\"\u003e19\u003c/span\u003e\u0026ndash;\u003cspan citationid=\"CR22\" class=\"CitationRef\"\u003e22\u003c/span\u003e], aerobic exercise[\u003cspan citationid=\"CR23\" class=\"CitationRef\"\u003e23\u003c/span\u003e, \u003cspan citationid=\"CR24\" class=\"CitationRef\"\u003e24\u003c/span\u003e], exercise combined with family intervention[\u003cspan citationid=\"CR25\" class=\"CitationRef\"\u003e25\u003c/span\u003e, \u003cspan citationid=\"CR26\" class=\"CitationRef\"\u003e26\u003c/span\u003e], mixed exercise[\u003cspan additionalcitationids=\"CR28\" citationid=\"CR27\" class=\"CitationRef\"\u003e27\u003c/span\u003e\u0026ndash;\u003cspan citationid=\"CR29\" class=\"CitationRef\"\u003e29\u003c/span\u003e](a combination of two or more types of exercise), cognitively engaging physical activities[\u003cspan additionalcitationids=\"CR31 CR32\" citationid=\"CR30\" class=\"CitationRef\"\u003e30\u003c/span\u003e\u0026ndash;\u003cspan citationid=\"CR33\" class=\"CitationRef\"\u003e33\u003c/span\u003e], and coordination exercise[\u003cspan citationid=\"CR34\" class=\"CitationRef\"\u003e34\u003c/span\u003e, \u003cspan citationid=\"CR35\" class=\"CitationRef\"\u003e35\u003c/span\u003e]. To measure inhibitory control, 8 studies used the flanker task[\u003cspan additionalcitationids=\"CR22 CR23\" citationid=\"CR21\" class=\"CitationRef\"\u003e21\u003c/span\u003e\u0026ndash;\u003cspan citationid=\"CR24\" class=\"CitationRef\"\u003e24\u003c/span\u003e, \u003cspan citationid=\"CR29\" class=\"CitationRef\"\u003e29\u003c/span\u003e, \u003cspan citationid=\"CR30\" class=\"CitationRef\"\u003e30\u003c/span\u003e, \u003cspan citationid=\"CR33\" class=\"CitationRef\"\u003e33\u003c/span\u003e, \u003cspan citationid=\"CR35\" class=\"CitationRef\"\u003e35\u003c/span\u003e], another 8 used the Stroop test[\u003cspan citationid=\"CR19\" class=\"CitationRef\"\u003e19\u003c/span\u003e, \u003cspan citationid=\"CR20\" class=\"CitationRef\"\u003e20\u003c/span\u003e, \u003cspan citationid=\"CR25\" class=\"CitationRef\"\u003e25\u003c/span\u003e, \u003cspan citationid=\"CR27\" class=\"CitationRef\"\u003e27\u003c/span\u003e, \u003cspan citationid=\"CR28\" class=\"CitationRef\"\u003e28\u003c/span\u003e, \u003cspan citationid=\"CR31\" class=\"CitationRef\"\u003e31\u003c/span\u003e, \u003cspan citationid=\"CR32\" class=\"CitationRef\"\u003e32\u003c/span\u003e, \u003cspan citationid=\"CR34\" class=\"CitationRef\"\u003e34\u003c/span\u003e], and only one study used the color-word conflict task[\u003cspan citationid=\"CR26\" class=\"CitationRef\"\u003e26\u003c/span\u003e].\u003c/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003cdiv class=\"gridtable\"\u003e\u003ctable float=\"Yes\" id=\"Tab1\" border=\"1\"\u003e\u003ccaption language=\"En\"\u003e\u003cdiv class=\"CaptionNumber\"\u003eTable 1\u003c/div\u003e\u003cdiv class=\"CaptionContent\"\u003e\u003cp\u003eSummary table of included reviews.\u003c/p\u003e\u003c/div\u003e\u003c/caption\u003e\u003ccolgroup cols=\"14\"\u003e\u003cdiv align=\"left\" class=\"colspec\" colname=\"c1\" colnum=\"1\"\u003e\u003c/div\u003e\u003cdiv align=\"char\" char=\".\" class=\"colspec\" colname=\"c2\" colnum=\"2\"\u003e\u003c/div\u003e\u003cdiv align=\"char\" char=\".\" class=\"colspec\" colname=\"c3\" colnum=\"3\"\u003e\u003c/div\u003e\u003cdiv align=\"left\" class=\"colspec\" colname=\"c4\" colnum=\"4\"\u003e\u003c/div\u003e\u003cdiv align=\"left\" class=\"colspec\" colname=\"c5\" colnum=\"5\"\u003e\u003c/div\u003e\u003cdiv align=\"left\" class=\"colspec\" colname=\"c6\" colnum=\"6\"\u003e\u003c/div\u003e\u003cdiv align=\"left\" class=\"colspec\" colname=\"c7\" colnum=\"7\"\u003e\u003c/div\u003e\u003cdiv align=\"left\" class=\"colspec\" colname=\"c8\" colnum=\"8\"\u003e\u003c/div\u003e\u003cdiv align=\"left\" class=\"colspec\" colname=\"c9\" colnum=\"9\"\u003e\u003c/div\u003e\u003cdiv align=\"left\" class=\"colspec\" colname=\"c10\" colnum=\"10\"\u003e\u003c/div\u003e\u003cdiv align=\"left\" class=\"colspec\" colname=\"c11\" colnum=\"11\"\u003e\u003c/div\u003e\u003cdiv align=\"left\" class=\"colspec\" colname=\"c12\" colnum=\"12\"\u003e\u003c/div\u003e\u003cdiv align=\"left\" class=\"colspec\" colname=\"c13\" colnum=\"13\"\u003e\u003c/div\u003e\u003cdiv align=\"left\" class=\"colspec\" colname=\"c14\" colnum=\"14\"\u003e\u003c/div\u003e\u003cthead\u003e\u003ctr\u003e\u003cth align=\"left\" colname=\"c1\" morerows=\"2\" rowspan=\"3\"\u003e\u003cp\u003eStudy\u003c/p\u003e\u003c/th\u003e\u003cth align=\"left\" colspan=\"2\" nameend=\"c3\" namest=\"c2\"\u003e\u003cp\u003eSample size\u003c/p\u003e\u003c/th\u003e\u003cth align=\"left\" colname=\"c4\" morerows=\"2\" rowspan=\"3\"\u003e\u003cp\u003eGender (M/F)\u003c/p\u003e\u003c/th\u003e\u003cth align=\"left\" colspan=\"2\" nameend=\"c6\" namest=\"c5\"\u003e\u003cp\u003eAge\u003c/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e(year)\u003c/p\u003e\u003c/th\u003e\u003cth align=\"left\" colspan=\"6\" nameend=\"c12\" namest=\"c7\"\u003e\u003cp\u003eIntervention\u003c/p\u003e\u003c/th\u003e\u003cth align=\"left\" colname=\"c13\" morerows=\"2\" rowspan=\"3\"\u003e\u003cp\u003eOutcome diagnostics\u003c/p\u003e\u003c/th\u003e\u003cth align=\"left\" colspan=\"1\" nameend=\"c14\" namest=\"c14\"\u003e\u0026nbsp;\u003c/th\u003e\u003c/tr\u003e\u003ctr\u003e\u003cth align=\"left\" colname=\"c2\" morerows=\"1\" rowspan=\"2\"\u003e\u003cp\u003eIG\u003c/p\u003e\u003c/th\u003e\u003cth align=\"left\" colname=\"c3\" morerows=\"1\" rowspan=\"2\"\u003e\u003cp\u003eCG\u003c/p\u003e\u003c/th\u003e\u003cth align=\"left\" colname=\"c5\" morerows=\"1\" rowspan=\"2\"\u003e\u003cp\u003eIG\u003c/p\u003e\u003c/th\u003e\u003cth align=\"left\" colname=\"c6\" morerows=\"1\" rowspan=\"2\"\u003e\u003cp\u003eCG\u003c/p\u003e\u003c/th\u003e\u003cth align=\"left\" colspan=\"3\" nameend=\"c9\" namest=\"c7\"\u003e\u003cp\u003eIG\u003c/p\u003e\u003c/th\u003e\u003cth align=\"left\" colspan=\"3\" nameend=\"c12\" namest=\"c10\"\u003e\u003cp\u003eCG\u003c/p\u003e\u003c/th\u003e\u003cth align=\"left\" colname=\"c14\"\u003e\u0026nbsp;\u003c/th\u003e\u003c/tr\u003e\u003c/thead\u003e\u003ctbody\u003e\u003ctr\u003e\u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c7\"\u003e\u003cp\u003eIntervention content\u003c/p\u003e\u003c/td\u003e\u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c8\"\u003e\u003cp\u003eIntervention time, frequency, period\u003c/p\u003e\u003c/td\u003e\u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c9\"\u003e\u003cp\u003eType\u003c/p\u003e\u003c/td\u003e\u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c10\"\u003e\u003cp\u003eIntervention content\u003c/p\u003e\u003c/td\u003e\u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c11\"\u003e\u003cp\u003eIntervention time, frequency, period\u003c/p\u003e\u003c/td\u003e\u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c12\"\u003e\u003cp\u003eType\u003c/p\u003e\u003c/td\u003e\u003ctd align=\"left\" colspan=\"1\" nameend=\"c14\" namest=\"c14\"\u003e\u0026nbsp;\u003c/td\u003e\u003c/tr\u003e\u003ctr\u003e\u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c1\"\u003e\u003cp\u003eLi HY et al.,2022\u003c/p\u003e\u003c/td\u003e\u003ctd align=\"char\" char=\".\" colname=\"c2\"\u003e\u003cp\u003e40\u003c/p\u003e\u003c/td\u003e\u003ctd align=\"char\" char=\".\" colname=\"c3\"\u003e\u003cp\u003e40\u003c/p\u003e\u003c/td\u003e\u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c4\"\u003e\u003cp\u003e40/40\u003c/p\u003e\u003c/td\u003e\u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c5\"\u003e\u003cp\u003eIG1:10.50\u0026thinsp;\u0026plusmn;\u0026thinsp;0.51\u003c/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eIG2:10.40\u0026thinsp;\u0026plusmn;\u0026thinsp;0.50\u003c/p\u003e\u003c/td\u003e\u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c6\"\u003e\u003cp\u003eCG1:10.30\u0026thinsp;\u0026plusmn;\u0026thinsp;0.73\u003c/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eCG2:10.20\u0026thinsp;\u0026plusmn;\u0026thinsp;0.70\u003c/p\u003e\u003c/td\u003e\u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c7\"\u003e\u003cp\u003eBasketball dribbling training\u0026thinsp;+\u0026thinsp;rope skipping\u003c/p\u003e\u003c/td\u003e\u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c8\"\u003e\u003cp\u003eIG1:20 mins/\u003c/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e1 session\u003c/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eIG2:40 mins/\u003c/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e1 session\u003c/p\u003e\u003c/td\u003e\u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c9\"\u003e\u003cp\u003eAcute exercise\u003c/p\u003e\u003c/td\u003e\u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c10\"\u003e\u003cp\u003eNI\u003c/p\u003e\u003c/td\u003e\u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c11\"\u003e\u003cp\u003eNR\u003c/p\u003e\u003c/td\u003e\u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c12\"\u003e\u003cp\u003eNo exercise intervention\u003c/p\u003e\u003c/td\u003e\u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c13\"\u003e\u003cp\u003eFlanker test\u003c/p\u003e\u003c/td\u003e\u003ctd align=\"left\" colspan=\"1\" nameend=\"c14\" namest=\"c14\"\u003e\u0026nbsp;\u003c/td\u003e\u003c/tr\u003e\u003ctr\u003e\u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c1\"\u003e\u003cp\u003eShang N et al.,2020\u003c/p\u003e\u003c/td\u003e\u003ctd align=\"char\" char=\".\" colname=\"c2\"\u003e\u003cp\u003e26\u003c/p\u003e\u003c/td\u003e\u003ctd align=\"char\" char=\".\" colname=\"c3\"\u003e\u003cp\u003e26\u003c/p\u003e\u003c/td\u003e\u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c4\"\u003e\u003cp\u003e34/18\u003c/p\u003e\u003c/td\u003e\u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c5\"\u003e\u003cp\u003eNR\u003c/p\u003e\u003c/td\u003e\u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c6\"\u003e\u003cp\u003eNR\u003c/p\u003e\u003c/td\u003e\u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c7\"\u003e\u003cp\u003eOpen motor skill exercise\u003c/p\u003e\u003c/td\u003e\u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c8\"\u003e\u003cp\u003e60 min,\u003c/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e3 weekly,\u003c/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e8 weeks\u003c/p\u003e\u003c/td\u003e\u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c9\"\u003e\u003cp\u003eCognitively engaging physical activity\u003c/p\u003e\u003c/td\u003e\u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c10\"\u003e\u003cp\u003eRegular physical activity\u003c/p\u003e\u003c/td\u003e\u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c11\"\u003e\u003cp\u003e50\u0026ndash;60 min,\u003c/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e3 weekly,\u003c/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e8 weeks\u003c/p\u003e\u003c/td\u003e\u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c12\"\u003e\u003cp\u003eRegular physical activity\u003c/p\u003e\u003c/td\u003e\u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c13\"\u003e\u003cp\u003eFlanker test\u003c/p\u003e\u003c/td\u003e\u003ctd align=\"left\" colspan=\"1\" nameend=\"c14\" namest=\"c14\"\u003e\u0026nbsp;\u003c/td\u003e\u003c/tr\u003e\u003ctr\u003e\u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c1\"\u003e\u003cp\u003eOrtega FB et al.,2022\u003c/p\u003e\u003c/td\u003e\u003ctd align=\"char\" char=\".\" colname=\"c2\"\u003e\u003cp\u003e47\u003c/p\u003e\u003c/td\u003e\u003ctd align=\"char\" char=\".\" colname=\"c3\"\u003e\u003cp\u003e43\u003c/p\u003e\u003c/td\u003e\u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c4\"\u003e\u003cp\u003eNR\u003c/p\u003e\u003c/td\u003e\u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c5\"\u003e\u003cp\u003e9.99\u0026thinsp;\u0026plusmn;\u0026thinsp;1.13\u003c/p\u003e\u003c/td\u003e\u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c6\"\u003e\u003cp\u003e10.10\u0026thinsp;\u0026plusmn;\u0026thinsp;1.13\u003c/p\u003e\u003c/td\u003e\u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c7\"\u003e\u003cp\u003eAerobic exercise\u0026thinsp;+\u0026thinsp;resistance training\u003c/p\u003e\u003c/td\u003e\u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c8\"\u003e\u003cp\u003e90 min,\u003c/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e3\u0026ndash;5 weekly,\u003c/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e20 weeks\u003c/p\u003e\u003c/td\u003e\u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c9\"\u003e\u003cp\u003eMixed exercise\u003c/p\u003e\u003c/td\u003e\u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c10\"\u003e\u003cp\u003eRegular physical activity\u003c/p\u003e\u003c/td\u003e\u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c11\"\u003e\u003cp\u003e50\u0026ndash;55 min,\u003c/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e2 weekly,\u003c/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e20 weeks\u003c/p\u003e\u003c/td\u003e\u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c12\"\u003e\u003cp\u003eRegular physical activity\u003c/p\u003e\u003c/td\u003e\u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c13\"\u003e\u003cp\u003eStroop test\u003c/p\u003e\u003c/td\u003e\u003ctd align=\"left\" colspan=\"1\" nameend=\"c14\" namest=\"c14\"\u003e\u0026nbsp;\u003c/td\u003e\u003c/tr\u003e\u003ctr\u003e\u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c1\"\u003e\u003cp\u003eXiang MQ et al., 2019\u003c/p\u003e\u003c/td\u003e\u003ctd align=\"char\" char=\".\" colname=\"c2\"\u003e\u003cp\u003e18\u003c/p\u003e\u003c/td\u003e\u003ctd align=\"char\" char=\".\" colname=\"c3\"\u003e\u003cp\u003e18\u003c/p\u003e\u003c/td\u003e\u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c4\"\u003e\u003cp\u003e20/16\u003c/p\u003e\u003c/td\u003e\u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c5\"\u003e\u003cp\u003e12.50\u0026thinsp;\u0026plusmn;\u0026thinsp;1.92\u003c/p\u003e\u003c/td\u003e\u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c6\"\u003e\u003cp\u003e13.28\u0026thinsp;\u0026plusmn;\u0026thinsp;0.83\u003c/p\u003e\u003c/td\u003e\u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c7\"\u003e\u003cp\u003eAerobic exercise\u0026thinsp;+\u0026thinsp;ball exercise\u0026thinsp;+\u0026thinsp;outdoor training\u0026thinsp;+\u0026thinsp;yoga\u0026thinsp;+\u0026thinsp;resistance training\u003c/p\u003e\u003c/td\u003e\u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c8\"\u003e\u003cp\u003e300 min,\u003c/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e6 weekly,\u003c/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e6 week\u003c/p\u003e\u003c/td\u003e\u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c9\"\u003e\u003cp\u003eMixed exercise\u003c/p\u003e\u003c/td\u003e\u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c10\"\u003e\u003cp\u003eNI\u003c/p\u003e\u003c/td\u003e\u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c11\"\u003e\u003cp\u003eNR\u003c/p\u003e\u003c/td\u003e\u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c12\"\u003e\u003cp\u003eNo exercise intervention\u003c/p\u003e\u003c/td\u003e\u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c13\"\u003e\u003cp\u003eStroop test\u003c/p\u003e\u003c/td\u003e\u003ctd align=\"left\" colspan=\"1\" nameend=\"c14\" namest=\"c14\"\u003e\u0026nbsp;\u003c/td\u003e\u003c/tr\u003e\u003ctr\u003e\u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c1\"\u003e\u003cp\u003eLogan NE et al.,2020\u003c/p\u003e\u003c/td\u003e\u003ctd align=\"char\" char=\".\" colname=\"c2\"\u003e\u003cp\u003e56\u003c/p\u003e\u003c/td\u003e\u003ctd align=\"char\" char=\".\" colname=\"c3\"\u003e\u003cp\u003e47\u003c/p\u003e\u003c/td\u003e\u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c4\"\u003e\u003cp\u003e45/58\u003c/p\u003e\u003c/td\u003e\u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c5\"\u003e\u003cp\u003e8.73\u0026thinsp;\u0026plusmn;\u0026thinsp;0.51\u003c/p\u003e\u003c/td\u003e\u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c6\"\u003e\u003cp\u003e8.82\u0026thinsp;\u0026plusmn;\u0026thinsp;0.54\u003c/p\u003e\u003c/td\u003e\u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c7\"\u003e\u003cp\u003eBodybuilding +\u003c/p\u003e\u003cp\u003edancing\u0026thinsp;+\u0026thinsp;motor skill exercise\u0026thinsp;+\u0026thinsp;mini-games\u003c/p\u003e\u003c/td\u003e\u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c8\"\u003e\u003cp\u003e120 min,\u003c/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e5 weekly,\u003c/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e36 weeks\u003c/p\u003e\u003c/td\u003e\u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c9\"\u003e\u003cp\u003eMixed exercise\u003c/p\u003e\u003c/td\u003e\u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c10\"\u003e\u003cp\u003eNI\u003c/p\u003e\u003c/td\u003e\u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c11\"\u003e\u003cp\u003eNR\u003c/p\u003e\u003c/td\u003e\u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c12\"\u003e\u003cp\u003eNo exercise intervention\u003c/p\u003e\u003c/td\u003e\u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c13\"\u003e\u003cp\u003eFlanker test\u003c/p\u003e\u003c/td\u003e\u003ctd align=\"left\" colspan=\"1\" nameend=\"c14\" namest=\"c14\"\u003e\u0026nbsp;\u003c/td\u003e\u003c/tr\u003e\u003ctr\u003e\u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c1\"\u003e\u003cp\u003eLiu JH et al.,2017\u003c/p\u003e\u003c/td\u003e\u003ctd align=\"char\" char=\".\" colname=\"c2\"\u003e\u003cp\u003e35\u003c/p\u003e\u003c/td\u003e\u003ctd align=\"char\" char=\".\" colname=\"c3\"\u003e\u003cp\u003e35\u003c/p\u003e\u003c/td\u003e\u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c4\"\u003e\u003cp\u003e40/30\u003c/p\u003e\u003c/td\u003e\u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c5\"\u003e\u003cp\u003e13.94\u0026thinsp;\u0026plusmn;\u0026thinsp;0.94\u003c/p\u003e\u003c/td\u003e\u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c6\"\u003e\u003cp\u003e14.17\u0026thinsp;\u0026plusmn;\u0026thinsp;0.71\u003c/p\u003e\u003c/td\u003e\u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c7\"\u003e\u003cp\u003eRope skipping\u003c/p\u003e\u003c/td\u003e\u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c8\"\u003e\u003cp\u003e75 min,\u003c/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e2 weekly,\u003c/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e12 weeks\u003c/p\u003e\u003c/td\u003e\u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c9\"\u003e\u003cp\u003eCoordination exercise\u003c/p\u003e\u003c/td\u003e\u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c10\"\u003e\u003cp\u003eNI\u003c/p\u003e\u003c/td\u003e\u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c11\"\u003e\u003cp\u003eNR\u003c/p\u003e\u003c/td\u003e\u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c12\"\u003e\u003cp\u003eNo exercise intervention\u003c/p\u003e\u003c/td\u003e\u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c13\"\u003e\u003cp\u003eStroop test\u003c/p\u003e\u003c/td\u003e\u003ctd align=\"left\" colspan=\"1\" nameend=\"c14\" namest=\"c14\"\u003e\u0026nbsp;\u003c/td\u003e\u003c/tr\u003e\u003ctr\u003e\u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c1\"\u003e\u003cp\u003eZhang L et al.,2022\u003c/p\u003e\u003c/td\u003e\u003ctd align=\"char\" char=\".\" colname=\"c2\"\u003e\u003cp\u003e48\u003c/p\u003e\u003c/td\u003e\u003ctd align=\"char\" char=\".\" colname=\"c3\"\u003e\u003cp\u003e24\u003c/p\u003e\u003c/td\u003e\u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c4\"\u003e\u003cp\u003e57/15\u003c/p\u003e\u003c/td\u003e\u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c5\"\u003e\u003cp\u003eIG1:11.58\u0026thinsp;\u0026plusmn;\u0026thinsp;1.14\u003c/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eIG2:11.71\u0026thinsp;\u0026plusmn;\u0026thinsp;1.16\u003c/p\u003e\u003c/td\u003e\u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c6\"\u003e\u003cp\u003e11.38\u0026thinsp;\u0026plusmn;\u0026thinsp;0.77\u003c/p\u003e\u003c/td\u003e\u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c7\"\u003e\u003cp\u003eIG1:HIIE\u003c/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eIG2:HICE\u003c/p\u003e\u003c/td\u003e\u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c8\"\u003e\u003cp\u003e30 mins/\u003c/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e1 session\u003c/p\u003e\u003c/td\u003e\u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c9\"\u003e\u003cp\u003eAcute exercise\u003c/p\u003e\u003c/td\u003e\u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c10\"\u003e\u003cp\u003eWatching cartoons\u003c/p\u003e\u003c/td\u003e\u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c11\"\u003e\u003cp\u003e30 mins/\u003c/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e1 session\u003c/p\u003e\u003c/td\u003e\u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c12\"\u003e\u003cp\u003eNo exercise intervention\u003c/p\u003e\u003c/td\u003e\u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c13\"\u003e\u003cp\u003eStroop test\u003c/p\u003e\u003c/td\u003e\u003ctd align=\"left\" colspan=\"1\" nameend=\"c14\" namest=\"c14\"\u003e\u0026nbsp;\u003c/td\u003e\u003c/tr\u003e\u003ctr\u003e\u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c1\"\u003e\u003cp\u003eZhang L et al.,2020\u003c/p\u003e\u003c/td\u003e\u003ctd align=\"char\" char=\".\" colname=\"c2\"\u003e\u003cp\u003e19\u003c/p\u003e\u003c/td\u003e\u003ctd align=\"char\" char=\".\" colname=\"c3\"\u003e\u003cp\u003e19\u003c/p\u003e\u003c/td\u003e\u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c4\"\u003e\u003cp\u003e18/20\u003c/p\u003e\u003c/td\u003e\u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c5\"\u003e\u003cp\u003e14.60\u0026thinsp;\u0026plusmn;\u0026thinsp;0.50\u003c/p\u003e\u003c/td\u003e\u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c6\"\u003e\u003cp\u003e14.65\u0026thinsp;\u0026plusmn;\u0026thinsp;0.49\u003c/p\u003e\u003c/td\u003e\u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c7\"\u003e\u003cp\u003eRope skipping\u003c/p\u003e\u003c/td\u003e\u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c8\"\u003e\u003cp\u003e30 mins/\u003c/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e1 session\u003c/p\u003e\u003c/td\u003e\u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c9\"\u003e\u003cp\u003eAcute exercise\u003c/p\u003e\u003c/td\u003e\u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c10\"\u003e\u003cp\u003eReading\u003c/p\u003e\u003c/td\u003e\u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c11\"\u003e\u003cp\u003e30 mins/\u003c/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e1 session\u003c/p\u003e\u003c/td\u003e\u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c12\"\u003e\u003cp\u003eNo exercise intervention\u003c/p\u003e\u003c/td\u003e\u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c13\"\u003e\u003cp\u003eStroop test\u003c/p\u003e\u003c/td\u003e\u003ctd align=\"left\" colspan=\"1\" nameend=\"c14\" namest=\"c14\"\u003e\u0026nbsp;\u003c/td\u003e\u003c/tr\u003e\u003ctr\u003e\u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c1\"\u003e\u003cp\u003eKrafft CE et al.,2014\u003c/p\u003e\u003c/td\u003e\u003ctd align=\"char\" char=\".\" colname=\"c2\"\u003e\u003cp\u003e23\u003c/p\u003e\u003c/td\u003e\u003ctd align=\"char\" char=\".\" colname=\"c3\"\u003e\u003cp\u003e17\u003c/p\u003e\u003c/td\u003e\u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c4\"\u003e\u003cp\u003e15/28\u003c/p\u003e\u003c/td\u003e\u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c5\"\u003e\u003cp\u003e9.7\u0026thinsp;\u0026plusmn;\u0026thinsp;0.8\u003c/p\u003e\u003c/td\u003e\u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c6\"\u003e\u003cp\u003e9.9\u0026thinsp;\u0026plusmn;\u0026thinsp;0.9\u003c/p\u003e\u003c/td\u003e\u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c7\"\u003e\u003cp\u003eAerobic exercise\u003c/p\u003e\u003c/td\u003e\u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c8\"\u003e\u003cp\u003e40 min,\u003c/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e5 weekly,\u003c/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e32 weeks\u003c/p\u003e\u003c/td\u003e\u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c9\"\u003e\u003cp\u003eAerobic exercise\u003c/p\u003e\u003c/td\u003e\u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c10\"\u003e\u003cp\u003eSedentary activities\u003c/p\u003e\u003c/td\u003e\u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c11\"\u003e\u003cp\u003eNR\u003c/p\u003e\u003c/td\u003e\u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c12\"\u003e\u003cp\u003eNo exercise intervention\u003c/p\u003e\u003c/td\u003e\u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c13\"\u003e\u003cp\u003eFlanker task\u003c/p\u003e\u003c/td\u003e\u003ctd align=\"left\" colspan=\"1\" nameend=\"c14\" namest=\"c14\"\u003e\u0026nbsp;\u003c/td\u003e\u003c/tr\u003e\u003ctr\u003e\u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c1\"\u003e\u003cp\u003eHuang T et al.,2015\u003c/p\u003e\u003c/td\u003e\u003ctd align=\"char\" char=\".\" colname=\"c2\"\u003e\u003cp\u003e48\u003c/p\u003e\u003c/td\u003e\u003ctd align=\"char\" char=\".\" colname=\"c3\"\u003e\u003cp\u003e38\u003c/p\u003e\u003c/td\u003e\u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c4\"\u003e\u003cp\u003eNR\u003c/p\u003e\u003c/td\u003e\u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c5\"\u003e\u003cp\u003e12.0\u0026thinsp;\u0026plusmn;\u0026thinsp;0.4\u003c/p\u003e\u003c/td\u003e\u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c6\"\u003e\u003cp\u003e12.0\u0026thinsp;\u0026plusmn;\u0026thinsp;0.4\u003c/p\u003e\u003c/td\u003e\u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c7\"\u003e\u003cp\u003eExercise intervention\u0026thinsp;+\u0026thinsp;family intervention\u003c/p\u003e\u003c/td\u003e\u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c8\"\u003e\u003cp\u003eExercise intervention:7weekly, 6weeks\u003c/p\u003e\u003cp\u003efamily intervention\u003c/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e:46 weeks\u003c/p\u003e\u003c/td\u003e\u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c9\"\u003e\u003cp\u003eExercise combined with family intervention\u003c/p\u003e\u003c/td\u003e\u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c10\"\u003e\u003cp\u003eRegular physical activity\u003c/p\u003e\u003c/td\u003e\u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c11\"\u003e\u003cp\u003e120 min,\u003c/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e1 weekly,\u003c/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e6 weeks\u003c/p\u003e\u003c/td\u003e\u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c12\"\u003e\u003cp\u003eRegular physical activity\u003c/p\u003e\u003c/td\u003e\u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c13\"\u003e\u003cp\u003eStroop test\u003c/p\u003e\u003c/td\u003e\u003ctd align=\"left\" colspan=\"1\" nameend=\"c14\" namest=\"c14\"\u003e\u0026nbsp;\u003c/td\u003e\u003c/tr\u003e\u003ctr\u003e\u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c1\"\u003e\u003cp\u003eChou CC et al.,2020\u003c/p\u003e\u003c/td\u003e\u003ctd align=\"char\" char=\".\" colname=\"c2\"\u003e\u003cp\u003e44\u003c/p\u003e\u003c/td\u003e\u003ctd align=\"char\" char=\".\" colname=\"c3\"\u003e\u003cp\u003e40\u003c/p\u003e\u003c/td\u003e\u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c4\"\u003e\u003cp\u003e52/32\u003c/p\u003e\u003c/td\u003e\u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c5\"\u003e\u003cp\u003e12.30\u0026thinsp;\u0026plusmn;\u0026thinsp;0.66\u003c/p\u003e\u003c/td\u003e\u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c6\"\u003e\u003cp\u003e12.08\u0026thinsp;\u0026plusmn;\u0026thinsp;0.69\u003c/p\u003e\u003c/td\u003e\u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c7\"\u003e\u003cp\u003eRunning games\u0026thinsp;+\u0026thinsp;rope skipping games\u0026thinsp;+\u0026thinsp;ball games\u003c/p\u003e\u003c/td\u003e\u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c8\"\u003e\u003cp\u003e40 min,\u003c/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e3 weekly,\u003c/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e8 weeks\u003c/p\u003e\u003c/td\u003e\u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c9\"\u003e\u003cp\u003eCognitively engaging physical activity\u003c/p\u003e\u003c/td\u003e\u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c10\"\u003e\u003cp\u003eRegular physical activity\u003c/p\u003e\u003c/td\u003e\u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c11\"\u003e\u003cp\u003e40 min,\u003c/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e3 weekly,\u003c/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e8 week\u003c/p\u003e\u003c/td\u003e\u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c12\"\u003e\u003cp\u003eRegular physical activity\u003c/p\u003e\u003c/td\u003e\u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c13\"\u003e\u003cp\u003eStroop test\u003c/p\u003e\u003c/td\u003e\u003ctd align=\"left\" colspan=\"1\" nameend=\"c14\" namest=\"c14\"\u003e\u0026nbsp;\u003c/td\u003e\u003c/tr\u003e\u003ctr\u003e\u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c1\"\u003e\u003cp\u003eChou CC et al.,2023\u003c/p\u003e\u003c/td\u003e\u003ctd align=\"char\" char=\".\" colname=\"c2\"\u003e\u003cp\u003e50\u003c/p\u003e\u003c/td\u003e\u003ctd align=\"char\" char=\".\" colname=\"c3\"\u003e\u003cp\u003e25\u003c/p\u003e\u003c/td\u003e\u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c4\"\u003e\u003cp\u003e36/39\u003c/p\u003e\u003c/td\u003e\u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c5\"\u003e\u003cp\u003eIG1:11.00\u0026thinsp;\u0026plusmn;\u0026thinsp;0.64\u003c/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eIG2:11.37\u0026thinsp;\u0026plusmn;\u0026thinsp;0.58\u003c/p\u003e\u003c/td\u003e\u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c6\"\u003e\u003cp\u003e11.32\u0026thinsp;\u0026plusmn;\u0026thinsp;0.54\u003c/p\u003e\u003c/td\u003e\u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c7\"\u003e\u003cp\u003eIG1:Running games\u0026thinsp;+\u0026thinsp;rope skipping games\u0026thinsp;+\u0026thinsp;ball games\u003c/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eIG2:Running games\u0026thinsp;+\u0026thinsp;rope skipping games\u0026thinsp;+\u0026thinsp;ball games\u0026thinsp;+\u0026thinsp;Reading\u003c/p\u003e\u003c/td\u003e\u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c8\"\u003e\u003cp\u003e40 min,\u003c/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e5 weekly,\u003c/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e10 weeks\u003c/p\u003e\u003c/td\u003e\u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c9\"\u003e\u003cp\u003eCognitively engaging physical activity\u003c/p\u003e\u003c/td\u003e\u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c10\"\u003e\u003cp\u003eSedentary activities\u003c/p\u003e\u003c/td\u003e\u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c11\"\u003e\u003cp\u003e40 min,\u003c/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e5 weekly,\u003c/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e10 weeks\u003c/p\u003e\u003c/td\u003e\u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c12\"\u003e\u003cp\u003eNo exercise intervention\u003c/p\u003e\u003c/td\u003e\u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c13\"\u003e\u003cp\u003eStroop test\u003c/p\u003e\u003c/td\u003e\u003ctd align=\"left\" colspan=\"1\" nameend=\"c14\" namest=\"c14\"\u003e\u0026nbsp;\u003c/td\u003e\u003c/tr\u003e\u003ctr\u003e\u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c1\"\u003e\u003cp\u003eXie DD,2020\u003c/p\u003e\u003c/td\u003e\u003ctd align=\"char\" char=\".\" colname=\"c2\"\u003e\u003cp\u003e60\u003c/p\u003e\u003c/td\u003e\u003ctd align=\"char\" char=\".\" colname=\"c3\"\u003e\u003cp\u003e20\u003c/p\u003e\u003c/td\u003e\u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c4\"\u003e\u003cp\u003e40/40\u003c/p\u003e\u003c/td\u003e\u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c5\"\u003e\u003cp\u003eIG1:9.75\u0026thinsp;\u0026plusmn;\u0026thinsp;0.64\u003c/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eIG2:9.75\u0026thinsp;\u0026plusmn;\u0026thinsp;0.64\u003c/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eIG3:9.65\u0026thinsp;\u0026plusmn;\u0026thinsp;0.67\u003c/p\u003e\u003c/td\u003e\u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c6\"\u003e\u003cp\u003e9.90\u0026thinsp;\u0026plusmn;\u0026thinsp;0.72\u003c/p\u003e\u003c/td\u003e\u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c7\"\u003e\u003cp\u003eBasketball dribbling training\u0026thinsp;+\u0026thinsp;skipping rope\u003c/p\u003e\u003c/td\u003e\u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c8\"\u003e\u003cp\u003eIG1:40 mins/\u003c/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e1 session\u003c/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eIG2:30 mins/\u003c/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e1 session\u003c/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eIG3:20 mins/\u003c/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e1 session\u003c/p\u003e\u003c/td\u003e\u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c9\"\u003e\u003cp\u003eAcute exercise\u003c/p\u003e\u003c/td\u003e\u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c10\"\u003e\u003cp\u003eSelf-study in the classroom\u003c/p\u003e\u003c/td\u003e\u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c11\"\u003e\u003cp\u003e40 mins/\u003c/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e1 session\u003c/p\u003e\u003c/td\u003e\u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c12\"\u003e\u003cp\u003eNo exercise intervention\u003c/p\u003e\u003c/td\u003e\u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c13\"\u003e\u003cp\u003eFlanker task\u003c/p\u003e\u003c/td\u003e\u003ctd align=\"left\" colspan=\"1\" nameend=\"c14\" namest=\"c14\"\u003e\u0026nbsp;\u003c/td\u003e\u003c/tr\u003e\u003ctr\u003e\u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c1\"\u003e\u003cp\u003eLiu XF,2023\u003c/p\u003e\u003c/td\u003e\u003ctd align=\"char\" char=\".\" colname=\"c2\"\u003e\u003cp\u003e30\u003c/p\u003e\u003c/td\u003e\u003ctd align=\"char\" char=\".\" colname=\"c3\"\u003e\u003cp\u003e30\u003c/p\u003e\u003c/td\u003e\u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c4\"\u003e\u003cp\u003e30/30\u003c/p\u003e\u003c/td\u003e\u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c5\"\u003e\u003cp\u003e7.53\u0026thinsp;\u0026plusmn;\u0026thinsp;0.43\u003c/p\u003e\u003c/td\u003e\u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c6\"\u003e\u003cp\u003e7.42\u0026thinsp;\u0026plusmn;\u0026thinsp;0.42\u003c/p\u003e\u003c/td\u003e\u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c7\"\u003e\u003cp\u003eBasketball games\u003c/p\u003e\u003c/td\u003e\u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c8\"\u003e\u003cp\u003e35\u0026ndash;40 min,\u003c/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e4 weekly,\u003c/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e10 weeks\u003c/p\u003e\u003c/td\u003e\u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c9\"\u003e\u003cp\u003eCognitively engaging physical activity\u003c/p\u003e\u003c/td\u003e\u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c10\"\u003e\u003cp\u003eBasketball training\u003c/p\u003e\u003c/td\u003e\u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c11\"\u003e\u003cp\u003e35\u0026ndash;40 min,\u003c/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e4 weekly,\u003c/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e10 weeks\u003c/p\u003e\u003c/td\u003e\u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c12\"\u003e\u003cp\u003eAerobic exercise\u003c/p\u003e\u003c/td\u003e\u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c13\"\u003e\u003cp\u003eFlanker task\u003c/p\u003e\u003c/td\u003e\u003ctd align=\"left\" colspan=\"1\" nameend=\"c14\" namest=\"c14\"\u003e\u0026nbsp;\u003c/td\u003e\u003c/tr\u003e\u003ctr\u003e\u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c1\"\u003e\u003cp\u003eZhu HL,2022\u003c/p\u003e\u003c/td\u003e\u003ctd align=\"char\" char=\".\" colname=\"c2\"\u003e\u003cp\u003e20\u003c/p\u003e\u003c/td\u003e\u003ctd align=\"char\" char=\".\" colname=\"c3\"\u003e\u003cp\u003e20\u003c/p\u003e\u003c/td\u003e\u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c4\"\u003e\u003cp\u003e20/20\u003c/p\u003e\u003c/td\u003e\u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c5\"\u003e\u003cp\u003e10.75\u0026thinsp;\u0026plusmn;\u0026thinsp;0.85\u003c/p\u003e\u003c/td\u003e\u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c6\"\u003e\u003cp\u003e10.55\u0026thinsp;\u0026plusmn;\u0026thinsp;0.76\u003c/p\u003e\u003c/td\u003e\u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c7\"\u003e\u003cp\u003eBasketball training\u003c/p\u003e\u003c/td\u003e\u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c8\"\u003e\u003cp\u003e40 min,\u003c/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e3 weekly,\u003c/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e8 weeks\u003c/p\u003e\u003c/td\u003e\u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c9\"\u003e\u003cp\u003eAerobic exercise\u003c/p\u003e\u003c/td\u003e\u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c10\"\u003e\u003cp\u003eRegular physical activity\u003c/p\u003e\u003c/td\u003e\u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c11\"\u003e\u003cp\u003e40 min,\u003c/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e3 weekly,\u003c/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e8 weeks\u003c/p\u003e\u003c/td\u003e\u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c12\"\u003e\u003cp\u003eRegular physical activity\u003c/p\u003e\u003c/td\u003e\u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c13\"\u003e\u003cp\u003eFlanker task\u003c/p\u003e\u003c/td\u003e\u003ctd align=\"left\" colspan=\"1\" nameend=\"c14\" namest=\"c14\"\u003e\u0026nbsp;\u003c/td\u003e\u003c/tr\u003e\u003ctr\u003e\u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c1\"\u003e\u003cp\u003eLiu Q,2024\u003c/p\u003e\u003c/td\u003e\u003ctd align=\"char\" char=\".\" colname=\"c2\"\u003e\u003cp\u003e93\u003c/p\u003e\u003c/td\u003e\u003ctd align=\"char\" char=\".\" colname=\"c3\"\u003e\u003cp\u003e91\u003c/p\u003e\u003c/td\u003e\u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c4\"\u003e\u003cp\u003eNR\u003c/p\u003e\u003c/td\u003e\u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c5\"\u003e\u003cp\u003e9.75\u0026thinsp;\u0026plusmn;\u0026thinsp;1.13\u003c/p\u003e\u003c/td\u003e\u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c6\"\u003e\u003cp\u003e9.72\u0026thinsp;\u0026plusmn;\u0026thinsp;1.18\u003c/p\u003e\u003c/td\u003e\u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c7\"\u003e\u003cp\u003eExercise intervention\u0026thinsp;+\u0026thinsp;family intervention\u003c/p\u003e\u003c/td\u003e\u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c8\"\u003e\u003cp\u003e40 min,\u003c/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e3 weekly,\u003c/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e12 weeks;\u003c/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e30 min,\u003c/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e3 weekly,\u003c/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e12 weeks\u003c/p\u003e\u003c/td\u003e\u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c9\"\u003e\u003cp\u003eExercise combined with family intervention\u003c/p\u003e\u003c/td\u003e\u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c10\"\u003e\u003cp\u003eNI\u003c/p\u003e\u003c/td\u003e\u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c11\"\u003e\u003cp\u003eNR\u003c/p\u003e\u003c/td\u003e\u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c12\"\u003e\u003cp\u003eNo exercise intervention\u003c/p\u003e\u003c/td\u003e\u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c13\"\u003e\u003cp\u003eColor-word conflict task\u003c/p\u003e\u003c/td\u003e\u003ctd align=\"left\" colspan=\"1\" nameend=\"c14\" namest=\"c14\"\u003e\u0026nbsp;\u003c/td\u003e\u003c/tr\u003e\u003ctr\u003e\u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c1\"\u003e\u003cp\u003eZeng LB,2022\u003c/p\u003e\u003c/td\u003e\u003ctd align=\"char\" char=\".\" colname=\"c2\"\u003e\u003cp\u003e25\u003c/p\u003e\u003c/td\u003e\u003ctd align=\"char\" char=\".\" colname=\"c3\"\u003e\u003cp\u003e25\u003c/p\u003e\u003c/td\u003e\u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c4\"\u003e\u003cp\u003e25/25\u003c/p\u003e\u003c/td\u003e\u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c5\"\u003e\u003cp\u003e13.72\u0026thinsp;\u0026plusmn;\u0026thinsp;0.94\u003c/p\u003e\u003c/td\u003e\u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c6\"\u003e\u003cp\u003e13.68\u0026thinsp;\u0026plusmn;\u0026thinsp;1.03\u003c/p\u003e\u003c/td\u003e\u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c7\"\u003e\u003cp\u003eMartial arts training\u003c/p\u003e\u003c/td\u003e\u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c8\"\u003e\u003cp\u003e60 min,\u003c/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e6 weekly,\u003c/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e4 weeks\u003c/p\u003e\u003c/td\u003e\u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c9\"\u003e\u003cp\u003eCoordination exercise\u003c/p\u003e\u003c/td\u003e\u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c10\"\u003e\u003cp\u003eAerobics training\u0026thinsp;+\u0026thinsp;ball exercise\u0026thinsp;+\u0026thinsp;resistance training\u0026thinsp;+\u0026thinsp;tabata\u0026thinsp;+\u0026thinsp;rope ladder combination training\u0026thinsp;+\u0026thinsp;sports games\u003c/p\u003e\u003c/td\u003e\u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c11\"\u003e\u003cp\u003e60 min,\u003c/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e6 weekly,\u003c/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e4 weeks\u003c/p\u003e\u003c/td\u003e\u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c12\"\u003e\u003cp\u003eMixed exercise\u003c/p\u003e\u003c/td\u003e\u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c13\"\u003e\u003cp\u003eFlanker task\u003c/p\u003e\u003c/td\u003e\u003ctd align=\"left\" colspan=\"1\" nameend=\"c14\" namest=\"c14\"\u003e\u0026nbsp;\u003c/td\u003e\u003c/tr\u003e\u003c/tbody\u003e\u003c/colgroup\u003e\u003ctfoot\u003e\u003ctr\u003e\u003ctd colspan=\"14\"\u003eIG, intervention group; CG, control group; NR, no report; NI, no intervention; M, male; F, female.\u003c/td\u003e\u003c/tr\u003e\u003c/tfoot\u003e\u003c/table\u003e\u003c/div\u003e\u003c/p\u003e\u003c/div\u003e\u003cdiv id=\"Sec13\" class=\"Section2\"\u003e\u003ch2\u003e3.3 Risk of bias\u003c/h2\u003e\u003cp\u003eWe used ROB 2.0 to assess the quality of the included studies, evaluating the overall risk of bias for each study. Since all the included studies were related to exercise interventions, it was nearly impossible to blind participants and researchers in the \"deviations from intended interventions\" domain. Therefore, all studies were assessed as having some concerns or high risk in this aspect. Among the 17 studies, 4 were classified as having low overall risk of bias, 2 as high overall risk of bias, and 11 as having some concerns. Figure\u0026nbsp;\u003cspan refid=\"Fig2\" class=\"InternalRef\"\u003e2\u003c/span\u003e shows the methodological quality distribution of the included studies, with detailed bias assessments for each study provided in the \u003cb\u003eAppendix C\u003c/b\u003e.\u003c/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003c/p\u003e\u003c/div\u003e\u003cdiv id=\"Sec14\" class=\"Section2\"\u003e\u003ch2\u003e3.4 Network meta-analysis\u003c/h2\u003e\u003cp\u003eTo evaluate inconsistency across the entire network, we conducted a global inconsistency test. The results showed no significant inconsistency in the overall network (p\u0026thinsp;=\u0026thinsp;0.4198\u0026thinsp;\u0026gt;\u0026thinsp;0.05). Therefore, we used a consistency model for analysis. Figure\u0026nbsp;\u003cspan refid=\"Fig3\" class=\"InternalRef\"\u003e3\u003c/span\u003e presents the network meta-analysis diagram. Interventions with larger sample sizes included no exercise intervention, regular physical activity, acute exercise, mixed exercise, and cognitively engaging physical activities. The most common comparisons involved acute exercise versus no exercise intervention, mixed exercise versus no exercise intervention, cognitively engaging physical activities versus no exercise intervention, and cognitively engaging physical activities versus regular physical activity. This study presents the changes in inhibitory control after various exercise interventions. The SMD with 95% CI was used as the effect size measure. It is worth noting that all measurement tools used reaction time as the evaluation criterion, which means that a lower effect size corresponds to greater improvement.\u003c/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003c/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eAs shown in Table\u0026nbsp;\u003cspan refid=\"Tab2\" class=\"InternalRef\"\u003e2\u003c/span\u003e, pairwise comparison results indicate that, compared with regular physical activity, cognitively engaging physical activities [SMD=-1.07, 95% CI=(-1.57, -0.56)], aerobic exercise [SMD=-1.04, 95% CI=(-1.77, -0.31)], coordination exercise [SMD=-0.81, 95% CI=(-1.58, -0.04)], and acute exercise [SMD=-0.78, 95% CI=(-1.45, -0.11)] all showed significant improvement effects. Except for coordination exercise, cognitively engaging physical activities [SMD=-0.85, 95% CI=(-1.34, -0.36)], aerobic exercise [SMD=-0.82, 95% CI=(-1.54, -0.11)], and acute exercise [SMD=-0.56, 95% CI=(-1.00, -0.13)] also showed significant improvement compared with no exercise intervention. Additionally, cognitively engaging physical activities [SMD=-0.73, 95% CI=(-1.35, -0.11)] demonstrated significant improvement compared to mixed exercise. Exercise combined with family intervention showed improvement [SMD=-0.52, 95% CI=(-1.13, 0.08)], but it was not statistically significant.\u003c/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003cdiv class=\"gridtable\"\u003e\u003ctable float=\"Yes\" id=\"Tab2\" border=\"1\"\u003e\u003ccaption language=\"En\"\u003e\u003cdiv class=\"CaptionNumber\"\u003eTable 2\u003c/div\u003e\u003cdiv class=\"CaptionContent\"\u003e\u003cp\u003eLeague table on interventions.\u003c/p\u003e\u003c/div\u003e\u003c/caption\u003e\u003ccolgroup cols=\"8\"\u003e\u003cdiv align=\"left\" class=\"colspec\" colname=\"c1\" colnum=\"1\"\u003e\u003c/div\u003e\u003cdiv align=\"left\" class=\"colspec\" colname=\"c2\" colnum=\"2\"\u003e\u003c/div\u003e\u003cdiv align=\"left\" class=\"colspec\" colname=\"c3\" colnum=\"3\"\u003e\u003c/div\u003e\u003cdiv align=\"left\" class=\"colspec\" colname=\"c4\" colnum=\"4\"\u003e\u003c/div\u003e\u003cdiv align=\"left\" class=\"colspec\" colname=\"c5\" colnum=\"5\"\u003e\u003c/div\u003e\u003cdiv align=\"left\" class=\"colspec\" colname=\"c6\" colnum=\"6\"\u003e\u003c/div\u003e\u003cdiv align=\"left\" class=\"colspec\" colname=\"c7\" colnum=\"7\"\u003e\u003c/div\u003e\u003cdiv align=\"left\" class=\"colspec\" colname=\"c8\" colnum=\"8\"\u003e\u003c/div\u003e\u003cthead\u003e\u003ctr\u003e\u003cth align=\"left\" colname=\"c1\"\u003e\u003cp\u003eCEPA\u003c/p\u003e\u003c/th\u003e\u003cth align=\"left\" colname=\"c2\"\u003e\u003cp\u003eAerobic\u003c/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eexercise\u003c/p\u003e\u003c/th\u003e\u003cth align=\"left\" colname=\"c3\"\u003e\u003cp\u003eCoordination \u003c/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eexercise\u003c/p\u003e\u003c/th\u003e\u003cth align=\"left\" colname=\"c4\"\u003e\u003cp\u003eAcute\u003c/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eexercise\u003c/p\u003e\u003c/th\u003e\u003cth align=\"left\" colname=\"c5\"\u003e\u003cp\u003eECFI\u003c/p\u003e\u003c/th\u003e\u003cth align=\"left\" colname=\"c6\"\u003e\u003cp\u003eMixed\u003c/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eexercise\u003c/p\u003e\u003c/th\u003e\u003cth align=\"left\" colname=\"c7\"\u003e\u003cp\u003eNo exercise\u003c/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eintervention\u003c/p\u003e\u003c/th\u003e\u003cth align=\"left\" colname=\"c8\"\u003e\u003cp\u003eRegular physical\u003c/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eactivity\u003c/p\u003e\u003c/th\u003e\u003c/tr\u003e\u003c/thead\u003e\u003ctbody\u003e\u003ctr\u003e\u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c1\"\u003e\u003cp\u003eCEPA\u003c/p\u003e\u003c/td\u003e\u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c2\"\u003e\u003cp\u003e0.03 \u003c/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e(-0.77,0.83)\u003c/p\u003e\u003c/td\u003e\u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c3\"\u003e\u003cp\u003e0.26 \u003c/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e(-0.52,1.04)\u003c/p\u003e\u003c/td\u003e\u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c4\"\u003e\u003cp\u003e0.29 \u003c/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e(-0.37,0.94)\u003c/p\u003e\u003c/td\u003e\u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c5\"\u003e\u003cp\u003e0.54 \u003c/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e(-0.14,1.23)\u003c/p\u003e\u003c/td\u003e\u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c6\"\u003e\u003cp\u003e0.73 \u003c/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e(0.11,1.35)\u003c/p\u003e\u003c/td\u003e\u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c7\"\u003e\u003cp\u003e0.85 \u003c/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e(0.36,1.34)\u003c/p\u003e\u003c/td\u003e\u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c8\"\u003e\u003cp\u003e1.07 \u003c/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e(0.56,1.57)\u003c/p\u003e\u003c/td\u003e\u003c/tr\u003e\u003ctr\u003e\u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c1\"\u003e\u003cp\u003e-0.03 \u003c/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e(-0.83,0.77)\u003c/p\u003e\u003c/td\u003e\u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c2\"\u003e\u003cp\u003eAerobic\u003c/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e exercise\u003c/p\u003e\u003c/td\u003e\u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c3\"\u003e\u003cp\u003e0.23 \u003c/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e(-0.71,1.17)\u003c/p\u003e\u003c/td\u003e\u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c4\"\u003e\u003cp\u003e0.26 \u003c/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e(-0.57,1.09)\u003c/p\u003e\u003c/td\u003e\u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c5\"\u003e\u003cp\u003e0.52 \u003c/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e(-0.35,1.38)\u003c/p\u003e\u003c/td\u003e\u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c6\"\u003e\u003cp\u003e0.70 \u003c/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e(-0.11,1.51)\u003c/p\u003e\u003c/td\u003e\u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c7\"\u003e\u003cp\u003e0.82 \u003c/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e(0.11,1.54)\u003c/p\u003e\u003c/td\u003e\u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c8\"\u003e\u003cp\u003e1.04 \u003c/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e(0.31,1.77)\u003c/p\u003e\u003c/td\u003e\u003c/tr\u003e\u003ctr\u003e\u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c1\"\u003e\u003cp\u003e-0.26 \u003c/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e(-1.04,0.52)\u003c/p\u003e\u003c/td\u003e\u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c2\"\u003e\u003cp\u003e-0.23 \u003c/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e(-1.17,0.71)\u003c/p\u003e\u003c/td\u003e\u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c3\"\u003e\u003cp\u003eCoordination \u003c/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eexercise\u003c/p\u003e\u003c/td\u003e\u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c4\"\u003e\u003cp\u003e0.03 \u003c/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e(-0.74,0.80)\u003c/p\u003e\u003c/td\u003e\u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c5\"\u003e\u003cp\u003e0.29 \u003c/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e(-0.56,1.13)\u003c/p\u003e\u003c/td\u003e\u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c6\"\u003e\u003cp\u003e0.47 \u003c/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e(-0.18,1.12)\u003c/p\u003e\u003c/td\u003e\u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c7\"\u003e\u003cp\u003e0.59 \u003c/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e(-0.05,1.23)\u003c/p\u003e\u003c/td\u003e\u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c8\"\u003e\u003cp\u003e0.81 \u003c/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e(0.04,1.58)\u003c/p\u003e\u003c/td\u003e\u003c/tr\u003e\u003ctr\u003e\u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c1\"\u003e\u003cp\u003e-0.29 \u003c/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e(-0.94,0.37)\u003c/p\u003e\u003c/td\u003e\u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c2\"\u003e\u003cp\u003e-0.26 \u003c/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e(-1.09,0.57)\u003c/p\u003e\u003c/td\u003e\u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c3\"\u003e\u003cp\u003e-0.03 \u003c/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e(-0.80,0.74)\u003c/p\u003e\u003c/td\u003e\u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c4\"\u003e\u003cp\u003eAcute\u003c/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eexercise\u003c/p\u003e\u003c/td\u003e\u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c5\"\u003e\u003cp\u003e0.26 \u003c/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e(-0.47,0.99)\u003c/p\u003e\u003c/td\u003e\u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c6\"\u003e\u003cp\u003e0.44 \u003c/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e(-0.20,1.08)\u003c/p\u003e\u003c/td\u003e\u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c7\"\u003e\u003cp\u003e0.56 \u003c/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e(0.13,1.00)\u003c/p\u003e\u003c/td\u003e\u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c8\"\u003e\u003cp\u003e0.78 \u003c/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e(0.11,1.45)\u003c/p\u003e\u003c/td\u003e\u003c/tr\u003e\u003ctr\u003e\u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c1\"\u003e\u003cp\u003e-0.54 \u003c/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e(-1.23,0.14)\u003c/p\u003e\u003c/td\u003e\u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c2\"\u003e\u003cp\u003e-0.52 \u003c/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e(-1.38,0.35)\u003c/p\u003e\u003c/td\u003e\u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c3\"\u003e\u003cp\u003e-0.29 \u003c/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e(-1.13,0.56)\u003c/p\u003e\u003c/td\u003e\u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c4\"\u003e\u003cp\u003e-0.26 \u003c/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e(-0.99,0.47)\u003c/p\u003e\u003c/td\u003e\u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c5\"\u003e\u003cp\u003eECFI\u003c/p\u003e\u003c/td\u003e\u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c6\"\u003e\u003cp\u003e0.18 \u003c/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e(-0.52,0.89)\u003c/p\u003e\u003c/td\u003e\u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c7\"\u003e\u003cp\u003e0.31 \u003c/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e(-0.28,0.89)\u003c/p\u003e\u003c/td\u003e\u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c8\"\u003e\u003cp\u003e0.52 \u003c/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e(-0.08,1.13)\u003c/p\u003e\u003c/td\u003e\u003c/tr\u003e\u003ctr\u003e\u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c1\"\u003e\u003cp\u003e-0.73 \u003c/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e(-1.35,-0.11)\u003c/p\u003e\u003c/td\u003e\u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c2\"\u003e\u003cp\u003e-0.70 \u003c/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e(-1.51,0.11)\u003c/p\u003e\u003c/td\u003e\u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c3\"\u003e\u003cp\u003e-0.47 \u003c/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e(-1.12,0.18)\u003c/p\u003e\u003c/td\u003e\u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c4\"\u003e\u003cp\u003e-0.44 \u003c/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e(-1.08,0.20)\u003c/p\u003e\u003c/td\u003e\u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c5\"\u003e\u003cp\u003e-0.18 \u003c/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e(-0.89,0.52)\u003c/p\u003e\u003c/td\u003e\u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c6\"\u003e\u003cp\u003eMixed\u003c/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eexercise\u003c/p\u003e\u003c/td\u003e\u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c7\"\u003e\u003cp\u003e0.12 \u003c/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e(-0.35,0.60)\u003c/p\u003e\u003c/td\u003e\u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c8\"\u003e\u003cp\u003e0.34 \u003c/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e(-0.23,0.91)\u003c/p\u003e\u003c/td\u003e\u003c/tr\u003e\u003ctr\u003e\u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c1\"\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003cb\u003e-0.85 \u003c/b\u003e\u003c/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003cb\u003e(-1.34,-0.36)\u003c/b\u003e\u003c/p\u003e\u003c/td\u003e\u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c2\"\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003cb\u003e-0.82 \u003c/b\u003e\u003c/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003cb\u003e(-1.54,-0.11)\u003c/b\u003e\u003c/p\u003e\u003c/td\u003e\u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c3\"\u003e\u003cp\u003e-0.59 \u003c/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e(-1.23,0.05)\u003c/p\u003e\u003c/td\u003e\u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c4\"\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003cb\u003e-0.56 \u003c/b\u003e\u003c/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003cb\u003e(-1.00,-0.13)\u003c/b\u003e\u003c/p\u003e\u003c/td\u003e\u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c5\"\u003e\u003cp\u003e-0.31 \u003c/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e(-0.89,0.28)\u003c/p\u003e\u003c/td\u003e\u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c6\"\u003e\u003cp\u003e-0.12 \u003c/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e(-0.60,0.35)\u003c/p\u003e\u003c/td\u003e\u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c7\"\u003e\u003cp\u003eNo exercise\u003c/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eintervention\u003c/p\u003e\u003c/td\u003e\u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c8\"\u003e\u003cp\u003e0.21 \u003c/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e(-0.29,0.72)\u003c/p\u003e\u003c/td\u003e\u003c/tr\u003e\u003ctr\u003e\u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c1\"\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003cb\u003e-1.07 \u003c/b\u003e\u003c/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003cb\u003e(-1.57,-0.56)\u003c/b\u003e\u003c/p\u003e\u003c/td\u003e\u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c2\"\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003cb\u003e-1.04 \u003c/b\u003e\u003c/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003cb\u003e(-1.77,-0.31)\u003c/b\u003e\u003c/p\u003e\u003c/td\u003e\u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c3\"\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003cb\u003e-0.81 \u003c/b\u003e\u003c/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003cb\u003e(-1.58,-0.04)\u003c/b\u003e\u003c/p\u003e\u003c/td\u003e\u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c4\"\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003cb\u003e-0.78 \u003c/b\u003e\u003c/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003cb\u003e(-1.45,-0.11)\u003c/b\u003e\u003c/p\u003e\u003c/td\u003e\u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c5\"\u003e\u003cp\u003e-0.52 \u003c/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e(-1.13,0.08)\u003c/p\u003e\u003c/td\u003e\u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c6\"\u003e\u003cp\u003e-0.34 \u003c/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e(-0.91,0.23)\u003c/p\u003e\u003c/td\u003e\u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c7\"\u003e\u003cp\u003e-0.21 \u003c/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e(-0.72,0.29)\u003c/p\u003e\u003c/td\u003e\u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c8\"\u003e\u003cp\u003eRegular physical activity\u003c/p\u003e\u003c/td\u003e\u003c/tr\u003e\u003c/tbody\u003e\u003c/colgroup\u003e\u003ctfoot\u003e\u003ctr\u003e\u003ctd colspan=\"8\"\u003eCEPA, Cognitively engaging physical activity; ECFI, Exercise combined with family intervention; The bold values represent the signify statistical significance.\u003c/td\u003e\u003c/tr\u003e\u003c/tfoot\u003e\u003c/table\u003e\u003c/div\u003e\u003c/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eIn terms of the probability of different interventions affecting inhibitory control, according to the SUCRA index, cognitively engaging physical activities ranked first (SUCRA\u0026thinsp;=\u0026thinsp;85.5%), followed by aerobic exercise (SUCRA\u0026thinsp;=\u0026thinsp;81.4%). Coordination exercise (SUCRA\u0026thinsp;=\u0026thinsp;67.9%) ranked third, and acute exercise fourth (SUCRA\u0026thinsp;=\u0026thinsp;65.3%). Details are shown in Fig.\u0026nbsp;\u003cspan refid=\"Fig4\" class=\"InternalRef\"\u003e4\u003c/span\u003e.\u003c/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003c/p\u003e\u003c/div\u003e\u003cdiv id=\"Sec15\" class=\"Section2\"\u003e\u003ch2\u003e3.5 Publication bias\u003c/h2\u003e\u003cp\u003eAs shown in Fig.\u0026nbsp;\u003cspan refid=\"Fig5\" class=\"InternalRef\"\u003e5\u003c/span\u003e, we first used a funnel plot to assess publication bias. The distribution of studies in the funnel plot was roughly symmetrical, and visual inspection did not reveal obvious signs of publication bias. Subsequently, we performed Egger's test, and the results also showed no significant bias (p\u0026thinsp;=\u0026thinsp;0.1169). See the \u003cb\u003eAppendix D\u003c/b\u003e for details.\u003c/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003c/p\u003e\u003c/div\u003e"},{"header":"4. Discussion","content":"\u003cp\u003eThis study used a network meta-analysis to evaluate the effects of different exercise interventions on inhibitory control in overweight and obese children and adolescents. The results showed that different exercise interventions have varying effects on improving inhibitory control in this population, and not all exercise interventions can significantly impact their inhibitory control. Specifically, cognitively engaging physical activities, aerobic exercise, coordination exercise, and acute exercise have significant benefits in improving inhibitory control. Table\u0026nbsp;\u003cspan refid=\"Tab3\" class=\"InternalRef\"\u003e3\u003c/span\u003e presents the ranking of interventions.\u003c/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003cdiv class=\"gridtable\"\u003e\u003ctable float=\"Yes\" id=\"Tab3\" border=\"1\"\u003e\u003ccaption language=\"En\"\u003e\u003cdiv class=\"CaptionNumber\"\u003eTable 3\u003c/div\u003e\u003cdiv class=\"CaptionContent\"\u003e\u003cp\u003eRanking of SUCRA probabilities.\u003c/p\u003e\u003c/div\u003e\u003c/caption\u003e\u003ccolgroup cols=\"3\"\u003e\u003cdiv align=\"left\" class=\"colspec\" colname=\"c1\" colnum=\"1\"\u003e\u003c/div\u003e\u003cdiv align=\"char\" char=\".\" class=\"colspec\" colname=\"c2\" colnum=\"2\"\u003e\u003c/div\u003e\u003cdiv align=\"char\" char=\".\" class=\"colspec\" colname=\"c3\" colnum=\"3\"\u003e\u003c/div\u003e\u003cthead\u003e\u003ctr\u003e\u003cth align=\"left\" colname=\"c1\"\u003e\u003cp\u003eIntervention\u003c/p\u003e\u003c/th\u003e\u003cth align=\"left\" colname=\"c2\"\u003e\u003cp\u003eSucra\u003c/p\u003e\u003c/th\u003e\u003cth align=\"left\" colname=\"c3\"\u003e\u003cp\u003eRank\u003c/p\u003e\u003c/th\u003e\u003c/tr\u003e\u003c/thead\u003e\u003ctbody\u003e\u003ctr\u003e\u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c1\"\u003e\u003cp\u003eCognitively engaging physical activity\u003c/p\u003e\u003c/td\u003e\u003ctd align=\"char\" char=\".\" colname=\"c2\"\u003e\u003cp\u003e85.5\u003c/p\u003e\u003c/td\u003e\u003ctd align=\"char\" char=\".\" colname=\"c3\"\u003e\u003cp\u003e1\u003c/p\u003e\u003c/td\u003e\u003c/tr\u003e\u003ctr\u003e\u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c1\"\u003e\u003cp\u003eAerobic exercise\u003c/p\u003e\u003c/td\u003e\u003ctd align=\"char\" char=\".\" colname=\"c2\"\u003e\u003cp\u003e81.4\u003c/p\u003e\u003c/td\u003e\u003ctd align=\"char\" char=\".\" colname=\"c3\"\u003e\u003cp\u003e2\u003c/p\u003e\u003c/td\u003e\u003c/tr\u003e\u003ctr\u003e\u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c1\"\u003e\u003cp\u003eCoordination exercise\u003c/p\u003e\u003c/td\u003e\u003ctd align=\"char\" char=\".\" colname=\"c2\"\u003e\u003cp\u003e67.9\u003c/p\u003e\u003c/td\u003e\u003ctd align=\"char\" char=\".\" colname=\"c3\"\u003e\u003cp\u003e3\u003c/p\u003e\u003c/td\u003e\u003c/tr\u003e\u003ctr\u003e\u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c1\"\u003e\u003cp\u003eAcute exercise\u003c/p\u003e\u003c/td\u003e\u003ctd align=\"char\" char=\".\" colname=\"c2\"\u003e\u003cp\u003e65.3\u003c/p\u003e\u003c/td\u003e\u003ctd align=\"char\" char=\".\" colname=\"c3\"\u003e\u003cp\u003e4\u003c/p\u003e\u003c/td\u003e\u003c/tr\u003e\u003ctr\u003e\u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c1\"\u003e\u003cp\u003eExercise combined with family intervention\u003c/p\u003e\u003c/td\u003e\u003ctd align=\"char\" char=\".\" colname=\"c2\"\u003e\u003cp\u003e45.7\u003c/p\u003e\u003c/td\u003e\u003ctd align=\"char\" char=\".\" colname=\"c3\"\u003e\u003cp\u003e5\u003c/p\u003e\u003c/td\u003e\u003c/tr\u003e\u003ctr\u003e\u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c1\"\u003e\u003cp\u003eMixed exercise\u003c/p\u003e\u003c/td\u003e\u003ctd align=\"char\" char=\".\" colname=\"c2\"\u003e\u003cp\u003e29.6\u003c/p\u003e\u003c/td\u003e\u003ctd align=\"char\" char=\".\" colname=\"c3\"\u003e\u003cp\u003e6\u003c/p\u003e\u003c/td\u003e\u003c/tr\u003e\u003ctr\u003e\u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c1\"\u003e\u003cp\u003eNo exercise intervention\u003c/p\u003e\u003c/td\u003e\u003ctd align=\"char\" char=\".\" colname=\"c2\"\u003e\u003cp\u003e18.7\u003c/p\u003e\u003c/td\u003e\u003ctd align=\"char\" char=\".\" colname=\"c3\"\u003e\u003cp\u003e7\u003c/p\u003e\u003c/td\u003e\u003c/tr\u003e\u003ctr\u003e\u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c1\"\u003e\u003cp\u003eRegular physical activity\u003c/p\u003e\u003c/td\u003e\u003ctd align=\"char\" char=\".\" colname=\"c2\"\u003e\u003cp\u003e5.8\u003c/p\u003e\u003c/td\u003e\u003ctd align=\"char\" char=\".\" colname=\"c3\"\u003e\u003cp\u003e8\u003c/p\u003e\u003c/td\u003e\u003c/tr\u003e\u003c/tbody\u003e\u003c/colgroup\u003e\u003c/table\u003e\u003c/div\u003e\u003c/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eCognitively engaging physical activities (SUCRA\u0026thinsp;=\u0026thinsp;85.5%) ranked first in improving inhibitory control among overweight and obese children and adolescents. Our findings align with previous studies. Wang et al. investigated the effects of different types of physical activities on the executive functions of healthy children and adolescents[\u003cspan citationid=\"CR36\" class=\"CitationRef\"\u003e36\u003c/span\u003e]. For the inhibitory control dimension, the results indicated that cognitively engaging physical activities ranked among the top two both in improving the accuracy of inhibitory control tests (SUCRA\u0026thinsp;=\u0026thinsp;71.7%) and in reducing reaction time (SUCRA\u0026thinsp;=\u0026thinsp;70.5%). This study demonstrated that cognitively engaging physical activities are the most effective intervention for improving inhibitory control in healthy children and adolescents. Tao et al. explored the effects of different types of physical activities on the executive functions of children and adolescents with neurodevelopmental disorders[\u003cspan citationid=\"CR37\" class=\"CitationRef\"\u003e37\u003c/span\u003e]. The results showed that Exergaming was the most effective intervention for improving executive functions in this population. Exergaming integrates physical movement with cognitive tasks, providing a mixed exercise environment. This is similar to traditional cognitively engaging physical activities, both emphasizing the simultaneous development of body and mind. Although inhibitory control was not separately distinguished, as an important component of executive function, the findings of that study provide a reference for our results.\u003c/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eThe mechanism by which cognitively engaging physical activities affect inhibitory control can be analyzed from physiological and psychological perspectives. Physiologically, exercise interventions can promote the release of brain-derived neurotrophic factor (BDNF), a consensus reached in numerous studies[\u003cspan citationid=\"CR38\" class=\"CitationRef\"\u003e38\u003c/span\u003e, \u003cspan citationid=\"CR39\" class=\"CitationRef\"\u003e39\u003c/span\u003e]. BDNF is a key neurotrophic factor commonly found in the hippocampus, cerebral cortex, and amygdala[\u003cspan citationid=\"CR40\" class=\"CitationRef\"\u003e40\u003c/span\u003e]. It plays an important role in regulating neuronal growth and repair, promoting neuron proliferation and survival, and enhancing synaptic plasticity and cognitive functions[\u003cspan citationid=\"CR41\" class=\"CitationRef\"\u003e41\u003c/span\u003e, \u003cspan citationid=\"CR42\" class=\"CitationRef\"\u003e42\u003c/span\u003e]. Exercise can also stimulate the cardiovascular system's function. Studies have shown that during moderate-intensity exercise interventions, cardiac output and skeletal muscle blood flow can increase up to 8-fold and 100-fold compared to normal levels, and cerebral blood flow can increase by 10\u0026ndash;20% compared to the resting state[\u003cspan citationid=\"CR43\" class=\"CitationRef\"\u003e43\u003c/span\u003e, \u003cspan citationid=\"CR44\" class=\"CitationRef\"\u003e44\u003c/span\u003e]. When cerebral blood flow increases, executive functions can benefit accordingly[\u003cspan citationid=\"CR45\" class=\"CitationRef\"\u003e45\u003c/span\u003e, \u003cspan citationid=\"CR46\" class=\"CitationRef\"\u003e46\u003c/span\u003e]. In addition to these two mechanisms, exercise interventions may enhance inhibitory control functions by regulating neurotransmitter levels[\u003cspan citationid=\"CR47\" class=\"CitationRef\"\u003e47\u003c/span\u003e, \u003cspan citationid=\"CR48\" class=\"CitationRef\"\u003e48\u003c/span\u003e], increasing dendritic spine density[\u003cspan citationid=\"CR49\" class=\"CitationRef\"\u003e49\u003c/span\u003e], and reducing systemic inflammation[\u003cspan citationid=\"CR50\" class=\"CitationRef\"\u003e50\u003c/span\u003e].\u003c/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eThe above physiological mechanisms are not only reflected in cognitively engaging physical activities but also play a role in interventions such as aerobic exercise. Therefore, the difference in intervention effects between cognitively engaging physical activities and other types of exercise may mainly stem from whether cognitive engagement is involved. Cognitively engaging physical activities usually have more complex task designs in practice, and such tasks can lead children and adolescents to invest more cognitive resources into the current task, which is conducive to promoting the development of inhibitory functions[\u003cspan citationid=\"CR51\" class=\"CitationRef\"\u003e51\u003c/span\u003e]. This view has been confirmed in both human and animal studies[\u003cspan citationid=\"CR52\" class=\"CitationRef\"\u003e52\u003c/span\u003e, \u003cspan citationid=\"CR53\" class=\"CitationRef\"\u003e53\u003c/span\u003e]. In addition to complex task design, variability in practice is also an important characteristic of cognitively engaging physical activities. Participants often make changes during practice based on external stimuli or changes in task goals[\u003cspan citationid=\"CR54\" class=\"CitationRef\"\u003e54\u003c/span\u003e]. For example, in this study, the research by Shang et al. and Chou et al. was classified as cognitively engaging physical activities[\u003cspan citationid=\"CR30\" class=\"CitationRef\"\u003e30\u003c/span\u003e, \u003cspan citationid=\"CR31\" class=\"CitationRef\"\u003e31\u003c/span\u003e]. They adopted open-skill exercise practice and competitive team games as interventions, which contain rich elements of variability. This variability causes participants to inhibit unreasonable actions through feedback from action execution during practice, a process that activates prefrontal regions associated with inhibitory control[\u003cspan citationid=\"CR55\" class=\"CitationRef\"\u003e55\u003c/span\u003e, \u003cspan citationid=\"CR56\" class=\"CitationRef\"\u003e56\u003c/span\u003e]. From a psychological perspective, cognitively engaging physical activities involve more elements of games or competitions, which can stimulate children's and adolescents' interest in exercise and provide them with positive emotional experiences. Intervention programs that can stimulate participants' interest in exercise and positive emotional experiences can promote their performance in executive function tasks[\u003cspan citationid=\"CR54\" class=\"CitationRef\"\u003e54\u003c/span\u003e].\u003c/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eAerobic exercise (SUCRA\u0026thinsp;=\u0026thinsp;81.4%) ranked second among all types of exercise interventions. Its physiological mechanism of influencing inhibitory control is roughly the same as that of cognitively engaging physical activities, except that it does not involve more cognitive engagement. Neuroimaging studies have shown that after overweight children underwent a 15-week aerobic exercise intervention, not only did their executive functions improve, but the activity of their bilateral prefrontal cortex also increased[\u003cspan citationid=\"CR57\" class=\"CitationRef\"\u003e57\u003c/span\u003e]. However, due to the relatively fixed practice patterns of aerobic exercise, when participants engage in multiple practices and their mastery of the exercise movements reaches an automated stage, their psychological engagement gradually weakens, and activation of the prefrontal region also decreases[\u003cspan citationid=\"CR55\" class=\"CitationRef\"\u003e55\u003c/span\u003e, \u003cspan citationid=\"CR56\" class=\"CitationRef\"\u003e56\u003c/span\u003e]. This may be the reason why its intervention effect is not as good as that of cognitively engaging physical activities.\u003c/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eCoordination exercise (SUCRA\u0026thinsp;=\u0026thinsp;67.9%) ranked third among all types of exercise interventions. Completing the practice of coordination exercises requires high coordination among various organs and systems in time and space in the human body, accomplishing complex movements through the mutual conversion of excitation and inhibition in neural processes. The more complex the practice movements, the more precise the coordination of excitation and inhibition processes in the cerebral cortex needs to be[\u003cspan citationid=\"CR58\" class=\"CitationRef\"\u003e58\u003c/span\u003e, \u003cspan citationid=\"CR59\" class=\"CitationRef\"\u003e59\u003c/span\u003e]. An event-related potential study on the effects of coordination exercise on young children's executive functions showed that both low-intensity and moderate-intensity coordination exercise can promote the development of inhibitory functions in young children[\u003cspan citationid=\"CR60\" class=\"CitationRef\"\u003e60\u003c/span\u003e]. Their research also speculated that coordination exercise might be an effective intervention to stimulate prefrontal cortex development in young children. Therefore, practicing coordination exercises can not only improve the neural activity performance of the central nervous system (e.g., brain neural circuits) and peripheral nervous system (e.g., neuromuscular control) but also help to improve individuals inhibitory control performance.\u003c/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eThis study shows that acute exercise can also have a significant intervention effect on inhibitory control, ranking fourth among all types of exercise interventions (SUCRA\u0026thinsp;=\u0026thinsp;65.3%). However, related studies have shown that a single 15-minute continuous or interval acute exercise in healthy children can improve their inhibitory control, with the improvement taking effect within 1 minute after the exercise intervention stops, but only lasting about 30 minutes[\u003cspan citationid=\"CR61\" class=\"CitationRef\"\u003e61\u003c/span\u003e]. Therefore, when conditions permit, conducting chronic cognitively engaging physical activities, aerobic exercise, and coordination exercise may be better choices.\u003c/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eIn summary, this study indicates that different exercise interventions have varying degrees of impact on inhibitory control in overweight and obese children and adolescents. Cognitively engaging physical activities perform outstandingly in improving inhibitory control in this population. This training method integrates cognitive tasks into physical activities, making the exercise process more interesting and challenging, which can increase the participation enthusiasm and persistence of children and adolescents. However, for younger participants or those with poorer physical conditions, aerobic exercise may be a more suitable choice. This is because cognitively engaging physical activities often involve competition and teamwork, which may impose too much neurocognitive load on them, thereby producing negative effects on inhibitory control. Although coordination exercise can also positively influence inhibitory control, its technical movements are more difficult to master, making it challenging to achieve the intended intervention intensity, and its impact on cardiovascular health is limited. Therefore, combining coordination exercise with aerobic exercise may yield more comprehensive intervention effects.\u003c/p\u003e"},{"header":"5. Strengths and Limitations","content":"\u003cp\u003eThis study has several strengths. First, it is the first network meta-analysis examining the impact of exercise interventions on inhibitory control in overweight and obese children and adolescents, providing scientific references for choosing appropriate exercise interventions for this population. Second, to enhance the reliability of the results, this study included only randomized controlled trials, excluding non-randomized controlled trials, observational studies, and cross-sectional studies. Third, to ensure the accuracy of effect size synthesis, this study included only studies using reaction time as the outcome indicator. However, this network meta-analysis also has some limitations. First, due to incomplete reporting of relevant information in the original studies, we did not explore in detail the moderating effects of age and obesity degree on intervention outcomes. In addition, when classifying types of exercise interventions, we did not further subdivide the types of acute exercise.\u003c/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eFuture research can consider the following aspects. First, acute exercise can be subdivided, such as acute aerobic exercise, acute coordination exercise, acute resistance exercise, etc., and a network meta-analysis can be conducted solely on acute exercise. Second, exploring whether factors such as different ages (\u0026lt;\u0026thinsp;13 years and \u0026ge;\u0026thinsp;13 years) and different degrees of obesity (BMI\u0026thinsp;\u0026lt;\u0026thinsp;25 and \u0026ge;\u0026thinsp;25) have moderating effects on the effectiveness of exercise interventions. Finally, investigating the optimal dose of exercise interventions on inhibitory control in overweight and obese children and adolescents, including intervention duration, frequency, session duration, and intensity, will help improve the precision of exercise interventions.\u003c/p\u003e"},{"header":"6. Conclusion","content":"\u003cp\u003eThis study explored the effects of different types of exercise interventions on inhibitory control in overweight and obese children and adolescents. Based on these findings, we suggest that this population consider participating in cognitively engaging physical activities or aerobic exercise to achieve better intervention effects. Additionally, 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.\u003c/p\u003e"},{"header":"Abbreviations","content":"\u003cp\u003eRCTs (randomized controlled trials)\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003ePRISMA (Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews and Meta-Analyses)\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eSMD (Standardized Mean Difference)\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eCI (confidence interval)\u003c/p\u003e"},{"header":"Declarations","content":"\u003cp\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eAuthor Contributions\u003c/strong\u003e\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eAll authors contributed to the study conception and design; P.W. and D.L. conceived and designed the study; P.W. and D.L. collected the data; P.W., Y.Z., J.H., Y.G. and Z.C. analyzed and interpreted the data; P.W. and D.L. drafted the manuscript; P.W. and D.L. revised the manuscript; All authors have read and agreed to the published version of the manuscript.\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eData Availability Statement\u0026nbsp;\u003c/strong\u003e\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eAll datasets generated for this study are included in the article/supplementary material.\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eEthics approval\u0026nbsp;\u003c/strong\u003eNot applicable.\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eConsent to participate\u003c/strong\u003e Not applicable.\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eConsent to publish\u0026nbsp;\u003c/strong\u003eNot applicable.\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eConflict of interest\u003c/strong\u003e\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eThe authors declare that the research was conducted in the absence of any commercial or financial relationships that could be construed as a potential conflict of interest.\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eFunding\u003c/strong\u003e\u003cstrong\u003e\u0026nbsp;\u003c/strong\u003eNone.\u003c/p\u003e"},{"header":"References","content":"\u003col\u003e\n\u003cli\u003eWorld Health Organization. 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Psychophysiology. 2016;53(9):1335\u0026ndash;42.\u003c/li\u003e\n\u003c/ol\u003e"}],"fulltextSource":"","fullText":"","funders":[],"hasAdminPriorityOnWorkflow":false,"hasManuscriptDocX":true,"hasOptedInToPreprint":true,"hasPassedJournalQc":"","hasAnyPriority":false,"hideJournal":true,"highlight":"","institution":"","isAcceptedByJournal":false,"isAuthorSuppliedPdf":false,"isDeskRejected":"","isHiddenFromSearch":false,"isInQc":false,"isInWorkflow":false,"isPdf":false,"isPdfUpToDate":true,"isWithdrawnOrRetracted":false,"journal":{"display":true,"email":"[email protected]","identity":"researchsquare","isNatureJournal":false,"hasQc":true,"allowDirectSubmit":true,"externalIdentity":"","sideBox":"","snPcode":"","submissionUrl":"/submission","title":"Research Square","twitterHandle":"researchsquare","acdcEnabled":true,"dfaEnabled":false,"editorialSystem":"","reportingPortfolio":"","inReviewEnabled":false,"inReviewRevisionsEnabled":true},"keywords":"Exercise, Overweight and Obese, Children and Adolescents, Inhibitory Control, Network Meta-Analysis","lastPublishedDoi":"10.21203/rs.3.rs-6729483/v1","lastPublishedDoiUrl":"https://doi.org/10.21203/rs.3.rs-6729483/v1","license":{"name":"CC BY 4.0","url":"https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/"},"manuscriptAbstract":"\u003ch2\u003eBackground\u003c/h2\u003e\u003cp\u003eThe 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.\u003c/p\u003e\u003ch2\u003eMethods\u003c/h2\u003e\u003cp\u003eWe 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.\u003c/p\u003e\u003ch2\u003eResults\u003c/h2\u003e\u003cp\u003eA 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\u0026thinsp;=\u0026thinsp;85.5%). This was followed by aerobic exercise (SUCRA\u0026thinsp;=\u0026thinsp;81.4%). Coordination exercises (SUCRA\u0026thinsp;=\u0026thinsp;67.9%) ranked third and acute exercise (SUCRA\u0026thinsp;=\u0026thinsp;65.3%) fourth.\u003c/p\u003e\u003ch2\u003eConclusions\u003c/h2\u003e\u003cp\u003eOur 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.\u003c/p\u003e","manuscriptTitle":"Effects of different exercise interventions on inhibitory control in overweight and obese children and adolescents: a systematic review and network meta-analysis","msid":"","msnumber":"","nonDraftVersions":[{"code":1,"date":"2025-07-15 12:49:50","doi":"10.21203/rs.3.rs-6729483/v1","editorialEvents":[{"type":"communityComments","content":0}],"status":"published","journal":{"display":true,"email":"[email protected]","identity":"researchsquare","isNatureJournal":false,"hasQc":true,"allowDirectSubmit":true,"externalIdentity":"","sideBox":"","snPcode":"","submissionUrl":"/submission","title":"Research Square","twitterHandle":"researchsquare","acdcEnabled":true,"dfaEnabled":false,"editorialSystem":"","reportingPortfolio":"","inReviewEnabled":false,"inReviewRevisionsEnabled":true}}],"origin":"","ownerIdentity":"57c608f0-a7b6-494a-baeb-2dd4cd2b9ec0","owner":[],"postedDate":"July 15th, 2025","published":true,"recentEditorialEvents":[],"rejectedJournal":[],"revision":"","amendment":"","status":"posted","subjectAreas":[],"tags":[],"updatedAt":"2026-02-11T11:56:55+00:00","versionOfRecord":[],"versionCreatedAt":"2025-07-15 12:49:50","video":"","vorDoi":"","vorDoiUrl":"","workflowStages":[]},"version":"v1","identity":"rs-6729483","journalConfig":"researchsquare"},"__N_SSP":true},"page":"/article/[identity]/[[...version]]","query":{"redirect":"/article/rs-6729483","identity":"rs-6729483","version":["v1"]},"buildId":"8U1c8b4HqxoKbykW_rLl7","isFallback":false,"isExperimentalCompile":false,"dynamicIds":[84888],"gssp":true,"scriptLoader":[]}