Controversial results reported in past research pertaining to the effectiveness of sport-based physical activity interventions on weight loss. The purpose of this study was to assess the impact of sport-based physical activity intervention on body weight in children and adolescents using a meta-analysis. Academic Search Complete, Education Source, ERIC, Medline, ProQuest, PsycINFO and SPORTDiscus databases were searched from January 2000 to April 2015. Eighteen studies met following inclusion criteria: sport-based intervention studies; subjects aged 6 to 18 years; reported body weight; published in peer-reviewed journals written in English. The mean intervention duration was 17.72 weeks. The overall effect size (ES) was 0.52 (Cohen's d (ES) 0.52, 95% CI 0.08 to 0.95, p = 0.021), using a random effects model. Moderator analyses results showed that the Q statistic for the sport type (individual sport or team sport, Q-between (Qb) 14.52, df = 1, p = 0.001) and diet control (Q-between (Qb) 8.85, df = 1, p = 0.001), explained the heterogeneity of ESs. Our study showed that there was a moderate overall effect of sport-based physical activity intervention on body weight reduction. The team sport type (ES 1.05, 95% CI 0.44 to 1.66) and diet control group (ES 0.84, 95% CI 0.26 to 1.41) appeared to be more effective in reducing body weight.

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