Yu Zhang,1– 4 Tingting He,1– 4 Yu Hu,1– 4 Chenlin Gao2– 5 

1Graduate School, Southwest Medical University, Luzhou, Sichuan, People’s Republic of China; 2Cardiovascular and Metabolic Diseases Key Laboratory of Luzhou, Affiliated Hospital of Southwest Medical University, Luzhou, Sichuan, People’s Republic of China; 3Sichuan Clinical Research Center for Nephropathy, Affiliated Hospital of Southwest Medical University, Luzhou, Sichuan, People’s Republic of China; 4Metabolic Vascular Disease Key Laboratory of Sichuan Province, Affiliated Hospital of Southwest Medical University, Luzhou, Sichuan, People’s Republic of China; 5Department of Endocrinology and Metabolism, The Affiliated Hospital of Southwest Medical University, Luzhou, Sichuan, People’s Republic of China

Correspondence: Chenlin Gao, Department of Endocrinology, Affiliated Hospital of Southwest Medical University, Luzhou, Sichuan, People’s Republic of China, Tel +86-830-3165361, Email gaochenlin00@swmu.edu.cn

Purpose: This manuscript performed a meta-analysis to compare the effects of a low-fat diet (LFD) and a low-carbohydrate diet (LCD) on body weight and lipid levels in adolescents with overweight and obesity.
Patients and Methods: PubMed and other databases were searched for the full-text literature comparing LFD and LCD up to November 2023 using a subject plus free word strategy, with search terms such as “low-fat diet”, “low-carbohydrate diet”, “obesity”, “weight”, “adolescents”, “RCT”, and so on. Two independent reviewers selected promising candidate trials, collected the data, and assessed the quality of the trials. RevMan 5.3 software was utilized to conduct a meta-analysis of the randomized controlled trials (RCTs) that were included.
Results: 5 RCTs with 192 participants were included in this meta-analysis. Weight (mean difference − 2.81; 95% CI − 5.38 to − 0.25), Body Mass Index (BMI) (− 1.13; 95% CI − 2.14 to − 0.11) and Triglyceride (TG) (− 0.36; 95% CI − 0.46 to − 0.27) of the LCD were significantly lower than that of the LFD. At the same time, the high-density lipoprotein cholesterol (HDL) levels of the LCD were significantly higher than those of the LFD (0.08; 95% CI 0.04 to 0.12) (P < 0.05). However, there was no significant difference in the Homeostasis Model Assessment of Insulin Resistance (HOMA-IR), percent body fat, total cholesterol (TC), and low-density lipoprotein cholesterol (LDL) between the two groups (P> 0.05).
Conclusion: According to this study, LCD is more helpful in improving weight loss, HDL and TG. Thus, LCD may serve as an effective intervention for weight management in adolescents with overweight and obesity, although further research is needed to determine its long-term effects.

Keywords: obesity, diet, weight loss, low-carbohydrate, low-fat