The role of physical activity in the prevention and management of obesity: A Position statement from the World Obesity Federation

This Position Statement is intended to synthesise and interpret current consensus and salient developments rather than provide a systematic review of the literature. We therefore used a targeted search and expert consultation approach to update the World Obesity Federation’s stance. Between June 2025– September 2025, we searched PubMed/Medline and Google Scholar and screened recent guidance from international public-health bodies for terms related to physical activity, obesity prevention/management, implementation, equity, and climate co-benefits. We prioritised high quality syntheses and guidelines (e.g. umbrella reviews, consensus statements), recent primary studies with policy relevance, and low- and middle- income country (LMIC) relevant examples. References were supplemented through citation chasing and consultation with four subject-matter experts (clinical, public-health, implementation). Inclusion was based on relevance, recency (typically ≥2018), and applicability to policy and practice; no formal risk-of-bias assessment was undertaken. We share this method’s limitations (risk of omission and selection bias).