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Review
. 2025 Apr 14;17(4):e82233.
doi: 10.7759/cureus.82233. eCollection 2025 Apr.

Childhood Obesity: A Narrative Review

Susmita Sinha  1 , Rahnuma Ahmad  2 , Kona Chowdhury  3 , Shamima Islam  4 , Miral Mehta  5 , Mainul Haque  6   7
Affiliations
Review

Childhood Obesity: A Narrative Review

Susmita Sinha et al. Cureus. .

Abstract

Obesity among children has emerged as a worldwide health issue due to childhood obesity becoming a pandemic, and it is often linked to various illnesses, fatal outcomes, and disability in adulthood. Obesity has become an epidemic issue in both developed and developing countries, particularly among youngsters. The most common factors contributing to non-communicable diseases (NCDs) are unhealthy eating habits, desk-bound games, avoidance of physical activity-requiring activities, smoking, alcohol usage, and other added items. All these factors increase NCDs, including obesity, resulting in various morbidities and early death. Additionally, childhood obesity has psychological, emotional, cognitive, societal, and communicative effects. For example, it raises the possibility of issues related to physical appearance, self-esteem, confidence level, feelings of isolation, social disengagement, stigma, depression, and a sense of inequality. Children who consume more energy-dense, high-fat, low-fiber-containing food than they need usually store the excess as body fat. Standardizing indicators and terminology for obesity-related metrics is critical for better understanding the comparability of obesity prevalence and program effectiveness within and between countries. The underlying variables must be altered to reduce or avoid harm to the target organ in children. As a result, reducing childhood obesity is a considerable public health goal for the benefit of society and the long-term well-being of individuals.

Keywords: childhood obesity; heart disease; insulin resistance; low-income countries; metabolic syndrome; obesity; physical activity; psychosocial health; public health; stress.

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Conflict of interest statement

Conflicts of interest: In compliance with the ICMJE uniform disclosure form, all authors declare the following: Payment/services info: All authors have declared that no financial support was received from any organization for the submitted work. Financial relationships: All authors have declared that they have no financial relationships at present or within the previous three years with any organizations that might have an interest in the submitted work. Other relationships: All authors have declared that there are no other relationships or activities that could appear to have influenced the submitted work.

Figures

Figure 1
Figure 1. Consequences of childhood obesity.
Notes: This figure was drawn using the premium version of BioRender (https://biorender.com/wpxxuld) [59], which was accessed on 27 March 2025, with license number RA282OORX6. Illustration Credit: Susmita Sinha.
Figure 2
Figure 2. PRISMA flowchart showing the methodology of this study.
PRISMA: Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews and Meta-Analyses
Figure 3
Figure 3. Illustration showing key finding of this paper.
Notes: This figure was drawn using the premium version of BioRender (https://biorender.com/rq6mzkw) [59], which was accessed on 21 March 2025, with the license number RA281VROX8. NCDs: non-communicable diseases Illustration Credit: Susmita Sinha.
Figure 4
Figure 4. Schematic diagram showing interventions that can be taken for obese children.
Notes: This figure was drawn using the premium version of BioRender [59] (https://biorender.com/45b6mam), which was accessed on 21 March 2025, with the license number ZU281U2W0J. DEXA: dual-energy X-ray absorptiometry Illustration Credit: Susmita Sinha.
See this image and copyright information in PMC

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