Long-term Sequelae of Childhood Obesity

One in five children are now growing up with excess weight and if current trends continue by 2050 this will increase to half of all children globally. This epidemic has beset the globe at an astonishing rate with the prevalence of childhood obesity increased by 50% in just the last decade.

Obesity has many long-term adverse consequences on health, which have been established over decades of study. An increased risk of cardiovascular disease, type 2 diabetes, osteoarthritis, reproductive health issues and some cancers have been firmly established. These risks were determined from long-term follow-up studies of large populations who generally developed obesity in mid-life due to lifestyle changes. The surge in onset of obesity during childhood has been so recent that evidence of its long-term consequences is only just starting to become evident. The sequalae of obesity which develops in childhood may be more pronounced, or even differ, from that which develops in mid-life. Individuals who become overweight in childhood can face a lifetime living with obesity and this much longer duration may aggravate the consequent pathologies which may present earlier in life with more severe outcomes. There is already evidence emerging which indicates that obesity in childhood is associated with an increase in the incidence of early-onset cancers. Moreover, childhood is also a critical developmental period and disturbed metabolism and physiology in these early years may affect physical, cognitive, emotional and social development which may all impact future health, sociodemographic and financial outcomes.

This collection encourages articles exploring:

• Both the physiological and social determinants of early life obesity, obesity-related cancers and other obesity-related pathologies.
• The developmental effects of obesity in infancy, childhood and adolescence and their impact on subsequent pathologies.
• Emerging trends in the surveillance and epidemiology of obesity-related pathologies, such as cancers, throughout childhood, adolescence and young adulthood.
• Developments in effective prevention and treatment strategies for childhood obesity, taking account of developmental considerations, and how these may be adapted to reduce the incidence of subsequent pathologies throughout adolescence and early adulthood.
• Genetic predispositions and environmental factors and their connection to childhood obesity, highlighting the complexity of these interactions.
• A greater understanding of the links between obesity at critical developmental stages and the development of subsequent pathologies.
• The mechanisms by which obesity in early life, including metabolic, hormonal, and inflammatory pathways, may accelerate or worsen cancer outcomes and how clinicians and society can manage this challenge.

This Research Topic aims to bring together a collection of articles that will help to elucidate and forewarn of the future health issues that the current childhood obesity epidemic might presage.