Women’s Health and Obesity Across the Lifespan

This special interest topic will explore the complex relationship between women’s health and obesity across the female lifespan. Obesity is not only a major risk factor for chronic diseases but also shaped by biological, social, and behavioral determinants that differ across life stages. By focusing on women, this topic aims to highlight sex- and gender-specific perspectives often underrepresented in epidemiological research.

This Research Topic invites contributions that advance understandings and solutions for obesity in girls and women across the lifespan, from childhood and adolescence through the reproductive years to menopause. We invite studies that examine women’s health across the life course in the context of obesity, with a primary focus on the challenges faced by women and girls living with overweight or obesity and the solutions that improve their health, care experiences, and equity. Studies that explore behaviours, social and structural determinants, stigma and discrimination, communication and education, care delivery and digital and community interventions, ethics and policy, and implementation are welcome. Submissions may employ qualitative, quantitative, mixed-methods, evaluation, or theory/methods designs. We particularly encourage work that includes women-only cohorts or explicit sex/gender analyses, addresses equity and intersectionality, and reports outcomes that are behavioural, experiential, organisational, or policy-relevant.

Submissions should provide insights into how obesity affects women differently across life stages and contexts. Studies that specifically analyze women-only cohorts, examine sex differences, or offer conclusions directly applicable to women’s health are particularly encouraged.

In-scope topic areas (not limited to):

Life-course contexts
• Childhood and adolescence: early determinants, growth patterns, family and social context
• Puberty: hormonal changes, body image, risk trajectories
• Reproductive years: pregnancy, birth, postpartum experiences, maternal obesity, gestational weight gain, intergenerational transmission of risk
• Perimenopause and menopause: body composition changes, metabolic health, chronic disease onset
• Across the lifespan: cumulative effects, transitions between life stages, and long-term outcomes

Behavioural science
• Motivation, self-regulation, and habits
• Body image and disordered eating
• Stress, sleep, and health literacy
• Lifestyle and dietary behaviours, physical activity, and psychosocial influences

Stigma, norms & communication
• Stigma and weight discrimination in healthcare and society
• Stigma measurement with health/engagement outcomes
• Anti-stigma interventions and respectful language
• Decision-making processes and the quality of counselling in relation to engagement and outcomes

Digital health & human-centred design
• Apps, wearables, and telehealth
• Persuasive and inclusive design strategies
• Engagement, adherence, and equity in access and use

Health services, implementation & policy
• Access, navigation, and respectful/weight-inclusive care
• Co-design with patients and communities
• Implementation outcomes (adoption, fidelity, reach, sustainability)
• Policy evaluations with women’s health endpoints, patient and professional perspectives

Methodological and translational approaches
• Cohort studies, interventions, mixed-methods, and natural experiments
• Translating evidence into practice for women’s health

Keywords: Obesity, Weight stigma, long-term health outcomes, psychosocial mechanisms

Important note: All contributions to this Research Topic must be within the scope of the section and journal to which they are submitted, as defined in their mission statements. Frontiers reserves the right to guide an out-of-scope manuscript to a more suitable section or journal at any stage of peer review.