Quality of life in youth with overweight and obesity in early childhood: a systematic review.

Objective: Quality of life (QoL) has been found to be poorer among school-age children with overweight (OW) and obesity (OB) compared to their normal weight peers; however, research has yet to examine whether young children (i.e., <6 years old) with OW and OB also display poorer QoL. Therefore, this paper systematically reviewed the literature examining QoL among young children with OW or OB.

Methods: A systematic review using early childhood, pediatric, obesity, and QoL search terms was conducted in PubMed and PsycINFO in January 2024 and on January 29, 2025. A total of 1,340 articles were initially identified, with 13 studies meeting inclusion criteria (i.e., presented original research in English, participants were children with OW or OB <6 years old, included at least one measure of QoL, total participants across all studies, N = 79,581). A narrative review was used to synthesize results, and quality assessment ratings were conducted using previously developed scientific merit criteria.

Results: Most cross-sectional articles (n = 6) supported that young children with OW or OB displayed poorer QoL than normal weight peers. Poorer physical functioning among youth with OW and OB was consistent across studies. Intervention studies with lifestyle behavior components demonstrated success in improving physical functioning among youth with OW and OB.

Conclusions: QoL was found to be poorer for young children with OW or OB compared to their peers, and physical functioning was shown to improve in weight-management interventions, confirming the importance of screening QoL in this population.