The 100 top-cited articles on childhood obesity: a bibliometric analysis

Background

Childhood obesity (CHO) is a serious global health challenge affecting both developed and developing nations. The feats attained in addressing this global health challenge can be reflected through the top-cited studies. The study's aim was to analyze the features of the 100 top-cited articles concerning CHO.

Methods

We used a bibliometric analysis, and searched for relevant articles from the Web of Science (December 1, 2021), using an appropriate keyword search-strategy ((child OR childhood OR children OR adolescent) AND (obese OR obesity OR overweight)). The retrieved documents were analysed based on the citation number, publication year, authorship, institution, journal and country. The analyses were performed mainly by the Bibliometrix application (using R-studio cloud) and HistCite.

Results

The 100 top-cited articles were published between 1976 and 2018, their citations ranged from 365 to 10 789, with a mean citation of 1 146.2 and 31 studies had more than 1 000 citations. The articles were published in 31 journals, with the “Pediatrics” journal having the most publications (n = 18). The studies were from 12 countries, with the most-productive being the USA (n = 68), followed by the United Kingdom (n = 12) and France (n = 3). The leading institution was the University of Bristol (n = 8), while Dietz WH (n = 12), and Flegal KM (n = 8) were the most productive authors. The most common research fields covered by these articles were; “General Internal Medicine” (n = 34), “Pediatrics” (n = 29), and “Nutrition Dietetics” (n = 18). The study noted significant correlations between the total article citation and the number of authors (R = 0.203), countries involved (R = 0.407), institutions (R = 0.407), and the publication year (R = 0.847), all with P < 0.001.

Conclusions

Through these top-cited articles, this analysis provides discernment into the historical advancements, including the prime roles performed by various stakeholders in addressing the issue of CHO. However, Asian countries’ contribution is not adequately reflected in these articles, and thus more focus and funding for CHO research are needed for effectual prevention and control.