Study links childhood obesity to early onset of serious health conditions

A NEW study by the South African Medical Research Council (SAMRC) and Inkosi Albert Luthuli Central Hospital (IALCH) has found that childhood obesity is driving an alarming rise in chronic health conditions previously only seen in adults.

- SIPHESIHLE BUTHELEZI [e-mail]

The study, published in the journal Obesity Pillars, is the first in South Africa to comprehensively assess obesity-related comorbidities in children under the age of 12.

It analysed health records of 430 children treated for obesity between 2012 and 2022. The average age of the children was just over seven years, and more than a quarter (27.9%) were under the age of five.

Prof Nasheeta Peer, a researcher at the SAMRC’s Non-Communicable Diseases Research Unit and one of the study authors, described the findings as deeply troubling.

“Seeing such a high burden of chronic diseases in children, some as young as five, is a red flag. These are conditions we typically expect in middle-aged adults, yet they're already taking root in childhood due to obesity,” said Peer.