Weight Excess in Developmental Age: Health Outcomes Through a Socioeconomic Lens

Childhood overweight and obesity are escalating global health challenges with consequences that extend across the life course. This narrative review aims to provide a comprehensive overview of the implications and consequences of excess weight in children and adolescents across different socio-economic settings, analyzing weight excess-related health outcomes through a socio-economic lens. Evidence was identified through searches of MEDLINE (via PubMed), Scopus, Web of Science, Embase, and the Cochrane Library, supplemented by manual screening of reference lists. The literature indicates that excess adiposity, particularly visceral fat, promotes insulin resistance, hypertension, dyslipidemia, hepatic steatosis, and other early manifestations of cardiometabolic disease, while also contributing to respiratory, orthopedic, and psychosocial complications. These risks frequently persist into adulthood, increasing premature morbidity, mortality, healthcare utilization, and direct and indirect societal costs. The burden is unevenly distributed: poverty, stigma, discrimination, food and built environments, and limited access to preventive and clinical services shape both obesity risk and outcomes, with particularly severe consequences in resource-constrained settings. Early identification of excess weight and associated risk factors, systematic screening for comorbidities, and timely, family-centered multidisciplinary care are therefore essential. Effective prevention and treatment must also address the broader social and commercial determinants of health through coordinated action across healthcare, education, food systems, and public policy.