Cardiometabolic risk and health behaviours in adolescents with normal-weight obesity: a systematic review.

Objective: To analyse the presence of cardiometabolic risk factors in adolescents with normal-weight obesity (NWO), as well as to investigate health behaviours related to the phenotype.

Design: The study was conducted according to the Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic reviews and Meta-Analyses guidelines and the bibliographic search was carried out in the PubMed, Scielo and ScienceDirect databases.

Setting: School, university and population.

Participants: Adolescents between 10 and 19 years old.

Results: A total of eight papers were included. Most studies have found a relationship between NWO and the presence of cardiometabolic risk factors, such as high waist circumference, unfavourable lipid and glycid profile. As for health behaviours, three of the eight studies included evaluated eating habits; however, the results were not conclusive. In addition, four studies analysed the practice of physical activity or physical fitness, which was lower in NWO.

Conclusions: The available evidence indicates that NWO is related to the early development of cardiometabolic changes, physical inactivity and less physical fitness in adolescents. The results also reveal the importance of early detection of the phenotype, as well as the need for further research on the associated factors to prevent future diseases. Registration (PROSPERO: CRD42020161204).