Visual Analysis of Research Hotspots on Adolescent Obesity in China Based on Citespace

Abstract

Objective: To conduct a visual analysis of the current status and hotspots of adolescent obesity research based on CiteSpace, to provide evidence-based basis for research directions and ideas in this field. Methods: This study used subject words and free words to retrieve literature from China National Knowledge Infrastructure, Wanfang Database, and VIP Core database. The retrieval time was from January 1, 2010 to December 31, 2024. CiteSpace6.3.R2 software was used to perform cluster sub-visualization analysis of the number of articles, authors, and keywords of literature on adolescent obesity. Results: A total of 523 Chinese articles were included. Since 2010, the number of articles on adolescent obesity in China showed an increasing trend, with an average annual growth rate of 12.3%. From the perspective of spatial distribution, more regions, institutions, and researchers have begun to pay attention to the research in this field, exploring the impact of dietary imbalance and insufficient exercise on adolescent obesity in different regions and the management methods. From the perspective of cooperation, the cooperation of various regions and institutions showed the characteristics of regional concentration or professional concentration, mainly distributed in medicine and physical education. High-frequency keywords included “living standard”, “exercise intervention”, “physical activity”, “mental health”, “body fat rate”, and “body fat rate”. After 2020, “intelligent weight management platform” and “remote follow-up” emerged to reflect the deep integration of technology and health management. Keyword cluster analysis showed that research hotspots focused on the etiological mechanism of obesity, intervention models, regional characteristics in different regions, and the risk of obesity-related metabolic diseases. With the launch of the national “Weight Management Year” initiative, research has been tilted to community health promotion and multi-sectoral collaboration, focusing on obesity prevention of preschool children and AI-driven personalized intervention programs ^[1]. However, there is a bottleneck of lack of tracking mechanisms for long-term effects such as adolescent development and metabolic adaptability. Conclusions: The research status and hotspots of adolescent obesity have gradually shifted from early etiological exploration to precise intervention models driven by technology empowerment. In the future, researchers can build an obesity prevention and control network covering the whole life cycle and the whole region through the three-dimensional drive of “technological innovation × policy empowerment × disciplinary integration”, and eventually achieve the goal of reducing the obesity rate in adolescents.