Editorial: Early prevention of childhood obesity: identifying risks and implementing effective interventions

Childhood obesity has become one of the most pressing global public health challenges of the 21st century.Its prevalence continues to rise worldwide, with profound consequences extending far beyond childhood into adult life, including type 2 diabetes, cardiovascular disease, and psychological and social complications.Genetic susceptibility, intrauterine environment, early nutrition, lifestyle behaviors, and broader social and environmental determinants interact in complex and dynamic ways to shape long-term cardiometabolic health.These interactions influence the development of adipose tissue, appetite regulation, insulin sensitivity, and energy balance, creating biological trajectories that may either promote resilience or increase vulnerability to obesity and its complications. Consequently, prevention strategies must move beyond late, symptom-oriented treatment and shift toward early identification of risk and timely, targeted interventions across the life course.In recent years, the concept of prevention has evolved from a general, population-based approach to a more integrated and stratified model. Within this framework, primary prevention aims to reduce exposure to risk factors and promote healthy behaviors, secondary prevention focuses on the early identification of individuals at increased risk in order to implement timely and targeted interventions, and tertiary prevention seeks to limit complications and long-term consequences in those already affected. At the same time, scientific advances are paving the way for "precision prevention," which takes into account individual susceptibility, early biomarkers, and critical windows of vulnerability to better tailor the timing and intensity of interventions.Growing evidence shows that the prenatal period and early postnatal life represent particularly important windows of opportunity, since maternal health, early nutrition, and early-life exposures can leave lasting biological and metabolic effects. Nevertheless, childhood and adolescence remain crucial stages to consolidate or redirect these trajectories through family-, school-, and community-based interventions. Overall, effective 2 prevention on a single level of action, but requires coordinated strategies that integrate biological, 37 clinical, behavioral, and social dimensions.