To explore the development history trends and research hotspots in children and adolescent overweight and obesity studies, so as to provide a basis for conducting scientific research in related fields.

Relevant literature were retrieved from CNKI, WanFang Data Knowledge Service Platform, VIP Chinese Journal Service Platform, China Biomedical Literature Service System, Web of Science Core Collection and PubMed database from January 1980 to September 2024, and knowledge graph was constructed by using CiteSpace visualization software to explore and analyze.

A total of 9 108 articles were retrieved (5 197 in Chinese and 3 911 in English). From 1980 to 2024, the number of publications in the field of overweight and obesity research in children and adolescents showed an upward trend. Keyword co-occurrence analysis showed that body fat percentage (intermediary centrality: 0.69), body mass index (intermediary centrality: 0.50) and physical activity (intermediary centrality: 0.13) were the bridge keywords connecting the research field. The keyword clustering results showed that coexistence outcomes of multiple diseases such as cardiovascular metabolic diseases and psychological disorders, as well as intervention plans based on family, school and community became research hotspots. The evaluation of the effects of high-intensity interval training and emerging weight loss interventions such as electronic games gradually became a new trend in research.

Influencing factors, coexistence outcomes of multiple diseases, and the application and evaluation of intervention remain key research focuses in children and adolescent overweight/obesity studies.