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The increasing prevalence of paediatric obesity and related metabolic complications has been mainly associated with lower aerobic fitness while less is known regarding potential musculoskeletal impairments. The purpose of the present systematic review was to report the evidence regarding muscular fitness in children and adolescents with obesity. A systematic article search was conducted between November 2014 and June 2015 using MEDLINE, EMBASE, CINAHL psycINFO, SPORTDiscus and SocINDEX. Articles published in English and reporting results on muscle strength and muscular fitness in children and adolescents aged 6 to 18 years were eligible. Of 548 identified titles, 36 studies were included for analyses. While laboratory-based studies described higher absolute muscular fitness in youth with obesity compared with their lean peers, these differences are negated when corrected for body weight and lean mass, then supporting field-based investigations. All interventional studies reviewed led to improved muscular fitness in youth with obesity. Children and adolescents with obesity display impaired muscular fitness compared to healthy-weight peers, which seems mainly due to factors such as excessive body weight and increased inertia of the body. Our analysis also points out the lack of information regarding the role of age, maturation or sex in the current literature and reveals that routinely used field tests analysing overall daily muscular fitness in children with obesity provide satisfactory results when compared to laboratory-based data.

Massively obese subjects have higher taste sensitivity than control subjects, especially for sucrose and salt. This can be explained, to some extent, by the influence of obesity-related metabolic disorders, which appears to be gender-specific.

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Objective: Preliminary evidence suggests a comorbidity between attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) and obesity. This study was carried out to identify the clinical characteristics of obese adolescents with a higher probability of ADHD and advance the understanding of the potential factors underlying the comorbidity between obesity and ADHD. We evaluated the association between ADHD symptoms and bulimic behaviors, depressive and anxiety symptoms, degree of obesity, pubertal stage, age and gender in a clinical sample of obese adolescents. Design: Cross-sectional study. Subjects: Ninety-nine severely obese adolescents aged 12-17 years. Measurements: Subjects filled out the Bulimic Investigatory Test, Edinburgh, the Beck Depression Inventory and the State-Trait Anxiety Inventory for Children. Their parents completed the Conners Parent Rating Scale, which assesses ADHD symptoms. The degree of overweight was expressed as body mass index-z score. Puberty development was clinically assessed on the basis of Tanner stages. Results: Bulimic behaviors were significantly associated with ADHD symptoms after controlling for depressive and anxiety symptoms. The degree of overweight, pubertal stage, age and gender were not significantly associated with ADHD symptoms. Conclusion: Obese adolescents with bulimic behaviors may have a higher probability to present with ADHD symptoms independently from associated depressive or anxiety symptoms. The degree of overweight, pubertal stage, age and gender might not be useful for detecting obese adolescents with ADHD symptoms. Therefore, we suggest systematic screening for ADHD in obese adolescents with bulimic behaviors. Further studies are needed to understand which specific dimension of ADHD primarily accounts for the association with bulimic behaviors. Future research should also investigate the causal link between bulimic behaviors and ADHD and explore potential common neurobiological alterations. This may lead to a better understanding of the effectiveness of stimulants for the treatment of bulimic behaviors in obese subjects.