Body Composition-Driven Phenotyping Reveals Obesity and Cardiometabolic Heterogeneity in Children Using a Tree-Like Representation.

Abstract

Childhood obesity shows large differences in body composition and health risk that are not well captured by BMI or simple metabolic classifications, prompting the need for more precise characterization. This study aimed to determine whether a data-driven framework integrating detailed body composition measures could better describe obesity-related phenotypic heterogeneity and its relationship with cardiometabolic risk in children. We delineated a continuous body composition manifold encompassing fat-dominant, lean-dominant, and concomitant high-mass phenotypes, which captured diverging cardiometabolic risk trajectories and yielded modest incremental improvements in risk prediction. These findings support more precise risk stratification and provide a practical tool to improve early identification and prevention of obesity-related health complications in children.