According to the American Academy of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry, approximately 14.7 million children and adolescents in the U.S. are obese. That represents almost 20% of U.S. youth. While the causes of obesity are complex and include genetic, biological, behavioral and cultural aspects, the one factor that experts agree has the most influence on obesity is eating habits. Unfortunately there is much disagreement on what constitutes healthy food—even among health authorities and educators. This presents a real challenge for parents in making food choices. But new research provides a good starting point: Provide plenty of colorful fruits and veggies to your children. Carotenoids provide hope According to the study, published in BMC Pediatrics in August 2025, a higher level of serum carotenoids in a child's blood was associated with a lower prevalence of obesity. Carotenoids are one of the two major categories of plant nutrients known as phytonutrients. (The other category is polyphenols.) Carotenoids come from the yellow, orange, and red organic pigments that are produced by plants that are characteristically colorful. This includes pumpkins, carrots, parsnips, corn, tomatoes, etc. In the new study ß-carotene was the carotenoid that was most strongly associated with weight management in the children and adolescents that were studied. Meanwhile, lycopene was the only carotenoid that appeared to have a negligible association with obesity. Study details To conduct the study, the China-based researchers performed a cross-sectional analysis using data from the National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey (NHANES). NHANES is a large-scale, multi-stage cross-sectional study initiated by the National Center for Health Statistics to assess the health and nutritional status of adults and children in the United States. The researchers utilized data from 2017 and 2018 that included 1,329 child and adolescent participants. Obesity was assessed using body mass index (BMI), calculated as weight divided by height. Because BMI varies with age and sex during growth, BMI-for-age percentiles based on the Centers for Disease Control 2000 growth charts were applied. For the study, obesity was defined as BMI at or above the 95th percentile for age and sex. Results After adjusting for potential confounders, higher levels of all serum carotenoids, except lycopene, were associated with lower BMI and prevalence of obesity. The researchers noted that, in fact, more than 700 distinct carotenoids have been identified; however, only six of them—a-carotene, ß-carotene, ß-cryptoxanthin, lutein, zeaxanthin, and lycopene—comprise over 95% of all carotenoids present in human plasma or serum. For this reason the study focused only on these six dominant carotenoids. Previous 2017 study While the researchers in the new 2025 study cautioned their research only established an association between carotenoids and obesity, earlier research has already demonstrated that carotenoid supplementing does have a direct impact on fighting childhood obesity. In a 2017 study that compared a carotenoid supplement group to a placebo group, supplementing for six months produced statistically significant reductions in BMI, a 3% reduction in waist circumference, and a 0.03 reduction in the waist to height ratio. In addition, top layer fat decreased by 4% in the carotenoid group, but increased by 4.2% in the placebo group. The findings of this study were published in The Journal of Clinicial Endocrinology and Metabolism in March 2017. - - - To supercharge your carotenoid (and polyphenol) intake, check out Optimal Fruit & Veggie Plus from Optimal Health Systems. Optimal Fruit & Veggie Plus is the most potent phytonutrient powder on the market. Click the banner ad below to learn more. Sources for this article include: BMC Pediatrics, The American Academy of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry, The Journal of Clinicial Endocrinology and Metabolism., U.S. Centers for Disease Control & Prevention.
