Equinor Nears Walk Away from Empire Wind as Stop Work Order Costs Mount

Empire Wind was set to start offshore work when the stop work order was issued (file photo)

Published May 12, 2025 7:21 PM by The Maritime Executive

 

Equinor is lashing out at the Trump Administration and the Department of the Interior saying it has been unable to get information and resolve the stop work order on the Empire Wind offshore energy project. Four weeks ago, Interior Secretary Doug Burgum ordered the stop work asserting that the permitting had been rushed and required further reviews.

Molly Morris, president of Equinor Renewables Americas, in an interview with POLITICO on Friday, May 9, called the situation “urgent and unsustainable.” According to the story, the company has been unable to secure a meeting with Burgum to hear his explanation and has not received the purported report that raised questions about the permitting. POLITICO notes that the report or further details have not been released by the Department of the Interior, which said the project required further review.

Bloomberg is reporting in a story on May 12 that the CEO of Equinor, Anders Opedal, and senior officials met with the US National Economic Council Director Kevin Hassett. It says that the company has received no indication of a chance in stance from the Trump administration, which has vowed to stop the offshore wind energy industry.

“If no progress is made within days, Equinor will be forced to terminate the project,” Bloomberg reports Morris said Monday. “We are still fighting every day to find a resolution.”

Equinor highlights that it spent seven years in review of the project before gaining all the necessary approvals in 2024. Work started last year, and the company says the project is approximately 30 percent completed, with work on the onshore cabling and development of the South Brooklyn Marine Terminal in New York progressing. Offshore work had been scheduled to start when the order was issued, and the company reported it complied by stopping the offshore projects.

Morris is saying that the stop work order is costing the company $50 million a week. It has 11 vessels on standby and more than 100 people who had been scheduled to start the offshore portion of the project this spring. Work has continued onshore, but now the company says without information from the Trump administration, it will be forced in a matter of days to walk away from the project.

Equinor says it has invested about $2.7 billion so far in the project that was budgeted to cost $5 billion with commercial operations beginning in 2027. As of the end of March, Equinor reported it had drawn around $1.5 billion under the project finance term loan facility and that it had provided guarantees for the equity commitment in the project financing. In a full stop scenario, the company said it would have to repay the $1.5 billion and would be exposed to termination fees towards its suppliers.

Equinor is highlighting that this situation is larger than its project and about the administration honoring contracts and financial investments. Other companies, including Shell, TotalEnergies, and RWE, have already walked away from or paused their plans in the U.S. market citing the uncertainties and increased risks.

“They are setting a dangerous precedent by stopping a project in mid-execution,” Bloomberg reports Morris is now asserting. 

Speaking to investors during its quarterly report at the end of April, Equinor called the stop work order “unlawful.” Management said they were reviewing the situation and considering legal options.

New York state was quick and vocal in its objection and support of Equinor when the Trump administration ordered the stop work. Since then, 17 states and the District of Columbia filed suit in federal court challenging Trump’s executive order and the enforceability of the stop to the leasing process for offshore energy projects.
 

 

Captain Missing After Fishing Vessel Sinks Off Grays Harbor

A Coast Guard surf boat responds to the scene of the sinking vessel (U.S. Coast Guard)

Published May 12, 2025 8:19 PM by The Maritime Executive

 

 

On Friday, a commercial fishing vessel capsized in off the coast of Washington, leaving the skipper missing.

At about 0815 hours on Friday morning, the fishing vessel Captain Raleigh was under way off the coast of Raleigh when it began taking on water. The master made a distress call and reported that the vessel's pumps could not keep up with the water ingress. 

Coast Guard Sector Columbia River received the call and issued a broadcast to nearby shipping to ask for assistance. The command center also dispatched rescue boat crews out of Grays Harbor and a helicopter SAR crew out of Astoria, Oregon. 

Shortly after the distress call, a good Samaritan came to the aid of the Captain Raleigh, and at 0830, just 15 minutes after the call, a Coast Goard boat crew was on scene. Minutes later, Captain Raleigh sank rapidly. Three crewmembers from the stricken vessel were already in their lifejackets and abandoned ship into the water, and were immediately retrieved by the Coast Guard responders. However, the master of the Captain Raleigh was reportedly still on board when it went down. 

Two boat crews and the helicopter aircrew carried out a surface search for the missing captain. A nearby dredger from the Corps of Engineers diverted to assist with sonar search of the bottom, and quickly found the position of the missing fishing vessel.  

On request from the Coast Guard, the U.S. Navy dispatched a helicopter with a salvage dive team from Air Station Whidbey Island. Surface conditions were unsuitable for diving until the evening; an attempt to access the wreck at 1800 hours was not successful, given debris, low visibility and strong underwater currents on the site. 

At 2040 hours Friday, the Coast Guard called off the search for the missing captain.

"This is a tragedy for our fishing communities," said Capt. Justin Noggle, commander of Coast Guard Sector Columbia River. "I’m thankful our Coast Guard crews were able to save the three crewmembers quickly, and our hearts are with the family and friends of everyone impacted by this tremendous loss."

Commercial salvors have arrived on scene and are developing a salvage plan, the Coast Guard said. No significant pollution has been reported, and the site is relatively accessible: the boat is resting in 40 feet of water outside of the Grays Harbor navigation channel. 

U.S. fishing industry media outlets have identified the Captain Raleigh's master as Jon Stevenson, 44, a longtime member of the fishing community based in Newport, Oregon. The local organization Newport Fishermen's Wives has started a charitable fundraiser for Stevenson's family. 

 

China's Research Vessels Are Drawing Attention in Neighbors' Waters

Tan Suo 3 was spotted recovering a manned deep-sea submersible within the Philippine EEZ this month (PCG)

Published May 12, 2025 11:03 PM by The Maritime Executive

 

 

China's research vessels have been attracting attention in the waters of neighboring states, not least because of suspicions of spying. The latest encounter occurred in the Japanese EEZ, about 140 nautical miles, when a Japan Coast Guard cutter found a Chinese research vessel deploying a suspicious object and ordered it to leave. 

The use of oceanographic research as a cover for espionage has a long and rich history, from the CIA's famous Glomar Explorer project to Russia's notorious spy ship Yantar. This gray-zone activity pattern extends across all of the world's leading naval powers, and China is no exception. As one example, China's Academy of Sciences has used its research vessels to place and service powerful acoustic seabed sensors near Guam, for the purpose of studying typhoons and whales; the research devices happened to be well-located for tracking U.S. Navy submarines, and are likely used for that purpose, multiple analysts have noted.  

In this context, China's neighbors pay close attention to the movements of its civilian research fleet - especially in sensitive areas, like the Japanese-controlled Senkaku Islands. On Sunday morning at about 0630, the Japan Coast Guard spotted the research ship Hai Ke 001 lowering a "pipe-like" object into the water at a position about 140 miles north of Taisho Island. The Japan Coast Guard issued a radio call and ordered the Hai Ke 001 to cease its activity, and the Chinese vessel complied, departing the scene and returning to the Chinese side of the EEZ median line.

The Philippine Coast Guard has also closely followed the movements of China's research fleet, especially in the contested waters of the western Philippine EEZ. On May 5, the PCG cutter BRP Teresa Magbanua intercepted the Chinese research vessel Tan Suo 3 off Ilocos Norte, within the Philippine exclusive economic zone. The PCG radioed Tan Suo 3 and informed the crew that the Chinese vessel's operations were unlawful under the UN Convention on the Law of the Sea (UNCLOS gives the coastal state the right to regulate oceanographic research within its 200-mile EEZ). The Magbanua instructed Tan Suo 3 to get under way and remain in motion. 

Deep Sea Warrior recovered aboard Tan Suo 3 (PCG)

During this conversation, the PCG spotted a submersible approaching Tan Suo 3. The sub was identified as the Deep Sea Warrior, a manned Chinese research sub with a maximum rated depth of 4,500 meters. An unidentified floating piece of equipment was also retrieved from the water by Tan Suo 3's crew. 

"These actions [are] clear evidence that the People's Republic of China are conducting illegal marine scientific research activities within the Philippines' Exclusive Economic Zone, lacking the legal authority to undertake such activities in this area," said PCG spokesman Jay Tarriela in a statement.  

 

Tapping a new toolbox, engineers buck tradition in new high-performing heat exchanger

University of Wisconsin-Madison

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MADISON — By combining topology optimization and additive manufacturing, a team of University of Wisconsin–Madison engineers created a twisty high-temperature heat exchanger that outperformed a traditional straight channel design in heat transfer, power density and effectiveness.  

And they used an innovative technique to 3D print — and test — the metal proof of concept.

High-temperature heat exchangers are essential components in many technologies for dissipating heat, with applications in aerospace, power generation, industrial processes and aviation. 

“Traditionally, heat exchangers flow hot fluid and cold fluid through straight pipes, mainly because straight pipes are easy to manufacture,” says Xiaoping Qian, a professor of mechanical engineering at UW–Madison. “But straight pipes are not necessarily the best geometry for transferring heat between hot and cold fluids.”

Additive manufacturing enables researchers to create structures with complex geometries that can yield more efficient heat exchangers. Given this design freedom, Qian set out to discover a design for the hot and cold fluid channels inside a heat exchanger that would maximize heat transfer.   

He harnessed his expertise in topology optimization, a computational design approach used to study the distribution of materials in a structure to achieve certain design goals. He also incorporated a patented technique, called projected undercut perimeter, that considers manufacturability constraints for the overall design.  

With an optimized design in hand, Qian worked with colleague Dan Thoma, a professor of materials science and engineering at UW–Madison, who led the 3D printing of the heat exchanger using a metal additive manufacturing technique called laser powder bed fusion.

From the outside, the optimized heat exchanger looks identical to a traditional version with a straight channel design — but their internal core designs are strikingly different. The optimized design has intertwining hot and cold fluid channels with intricate geometries and complex surface features. These complex geometric features guide fluid flow in a twisting path that enhances the heat transfer.  

Collaborator Mark Anderson, a professor of mechanical engineering at UW–Madison, conducted thermal-hydraulic tests on the optimized heat exchanger and a traditional heat exchanger to compare their performance. The optimized design was not only more effective in transferring heat but also achieved a 27% higher power density than the traditional heat exchanger. That higher power density enables a heat exchanger to be lighter and more compact — useful attributes for aerospace and aviation applications. 

The team detailed its results in a paper published Feb. 19, 2025, in the International Journal of Heat and Mass Transfer.

While previous research has used topology optimization to study two-fluid heat exchanger designs, Qian says this work is the first to harness topology optimization and impose manufacturability constraints to ensure the design can be built and tested.

“Optimizing design on the computer is one thing, but to actually make and test it is a very different thing,” Qian says. “It’s exciting that our optimization method worked. We were able to actually manufacture our heat exchanger design. And, through experimental testing, we demonstrated the performance enhancement of our optimized design. The excellent work performed by the students, postdoctoral researchers and scientists in the three research groups made this advance possible.” 

Sicheng Sun, a recent PhD graduate from Qian’s research group, is the first author on the International Journal of Heat and Mass Transfer paper. Additional co-authors include Tiago Augusto Moreira, Behzad Rankouhi, Xinyi Yu and Ian Jentz, all from UW–Madison.

The researchers patented their projected undercut perimeter technique through the Wisconsin Alumni Research Foundation. 

This work was supported by ARPA-E grant DE-AR0001475 and National Science Foundation grant 1941206.  

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Journal

International Journal of Heat and Mass Transfer

DOI

10.1016/j.ijheatmasstransfer.2025.126809 

Method of Research

Experimental study

Article Title

Topology optimization, additive manufacturing and thermohydraulic testing of high-temperature heat exchangers

 

Scientists hail new ‘industrially viable technology’ that can squeeze hydrogen from seawater

University of Sharjah

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Systematic illustration of the formation process of how the new device extracts hydrogen from seawater.

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Credit: Small (2025). DOI: https://doi.org/10.1002/smll.202501376

By Ifath Arwah, University of Sharjah

Researchers from the University of Sharjah claim to have developed a novel technology capable of producing clean hydrogen fuel directly from seawater, and at an industrial scale.

In a study published in the journal Small, the researchers report that they extracted hydrogen without the need to remove the mineral salts dissolved in seawater or add any chemicals.

According to the authors, the technology enables hydrogen extraction from seawater without relying on desalination plants, which require massive investments totaling hundreds of millions of dollars.

“We developed a novel, multi-layered electrode that can extract hydrogen directly from seawater efficiently and sustainably. Traditional methods face a host of problems, mainly corrosion and performance degradation caused by chloride ions in seawater,” said Dr. Tanveer Ul Haq, Assistant Professor in the Department of Chemistry, College of Sciences, University of Sharjah, and the study’s lead author.

The authors designed a specially engineered electrode which, in the words of Dr. Ul Haq, “overcomes these issues by creating a protective and reactive microenvironment that boosts performance while resisting damage.”

In a world where clean energy is no longer a luxury but a necessity, hydrogen stands out as one of the most promising solutions. Until now, scientists have primarily relied on pure water—a precious resource in many regions—to produce hydrogen.

This study addresses that challenge by introducing a new technology capable of generating hydrogen directly from seawater.

“In short, we’ve demonstrated that direct seawater electrolysis is not only possible but scalable, delivering industrial-level efficiency while protecting the electrode over long-term use,” Dr. Ul Haq added.

In their study, the researchers describe their device as a “microenvironment-engineered, multilayered electrode design for sustainable seawater electrolysis.” When in operation, the apparatus delivers “a geometric current density of 1 A cm⁻² in real seawater at an overpotential of 420 mV, with no hypochlorite formation and outstanding operational stability for 300 hours at room temperature.”

The electrode, the study notes, produces hydrogen at industrially relevant rates using untreated seawater. Nearly all the electrical input was converted into gas output, achieving a Faradaic efficiency of 98%.

“The advanced anode design achieves an industrially viable current density of 1.0 A cm⁻² at 1.65 V under standard conditions, marking a significant step toward scalable, desalination-free hydrogen production directly from seawater.”

Faradaic efficiency measures the effectiveness with which electrons participate in a given electrochemical reaction.

“We created an advanced electrode that works in real seawater without needing any pre-treatment or desalination,” said the study’s corresponding author, Yousef Haik, Professor of Mechanical and Nuclear Engineering at the University of Sharjah.

“Our system generates hydrogen at industrially relevant rates—1 ampere per square centimeter—with low energy input. This could revolutionize how we think about hydrogen production in coastal regions, especially in arid countries like the UAE, where freshwater is limited but sunlight and seawater are abundant.”

The technology’s strength lies in the electrode’s advanced, multilayered structure, which not only withstands harsh seawater conditions but thrives in them. The device forms “a protective metaborate film, preventing metal dissolution and non-conductive oxide formation”—an approach that eliminates the need for energy-intensive water purification.

“This bypasses costly desalination and complex water purification, making green hydrogen production cheaper and more accessible,” said co-author Mourad Smari, a research associate at Sharjah University’s Institute of Science and Engineering.

One of the most impressive features of the system is its longevity. “It runs for over 300 hours without performance loss, resisting corrosion that usually destroys similar systems,” said Dr. Ul Haq. The study explains that the carbonate layer “acts as an electrostatic shield,” protecting the electrode’s multiple layers from dissolution.

In performance tests, the electrode achieved a turnover frequency of 139.4 s⁻¹ at 1.6 V, which the authors consider one of the highest reported for similar systems.

“In summary, the multilayered electrode architecture developed in this study provides an effective solution for efficient direct seawater electrolysis,” the study concludes. “The ultrathin nanosheet morphology, with its high surface area, facilitates substantial catalyst exposure and activity, maximizing the surface sites available for direct seawater oxidation.”

Dr. Ul Haq emphasized the technology’s potential impact on clean and sustainable energy production.

“This technology can be applied in large-scale hydrogen plants that use seawater instead of precious freshwater. Imagine solar-powered hydrogen farms along the UAE coastline, using seawater and sunlight to produce clean fuel—with zero emissions and minimal resource strain.”

Asked to explain in simple terms how the multilayered design works, Dr. Ul Haq said, “The electrode’s layered design acts like a smart filter—allowing water in, blocking corrosion, and supercharging hydrogen production.” He added that the system’s performance is largely due to how it handles chloride ions in seawater.

The carbonate functionalization repels these ions and creates a local acidic microenvironment that accelerates the oxygen evolution reaction (OER), essential for hydrogen production. The paper notes that this mechanism “enhances OER kinetics and protects against chloride attack and precipitate formation.”

The technology has already attracted interest from “clean energy startups and regional innovation hubs,” Dr. Ul Haq noted. “Our innovation transforms seawater from a challenge into a solution… This is clean hydrogen made from the sea.”

The researchers are now looking forward to large-scale deployment of their technology. “We’re now moving from lab-scale to pilot-scale testing, looking to validate the technology under real-world outdoor conditions,” Dr. Ul Haq said. “Our next goal is to develop a modular hydrogen generator powered by solar energy, tailored for use in arid, coastal regions.”

 

Faradic efficiency: corrosion potential and corrosion current density recorded before and after 300 h electrolysis, chronopotentiometry of valance band spectrum, and Raman spectrum after 300 h continuous electrolysis in alkaline seawater.

Credit

Small (2025). DOI: https://doi.org/10.1002/smll.202501376

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Journal

Small

DOI

10.1002/smll.202501376 

Method of Research

Experimental study

Subject of Research

Not applicable

Article Title

Microenvironment-Engineered Multilayered Electrode Design for Sustainable Seawater Oxidation

 

New Open Access Book! “Climate change impacts and adaptation strategies in Japan”

Ibaraki University

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Cover of the book

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Credit: Ibaraki University

About this book

Editors.: Nobuo Mimura and Satoshi Takewaka
25chapters, 359p., Springer, 2025.
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-981-96-2436-2
Download: https://link.springer.com/book/10.1007/978-981-96-2436-2

   This open access book presents the latest Japanese research for the projection of climate change impacts and the evaluation of adaptation policies, with a particular focus on the S-18 Project—a nationwide, interdisciplinary research initiative involving experts from various fields. The S-18 project aimed to explore how best to respond to the increasingly severe impacts of climate change. To ensure that the research outcomes could be effectively linked to adaptation measures, the project aimed to provide both short-term and long-term policy guidance to support the initiatives of national and local governments, as well as the private sector.

   Readers can get a comprehensive view of the latest knowledge and strategies to combat climate change impacts in Japan. The topics span the research framework and future scenarios for climatic and socio-economic changes, and impacts and adaptation measures in major sectors at both national and local levels. Target sectors include agriculture, forestry and fisheries, natural ecosystems, natural disasters and coastal zones, water resources, urban infrastructure, and transportation, quality of life and human health, and economic analysis of the impacts.

   The book features high-resolution spatial distribution of impacts, changes in vulnerability with localities, effects of mitigation and adaptation measures, and implications of climate change policies on society. As the world experiences increased extreme weather events, this comprehensive book is a timely reference for similar studies in other countries through the presentation of research results and lessons obtained in Japan. Researchers, policymakers, and academics in environmental science, climate policy, and related fields will find this book invaluable for understanding and addressing the multifaceted challenges of climate change adaptation and mitigation.

   Some chapters were written originally in Japanese. The English translation was facilitated by artificial intelligence. The authors later revised the content for accuracy.

Keywords

   Global warming, Impact projection, Effects of adaptation and mitigation, Climate Change Adaptation Act (Japan), Common scenarios for climate and socio-economic changes, Agriculture, forestry and fishery, Ecosystems, Natural disasters and Coastal zone, Water resource, Urban infrastructure, People’s life, Social changes, Population decline, Synergies between mitigation and adaptation

Editors

Dr. Nobuo Mimura is a Professor Emeritus at Ibaraki University and a Specially Appointed Professor at the university’s Global and Local Environment Co-creation Institute. His research areas are global environmental engineering and coastal engineering. For over 30 years, he has been deeply involved in studies on the assessment of climate change impacts and adaptation in Japan, Asia, and small island countries in the South Pacific. His work has highlighted the unique risks of the impacts in these countries and the role of adaptive actions. He also served as Lead Author, Coordinating Lead Author, and Review Editor for the second to sixth assessment reports of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC). He has also contributed as an advisor to several Ministries of the Japanese Government as well as international bodies such as the World Bank. He has lead a strategic research project, S-18 “Comprehensive Research on Projection of Climate Change Impacts and Evaluation of Adaptation” funded by the Ministry of Environment of Japan and the Environmental Restoration and Conservation Agency from 2020 to 2025.

Dr. Satoshi Takewaka is a Professor at the University of Tsukuba. His research interests are coastal engineering and remote sensing. He analyzes long-term trends of sandy beach deformations due to waves, currents, and climate change. He has experience in two governmental research projects on climate change issues and was an editor and author of project book publications. In the S-18 project, he collaborates with Professor Mimura and publicizes the research project and results.

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DOI

10.1007/978-981-96-2436-2 

 

First five years of a child’s life provide a critical window of opportunity for preventing overweight and obesity, Dutch study suggests

European Association for the Study of Obesity

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The first five years of a child’s life may be key to preventing overweight and obesity in years to come, say the authors of new research being presented at year’s European Congress on Obesity (ECO 2025).

The study found that a child’s body mass index (BMI) at the age of six is a better predictor of their risk of overweight or obesity at age 18 than their BMI at other points in their childhood.

Every one-unit increase in BMI at age six more than doubled (2.35 times) a child’s odds of being overweight or obese at 18. (BMI was adjusted for age and sex.)

The study also found that if a child with a higher BMI reached a healthier weight before the age of six, they were no longer at a higher risk of living with overweight or obesity in their late teens.

However, if they returned to a healthier BMI when they were six or older, they were still at higher risk of overweight and obesity.

This suggests that the first five years of a child’s life provide a critical window of opportunity for preventing overweight and obesity in young adulthood, says Jasmin de Groot, of Erasmus MC, University Medical Center Rotterdam, Rotterdam, the Netherlands.

Ms de Groot and colleagues used data from an ongoing prospective cohort study1 in Rotterdam, the Netherlands, to track the BMI trajectories of thousands of children in the Netherlands.

Weight at birth (adjusted for gestational age and sex) and BMI at age two, six, ten, 14 and 18 years was available for 3,528 participants, 52.9% of which were female.

A child’s BMI generally increases with age. For this reason, the researchers used reductions at the rate in which BMI was increasing (i.e. a BMI that was growing more slowly) as an indicator of healthy growth – and of reaching a healthier weight – rather than a reduction in BMI.

Some 32.3%, 22.3%, 24.7% and 20.6% of the 3,528 children lived with overweight or obesity at the ages of 2, 6, 10 and 14 years, respectively.

Many of these children were still in the overweight or obese range at the age of 18. Of the children with overweight or obesity at the ages of 2, 6, 10 and 14 years, 32.5%, 53.9%, 57.2%, and 70.3%, respectively, still lived with overweight or obesity at 18 years.

A higher BMI at any point in childhood, regardless of earlier BMI, was associated with a higher chance of overweight or obesity at 18 years.

A high BMI at the age of six was particularly strongly associated with overweight and obesity at 18.

However, when the researchers split each age group into three groups based on their BMI, they found that if a child in the group with the highest BMI slowed down the growth of their BMI before the age of six, their odds of living with overweight or obesity at 18 were similar to those of a child with a stable, average BMI.

Reaching a healthier weight after the age of six did not have the same effect: the children with the highest BMIs were more likely to live with overweight or obesity aged 18 regardless of how their BMI changed from the age of six onwards.

The findings, say the researchers, emphasise the importance of monitoring BMI in early childhood.

Ms de Groot adds: “We need to understand how children grow and develop if we are to help future generations grow up healthier and give every child a chance at a happy, healthy life.

“Our research assists with this by showing that a child with overweight or obesity isn’t destined to live with overweight or obesity as a young adult – and that the first five years of a child’s life provide a fantastic opportunity to intervene and prevent them experiencing overweight and obesity in the years to come.”

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Article Publication Date

11-May-2025

Childhood obesity can have long-term consequences on employment and study prospects, Swedish study finds

Individuals who lived with obesity as children are four times more likely to be on sick leave aged 25 than their peers in the general population

European Association for the Study of Obesity

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Individuals who lived with obesity as children are less likely to be in work or studying in their mid-20s than their peers, new research being presented at year’s European Congress on Obesity (ECO 2025) has found.

They are also more likely to be on long-term sick leave, the Swedish study of the long-term labour market outcomes of childhood obesity found.

“Rates of childhood obesity are higher in individuals from lower socio-economic backgrounds than in those from higher socio-economic positions,” explains Dr Emilia Hagman, of the Karolinska Institutet, Stockholm, Sweden.

“The reasons for this are complex but one contributing factor may be limited ability to afford healthy foods.

“We have previously shown that children with obesity are less likely to complete 12 years of schooling than those in the general population. This made us wonder to what extent that affected later labour market outcomes.”

Estimating socio-economic position in early adulthood is challenging, as income levels are often low when studying. As a result, the impact of childhood obesity on future employment, education, parental leave and long-term sick leave remains unclear.

To address this, Dr Hagman and colleagues used data from the Swedish Childhood Obesity Treatment Register and several national welfare registers to compare labour market outcomes in early adulthood of two groups of individuals: one that had lived with obesity in childhood and one from the general population.

Some 3,514 individuals who had lived with obesity as children were compared with 16,809 individuals from the general population, matched for sex, year of birth and living area. All were born between 1978 and 1996.

The participants were categorised into six groups: working, low-paid (this group earned less than “working” group), studying, parental leave, sick leave (receiving benefits for long-term sickness, early retirement or disability) or welfare recipient/other (this group included those who were unemployed).

At the age of 25, 59% of the childhood obesity group were working or studying, compared with 68% of the general population.

The rates of parental leave (3% vs. 2%) and low-paid work (22% vs. 22%) were similar between the two groups. However, long-term sick leave was much more common among those who had lived with obesity as children.

At the age of 25, 8.1% of the childhood obesity group were not working due to ill health, compared with 2.3% of the general population group. Overall, the individuals who lived with obesity in childhood had 4 times higher odds of being on long-term sick leave than working, compared to the general population comparators.

The study also found the degree of childhood obesity to be important.

Individuals who lived with class 3 obesity (the most severe form of obesity) in childhood were around three times more likely to be on sick leave (2.85 times) or in the “welfare recipient/others” group (2.97 times), rather than working, compared to those with class 1 obesity (the least severe form of obesity).

Dr Hagman says: “We initially expected that those who experienced obesity in childhood would be overrepresented in the low-paid group, as we know that children with obesity are less likely to complete at least 12 years of schooling than others, and so leave school with fewer qualifications.  We also know that weight discrimination occurs in the labour market.

“Instead, we found that long-term sick leave emerged as an important contributor for not working. To understand the kind of ill health that contributes to this, more research is needed.

“However, we know from previous research that psychiatric conditions, such as depression, are more common among individuals that live with obesity.

“We have to raise awareness that obesity early in life can have long-term consequences, both for the overall health and for labour market outcomes.

“We know that a good response to obesity treatment in childhood decreases the long-term risk of several obesity-related outcomes, such as type 2 diabetes, hypertension and even premature mortality. 

“However, more research is needed to determine if it also improves the children’s employment and study prospects as they get older.”

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Article Publication Date

11-May-2025