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Healthy Lifestyles for the Prevention of Non-communicable Diseases: Epidemiological Findings and Interventions

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A special issue of International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health (ISSN 1660-4601). This special issue belongs to the section "Health Behavior, Chronic Disease and Health Promotion".

Deadline for manuscript submissions: closed (31 March 2023) | Viewed by 11501

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Special Issue Editors

Dr. Duong Van Tuyen

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Guest Editor

School of Nutrition and Health Sciences, Taipei Medical University, Taipei 11031, Taiwan
Interests: health literacy; food literacy; dietary intake; nutritional markers; quantitative methods; evaluation of research instruments; global health; health behaviors; quality of life; metabolic syndrome; cardiovascular disease risks; stroke; type 2 diabetes; hypertension; chronic kidney disease
Special Issues, Collections and Topics in MDPI journals

Prof. Dr. Kevin Dadaczynski

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Guest Editor

1. Department of Nursing and Health Science, Fulda University of Applied Sciences, 36037 Fulda, Germany
2. Center for Applied Health Science, Leuphana University Lueneburg, 21335 Lueneburg, Germany
Interests: health promotion and education with special interest in educational settings; digital public health and health literacy
Special Issues, Collections and Topics in MDPI journals

Special Issue Information

Dear Colleagues,

According to WHO, about 41 million people worldwide die of noncommunicable diseases (NCDs) each year. Maintaining a healthy lifestyle (e.g., healthy eating, physical activity, better sleep quality, no smoking or alcohol consumption) is extremely important to promote health and well-being and to prevent NCDs (e.g. diabetes, cardiovascular diseases, chronic kidney diseases, and cancers) over the entire life course. To empower people to adopt and maintain a healthy lifestyle, systematic and complex intervention approaches that take into account the specific needs of particularly vulnerable populations and their living conditions are needed.

We would like to invite you to share your epidemiological findings and interventions with researchers, practitioners, policymakers worldwide. Special interest will be given to (1) analysis of big data to examine how lifestyle components interact with one another, and with other predictors of NCDs; (2) complex interventions that, amongst others, include multiple (interacting) components, target different groups, and outcomes, consider different intervention levels and settings, and allow a certain degree of implementation flexibility.

We welcome empirical findings, e.g. on intervention effectiveness, implementation, and scaling up; and theoretical papers on, e.g. on the design of complex interventions. Moreover, studies applying qualitative or quantitative methods, big data analysis, systematic reviews, and meta-analysis are also encouraged. Ideally, manuscripts that address vulnerable populations and thus contribute to the discussion on reducing health inequities.

Dr. Duong Van Tuyen
Prof. Dr. Kevin Dadaczynski
Guest Editors

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Submitted manuscripts should not have been published previously, nor be under consideration for publication elsewhere (except conference proceedings papers). All manuscripts are thoroughly refereed through a single-blind peer-review process. A guide for authors and other relevant information for submission of manuscripts is available on the Instructions for Authors page. International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health is an international peer-reviewed open access monthly journal published by MDPI.

Please visit the Instructions for Authors page before submitting a manuscript. The Article Processing Charge (APC) for publication in this open access journal is 2500 CHF (Swiss Francs). Submitted papers should be well formatted and use good English. Authors may use MDPI's English editing service prior to publication or during author revisions.

Keywords

healthy eating
physical activity
exercise
fitness
smoking
alcohol consumption
obesity
hypertension
diabetes
metabolic disorders
cardiovascular diseases
chronic kidney diseases
stroke
cancer
mortality
complex interventions
intervention theory
implementation
dissemination and scaling-up
lifestyle interventions
noncommunicable diseases (NCDs)

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Published Papers (4 papers)

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Research

17 pages, 439 KiB

Open AccessArticle

by Karina Leksy, Mirosław Wójciak, Grzegorz Gawron, Rafał Muster, Kevin Dadaczynski and Orkan Okan

Int. J. Environ. Res. Public Health 2023, 20(1), 805; https://doi.org/10.3390/ijerph20010805 - 1 Jan 2023

Cited by 7 | Viewed by 3235

Abstract

Background: The ongoing COVID-19 pandemic has influenced educational systems worldwide. School principals coped with numerous significant challenges regarding school management during the epidemiological crisis that could generate a lot of work-related stress. Thus, the presented study examines Polish school principals’ perceived stress and its association with exhaustion and psychosomatic complaints as burnout risk indicators. Principals’ gender and age as sociodemographic control variables were also considered in this paper. Methods: A cross-sectional online study was conducted in eight provinces of Poland from June to December 2021. The study was part of a global COVID-HL school principal survey under the global COVID-Health Literacy Research Network. Two subscales of the Perceived Stress Scale (PSS-10) (perceived helplessness [PH] and perceived self-efficacy [PSE]) were considered independent variables in relation to school principals’ mental and physical exhaustion and psychosomatic complaints. Regression models consisting of two equations were used to test the relationship between variables. The first equation consists of the control variables (age, gender), and in the second equation, the independent variables (PH and PSE) were included in addition to the control variables. Results: Almost 50% of school principals experienced a lack of control that caused anger and stress. Mental and physical exhaustion during the pandemic was often or always felt by 30% of respondents. Nearly half of Polish school principals experienced psychosomatic complaints in the form of muscle pain and headaches. PH, to a greater extent than PSE, was associated with mental and physical exhaustion and psychosomatic complaints. With age, the level of psychosomatic complaints and mental and physical exhaustion decreases, but it was higher among women. Regression analysis revealed significant associations between exhaustion and mental health outcomes, even after controlling for demographic variables Conclusion: This study showed that almost half of Polish school principals indicated a high frequency of perceived stress during the pandemic. PH was more substantially associated with mental and physical exhaustion in younger female principals than PSE. Younger female school principals reported more exhaustion and psychosomatic complaints. This finding should be the baseline information for policymakers to improve the wellbeing of Polish school principals and prevent the risk of burnout. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Healthy Lifestyles for the Prevention of Non-communicable Diseases: Epidemiological Findings and Interventions)

15 pages, 382 KiB

Open AccessArticle

Levels and Correlates of Numeracy Skills in Lebanese Adults with Diabetes: A Cross-Sectional Study

by Carmel Bouclaous, Luna Joe Azar, Nour Barmo, Ralph Daher, Jana Tabaja, Ghida El Hout and Lina Berika

Int. J. Environ. Res. Public Health 2022, 19(17), 10557; https://doi.org/10.3390/ijerph191710557 - 24 Aug 2022

Cited by 1 | Viewed by 3316

Abstract

Diabetes numeracy skills are required in the interpretation of food labels, insulin pump dosage, the interpretation of blood glucose meter data, and the determination of carbohydrate intake. This study assessed the levels and correlates of numeracy skills in Lebanese adults with diabetes to identify those most at risk of uncontrolled diabetes. In total, 299 adults with diabetes, mean age 47.4 ± 19.8 years, took the questionnaire. It consisted of self-developed items on sociodemographic and health-related factors, in addition to the Diabetes Numeracy Test-15 (DNT-15) and the Single Item Literacy Screener. Many participants (62%) scored < 10 on the DNT-15 indicating insufficient numeracy skills. DNT-15 scores were positively associated with literacy, exercise, healthy diet, perceived diabetes control, frequency of glycaemia measurement, ability to afford treatment, and ease of understanding information related to diabetes. Age, BMI, and complications were negatively correlated with DNT-15 score. Numeracy skills were higher in males, single individuals, and in people with type 1 diabetes, fewer complications, controlled HbA1c, higher income, higher education, a prior visit to a dietician, and ability to maintain personal care despite COVID-19. Interventions to strengthen numeracy skills would empower individuals with diabetes, lead to appropriate self-management behaviors, and prevent health complications in at-risk individuals. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Healthy Lifestyles for the Prevention of Non-communicable Diseases: Epidemiological Findings and Interventions)

10 pages, 744 KiB

Open AccessArticle

School Feeding as a Protective Factor against Insulin Resistance: The Study of Cardiovascular Risks in Adolescents (ERICA)

by Aline Bassetto Okamura, Vivian Siqueira Santos Gonçalves and Kênia Mara Baiocchi de Carvalho

Int. J. Environ. Res. Public Health 2022, 19(17), 10551; https://doi.org/10.3390/ijerph191710551 - 24 Aug 2022

Cited by 1 | Viewed by 1312

Abstract

The objective of this study was to use ERICA data from adolescents from Brazilian public schools to investigate the role of school feeding in insulin resistance markers. Public school students (12–17 years old) with available biochemical examinations were selected. Adolescents answered a self-administered questionnaire, and contextual characteristics were obtained through interviews with principals. A multilevel mixed-effects generalized linear model was performed at the contextual and individual levels with each insulin resistance marker (fasting insulin, HOMA-IR, and blood glucose levels). A total of 27,990 adolescents were evaluated (50.2% female). The prevalence of (1) altered insulin was 12.2% (95% CI; 11.1, 13.5), (2) high HOMA-IR was 24.7% (95% CI; 22.8, 26.7), and (3) high blood glucose was 4.6% (95% CI; 3.8, 5.4). School feeding was positively associated with an insulin resistance marker, decreasing by 0.135 units of HOMA-IR (95% CI; −0.19, −0.08), 0.469 μU/L of insulin levels (95% CI; −0.66, −0.28), and 0.634 mg/dL of blood glucose (95% CI; −0.87, −0.39). In turn, buying food increased blood glucose by 0.455 mg/dL (95% CI; 0.16, 0.75). School feeding was positively associated with insulin resistance variables, demonstrating the potential of planned meals in the school environment to serve as a health promoter for the adolescent population. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Healthy Lifestyles for the Prevention of Non-communicable Diseases: Epidemiological Findings and Interventions)

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9 pages, 1050 KiB

Open AccessCommunication

Effect of a Digitally-Enabled, Preventive Health Program on Blood Pressure in an Adult, Dutch General Population Cohort: An Observational Pilot Study

by José Castela Forte, Pytrik Folkertsma, Rahul Gannamani, Sridhar Kumaraswamy, Sipko van Dam and Jan Hoogsteen

Int. J. Environ. Res. Public Health 2022, 19(7), 4171; https://doi.org/10.3390/ijerph19074171 - 31 Mar 2022

Cited by 2 | Viewed by 2444

Abstract

Worldwide, it is estimated that at least one in four adults suffers from hypertension, and this number is expected to increase as populations grow and age. Blood pressure (BP) possesses substantial heritability, but is also heavily modulated by lifestyle factors. As such, digital, lifestyle-based interventions are a promising alternative to standard care for hypertension prevention and management. In this study, we assessed the prevalence of elevated and high BP in a Dutch general population cohort undergoing a health screening, and observed the effects of a subsequent self-initiated, digitally-enabled lifestyle program on BP regulation. Baseline data were available for 348 participants, of which 56 had partaken in a BP-focused lifestyle program and got remeasured 10 months after the intervention. Participants with elevated SBP and DBP at baseline showed a mean decrease of 7.2 mmHg and 5.4 mmHg, respectively. Additionally, 70% and 72.5% of participants showed an improvement in systolic and diastolic BP at remeasurement. These improvements in BP are superior to those seen in other recent studies. The long-term sustainability and the efficacy of this and similar digital lifestyle interventions will need to be established in additional, larger studies. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Healthy Lifestyles for the Prevention of Non-communicable Diseases: Epidemiological Findings and Interventions)

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