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Overweight and Obesity: The Interplay of Eating Habits and Physical Activity

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A special issue of Nutrients (ISSN 2072-6643). This special issue belongs to the section "Nutrition and Obesity".

Deadline for manuscript submissions: closed (25 June 2022) | Viewed by 32173

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Dr. George Moschonis

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Guest Editor

School of Allied Health, Human Services and Sport, La Trobe University, Melbourne 3086, Australia
Interests: nutrition epidemiology; nurtitional assessment; nutrition councelling; functional foods; obesity and related disorders
Special Issues, Collections and Topics in MDPI journals

Dr. Gina Trakman

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Guest Editor

Department of Dietetics, Nutrition and Sport, La Trobe University, Melbourne 3086, Australia
Interests: nutrition knowledge; inflammatory bowel disease; sports nutrition; questionnaire development; dietary additives
Special Issues, Collections and Topics in MDPI journals

Special Issue Information

Dear Colleagues,

The prevalence of overweight and obesity has been steadily increasing over the last 50 years, with worldwide obesity rates tripling since 1975, thus reaching epidemic proportions. Overweight and obesity are predominately a result of a sustained positive energy balance, stemming from a combination of excess dietary energy intake (mainly due to poor eating habits) and reduced energy expenditure (due to lack of physical activity and prolonged sedentary activities). Overweight and obesity significantly increase cardiometabolic risk throughout life, and in adulthood, they are also associated with a high risk of morbidity and mortality from non-communicable chronic disease, primarily cardiovascular disease, type 2 diabetes mellitus, musculoskeletal disorders and certain types of cancer. In addition to the consequences on physical health, obesity also has an important impact on mental health since individuals with a high body weight often experience stigmatization and social isolation, which is associated with chronic stress and depression. As such, the prevention and treatment of overweight and obesity need to become a public health priority and programs targeting eating habits and physical activity should be implemented in both children and adults at the community and individual levels.

The scope of this Special Issue is to publish original research and systematic reviews that report on the role of eating and physical activity habits in the development but also the prevention or treatment of overweight and obesity in both children and adults. We aim to bring together a selection of original research manuscripts and reviews to showcase the latest evidence on lifestyle and obesity prevention and management. The Special Issue also welcomes novel research that differentiates between ‘metabolically healthy obesity’ and chronic disease-associated obesity, focuses on new technologies to collect dietary data and assess physical activity level, and takes a multi-disciplinary approach to obesity.

The Special Issue of Nutrients welcomes the submission of observational and experimental studies, as well as systematic reviews and meta-analyses coming from a wide range of related disciplines (i.e., human nutrition and dietetics, exercise physiology, phycology, public health, epidemiology, non-communicable chronic diseases).

Dr. George Moschonis
Dr. Gina Trakman
Guest Editors

Manuscript Submission Information

Manuscripts should be submitted online at www.mdpi.com by registering and logging in to this website. Once you are registered, click here to go to the submission form. Manuscripts can be submitted until the deadline. All submissions that pass pre-check are peer-reviewed. Accepted papers will be published continuously in the journal (as soon as accepted) and will be listed together on the special issue website. Research articles, review articles as well as short communications are invited. For planned papers, a title and short abstract (about 100 words) can be sent to the Editorial Office for announcement on this website.

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. Nutrients is an international peer-reviewed open access semimonthly journal published by MDPI.

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Keywords

overweight
obesity
body composition
diet
diet quality
dietary patterns
eating habits
exercise
physical activity
sedentary behaviors
obesity prevention
weight management
lifestyle intervention

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Published Papers (7 papers)

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Editorial

Jump to: Research

4 pages, 182 KiB

Open AccessEditorial

Overweight and Obesity: The Interplay of Eating Habits and Physical Activity

by George Moschonis and Gina Louise Trakman

Nutrients 2023, 15(13), 2896; https://doi.org/10.3390/nu15132896 - 27 Jun 2023

Cited by 10 | Viewed by 4083

Abstract

The prevalence of overweight and obesity has been steadily increasing over the last 50 years, with worldwide obesity rates tripling since 1975, thus reaching pandemic proportions [...] Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Overweight and Obesity: The Interplay of Eating Habits and Physical Activity)

Research

Jump to: Editorial

15 pages, 3611 KiB

Open AccessArticle

Interdisciplinary Educational Interventions Improve Knowledge of Eating, Nutrition, and Physical Activity of Elementary Students

by Mayra Lopes de Oliveira, Juliana de Lara Castagnoli, Kerulyn Maria Chanivski Machado, Jaqueline Machado Soares, Flávia Teixeira, Dalton Luiz Schiessel, Elisvânia Freitas dos Santos and Daiana Novello

Nutrients 2022, 14(14), 2827; https://doi.org/10.3390/nu14142827 - 9 Jul 2022

Cited by 4 | Viewed by 2726

Abstract

This research aimed to evaluate the interdisciplinary educational intervention effects on knowledge of eating, nutrition, and physical activity in elementary-school students. Participants were 368 school children enrolled in public schools. The research was organized in three stages: pre-intervention, intervention and post-intervention. In pre-intervention, children were evaluated regarding their nutritional status. They also answered questionnaires related to eating and nutrition and physical activity. In the intervention stage, educational interventions were carried out on the same topics for a period of five months; in post-intervention, children answered the same questionnaires applied in pre-intervention. Despite most children having normal nutritional status (58.2%), a high number of students were overweight (38%). In the initial phase, it was found that most children had excellent knowledge of eating, nutrition, and good physical activity knowledge (p-value < 0.05). Educational health intervention significantly increased children’s knowledge of eating, nutrition, and physical activity, when evaluated in the post-intervention period. Both boys and girls increased their knowledge of eating, nutrition, and physical activity after the application of interdisciplinary interventions (p-value < 0.05). A similar effect was observed for children with different nutritional status. It is concluded that interdisciplinary educational interventions carried out for children in an elementary-school environment are effective for improving knowledge of eating, nutrition, and in physical activity, promoting healthier habits among children. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Overweight and Obesity: The Interplay of Eating Habits and Physical Activity)

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14 pages, 1941 KiB

Open AccessArticle

Prevalence of Childhood Obesity by Country, Family Socio-Demographics, and Parental Obesity in Europe: The Feel4Diabetes Study

by George Moschonis, George Siopis, Costas Anastasiou, Violeta Iotova, Tanya Stefanova, Roumyana Dimova, Imre Rurik, Anette Si Radó, Greet Cardon, Marieke De Craemer, Jaana Lindström, Luis A. Moreno, Pilar De Miguel-Etayo, Konstantinos Makrilakis, Stavros Liatis, Yannis Manios and on behalf of the Feel4Diabetes-study Group

Nutrients 2022, 14(9), 1830; https://doi.org/10.3390/nu14091830 - 27 Apr 2022

Cited by 13 | Viewed by 4905

Abstract

The Feel4Diabetes study recruited 12,193 children (age: 8.20 ±1.01 years) and their parents from six European countries as part of the broader attempt to prevent type 2 diabetes. The current work collected data pre-intervention to identify the prevalence of childhood obesity by country and describe its association with socio-demographic characteristics and parental obesity status. One in four children were overweight or obese, and one in four families had at least one obese parent. Multivariate logistic regression examined the associations between childhood obesity, family socio-demographics, and parental obesity status. Children had a higher chance of being overweight or obese if they were living in “low income” countries (OR: 2.11, 95% CI: 1.62, 2.74) and countries “under economic crisis” (OR: 2.48, 95% CI: 1.89, 3.24) compared to “high-income” countries; if their fathers completed fewer than nine years of education (OR: 2.16, 95% CI: 1.54, 3.05) compared to children whose fathers had a higher level (>14 years) of education; and if one (OR: 2.46, 95% CI: 0.32, 0.62) or both of their parents (OR: 6.83, 95% CI: 5.15, 9.05) were obese. Future childhood obesity prevention-programs should target the whole family while taking into consideration the socioeconomic and weight status of parents. Future research should examine these associations in more countries and in socio-demographically diverse populations in order to facilitate the generalisability of the present study’s findings. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Overweight and Obesity: The Interplay of Eating Habits and Physical Activity)

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11 pages, 1555 KiB

Open AccessArticle

Short Video Viewing, and Not Sedentary Time, Is Associated with Overweightness/Obesity among Chinese Women

by Ke Chen, Qiang He, Yang Pan, Shuzo Kumagai, Si Chen and Xianliang Zhang

Nutrients 2022, 14(6), 1309; https://doi.org/10.3390/nu14061309 - 21 Mar 2022

Cited by 5 | Viewed by 3710

Abstract

Previous studies have found that the relationship between sedentary time (ST) and overweightness/obesity is unclear. The association between sedentary behavior and overweightness/obesity may depend on the type of sedentary behavior engaged in. Nowadays, in older Chinese adults, especially females, short video viewing (SVV) is the most popular leisure sedentary behavior. However, the association between SVV and overweightness/obesity remains to be determined. This study aimed to examine the associations between ST and SVV and overweightness/obesity in Chinese community-dwelling older women. A cross-sectional analysis of baseline data from the Physical Activity and Health in Older Women Study was carried out in this study. A total of 1105 older Chinese women aged 60–70 years were included. SVV was estimated using a self-reported questionnaire, and ST was objectively measured using a tri-axial accelerometer. Overweightness/obesity indicators, including body fat ratio (BFR), fat mass (FM), visceral fat mass (VFM), subcutaneous fat mass (SFM), trunk fat mass (TFM), and limb fat mass (LFM), were assessed using multi-frequency bioimpedance analysis. The covariates included socio-demographic data and a range of health-related factors. Multiple linear regression analyses were used to assess the association between ST and SVV and overweightness/obesity. ST was significantly positively associated with all indicators of overweightness/obesity; however, the associations disappeared after adjusting for moderate-to-vigorous-intensity physical activity (MVPA). A higher SVV time was associated with a higher body mass index (BMI) (β = 0.19, 95% confidence interval (CI): 0.05 to 0.32), BFR (β = 0.31, 95% CI: 0.07 to 0.56), FM (β = 0.33, 95% CI: 0.04 to 0.61), VFM (β = 0.09, 95% CI: 0.01 to 0.16), SFM (β = 0.24, 95% CI: 0.03 to 0.45), TFM (β = 0.21, 95% CI: 0.04 to 0.39), and LFM (β = 0.11, 95% CI: 0.00 to 0.23) in the fully adjusted models. Compared with non-food short videos, short food videos had a greater effect on overweightness/obesity. SVV was an independent risk factor for overweightness/obesity. A reduction in SVV (especially the food category) rather than ST might be an effective way to prevent overweightness/obesity when incorporated in future public health policy formulations. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Overweight and Obesity: The Interplay of Eating Habits and Physical Activity)

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17 pages, 1492 KiB

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Independent and Combined Association of Lifestyle Behaviours and Physical Fitness with Body Weight Status in Schoolchildren

by Rubén Aragón-Martín, María del Mar Gómez-Sánchez, José Manuel Martínez-Nieto, José Pedro Novalbos-Ruiz, Carmen Segundo-Iglesias, María José Santi-Cano, José Castro-Piñero, Carmen Lineros-González, Mariano Hernán-García, Mónica Schwarz-Rodríguez, David Jiménez-Pavón and Amelia Rodríguez-Martín

Nutrients 2022, 14(6), 1208; https://doi.org/10.3390/nu14061208 - 12 Mar 2022

Cited by 5 | Viewed by 3531

Abstract

(1) Background: Lifestyle behaviours and physical fitness play a critical role in the development of childhood obesity. It has been demonstrated in this study that self-reported physical fitness is representative of a healthy lifestyle and thus is associated with a lower incidence of overweight/obesity. The objective of this study was to analyse the independent and combined association of lifestyles (physical activity, screen time, diet and hours of sleep) and self-reported physical fitness with body weight in schoolchildren. (2) Methods: This study performed a descriptive and cross-sectional analysis. The study sample consisted of 864 schoolchildren between 8–9 years old from 26 schools of the province of Cádiz. To measure lifestyles and self-reported physical fitness, questionnaires were administered to both schoolchildren and families. To obtain the body weight status, the children were measured by body mass index (BMI). To verify the influence of lifestyles and self-reported physical fitness on the body weight status of schoolchildren, a combined score of lifestyles and self-reported physical fitness was calculated. (3) Results: Schoolchildren who followed healthier lifestyles and presented good physical fitness had a better body weight status (p < 0.001). Schoolchildren who had less healthful lifestyles and bad physical fitness had a 10.34 times higher risk of being overweight or obese (p = 0.004). (4) Conclusions: It has been shown that there is an independent and combined association between lifestyles and physical fitness on the body weight of the schoolchildren. We have suggested strategies to get children to adopt healthy lifestyles and good physical fitness to maintain a healthy body weight and prevent obesity. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Overweight and Obesity: The Interplay of Eating Habits and Physical Activity)

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14 pages, 1087 KiB

Open AccessArticle

Effect of Continuous Ingestion of 2 g of Medium-Chain Triglycerides on Substrate Metabolism during Low-Intensity Physical Activity

by Shougo Tsujino, Naohisa Nosaka, Shohei Sadamitsu and Kazuhiko Kato

Nutrients 2022, 14(3), 536; https://doi.org/10.3390/nu14030536 - 26 Jan 2022

Cited by 7 | Viewed by 6300

Abstract

Increasing fat burning during physical activity is thought to be an effective strategy for maintaining health and preventing lifestyle-related diseases, such as obesity and diabetes. In recent years, medium-chain triglycerides (MCTs) have gained attention as a dietary component for increasing fat-burning. However, this fat-burning effect has been unclear in people with high body mass index (BMI). Therefore, we aimed to clarify the effects of 2 g of daily ingestion of MCTs over 2 weeks on substrate oxidation during low-intensity physical activity in sedentary (i.e., with no exercise habit) subjects with a BMI from 25 (kg/m²) to less than 30, which is classified as obese in Japan. A placebo-controlled, randomized, double-blind, crossover study with a 2-week washout period was conducted. The rate of fat oxidation as well as the respiratory exchange ratio (RER) during exercise (with a cycle ergometer at a 20-watt load) were measured with a human calorimeter. MCTs ingestion significantly increased fat oxidation during physical activity and decreased RER compared to long-chain triglycerides ingestion. In conclusion, we suggest that daily ingestion of 2 g of MCTs for 2 weeks increases fat burning during daily physical activities in sedentary persons with a BMI ranging from 25 to less than 30. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Overweight and Obesity: The Interplay of Eating Habits and Physical Activity)

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11 pages, 275 KiB

Open AccessArticle

Changes in Dietary Intake Patterns and Weight Status during the COVID-19 Lockdown: A Cross-Sectional Study Focusing on Young Adults in Malaysia

by Seok Tyug Tan, Chin Xuan Tan and Seok Shin Tan

Nutrients 2022, 14(2), 280; https://doi.org/10.3390/nu14020280 - 10 Jan 2022

Cited by 26 | Viewed by 5263

Abstract

Introduction: The coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) isolation has altered individuals’ food purchasing behaviour and dietary intake patterns. Therefore, this study aims to investigate the changes in dietary intake patterns and their impacts on the weight status of young adults in Malaysia during the COVID-19 lockdown. Methods: This cross-sectional study involved 1045 young adults in Malaysia. The changes in dietary intake patterns were assessed using the Dietary Diversity Questionnaire with slight modifications, while anthropometric measurements including body height, body weight before the pandemic and current body weight were self-reported. Results: Overall, nearly half of the respondents (48.8%) gained weight during the confinement, with an average increment of 4.06 ± 3.23 kg. Of 1045, 45.3% reported consuming more fruits and 60.2% had higher plain water intake during the pandemic. It is observed that 41.0% to 66.8% of the young adults changed their dietary intake patterns during the pandemic. Increased consumption in cereals and grains (β = 0.084, p = 0.015, 95% CI = 0.017–0.160), as well as oils and fats (β = 0.123, p = 0.001, 95% CI = 0.059–0.241), was positively associated with weight gain during the pandemic. On the contrary, an increased plain water intake was negatively associated with weight gain during the lockdown (β = −0.100, p = 0.003, 95% CI = −0.171–−0.034). Findings in the current study also suggested that cutting back cereals and grains (β = 0.156, p < 0.001, 95% CI = 0.122–0.288), as well as oils and fats (β = 0.091, p = 0.012, 95% CI = 0.022–0.183), contributed significantly to weight loss during the pandemic confinement. Conclusion: In conclusion, the enforcement of the Movement Control Order (MCO) drove up the prevalence of overweight/obesity among young adults in Malaysia. Increased consumption of cereals and grains and oils and fats contributed to weight gain in the pandemic lockdown. Nonetheless, a noticeable proportion of young adults in Malaysia shifted to a healthier food choice by increasing the consumption of fruits and vegetables. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Overweight and Obesity: The Interplay of Eating Habits and Physical Activity)

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