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Journal of the American Heart... Feb 2023As the worldwide prevalence of overweight and obesity continues to rise, so too does the urgency to fully understand mediating mechanisms, to discover new targets for... (Review)
Review
As the worldwide prevalence of overweight and obesity continues to rise, so too does the urgency to fully understand mediating mechanisms, to discover new targets for safe and effective therapeutic intervention, and to identify biomarkers to track obesity and the success of weight loss interventions. In 2016, the American Heart Association sought applications for a Strategically Focused Research Network (SFRN) on Obesity. In 2017, 4 centers were named, including Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine, New York University Grossman School of Medicine, University of Alabama at Birmingham, and Vanderbilt University Medical Center. These 4 centers were convened to study mechanisms and therapeutic targets in obesity, to train a talented cadre of American Heart Association SFRN-designated fellows, and to initiate and sustain effective and enduring collaborations within the individual centers and throughout the SFRN networks. This review summarizes the central themes, major findings, successful training of highly motivated and productive fellows, and the innovative collaborations and studies forged through this SFRN on Obesity. Leveraging expertise in in vitro and cellular model assays, animal models, and humans, the work of these 4 centers has made a significant impact in the field of obesity, opening doors to important discoveries, and the identification of a future generation of obesity-focused investigators and next-step clinical trials. The creation of the SFRN on Obesity for these 4 centers is but the beginning of innovative science and, importantly, the birth of new collaborations and research partnerships to propel the field forward.
Topics: Animals; Humans; Overweight; American Heart Association; Obesity; Causality; New York
PubMed: 36752232
DOI: 10.1161/JAHA.122.027693 -
Revista de Neurologia Aug 2022Recent findings suggest that overweight and obesity in children and adolescents affect cognitive processes and can alter school learning. The so-called executive... (Review)
Review
INTRODUCTION
Recent findings suggest that overweight and obesity in children and adolescents affect cognitive processes and can alter school learning. The so-called executive functions, such as response inhibition capacity, impulsivity control, cognitive flexibility, planning, and decision making, have been inversely related to body mass index.
AIM
This work aims to examine the neurobiological and psychological hypothesis that explain why overweight, and obesity alter the cognitive functions of children and adolescents.
DEVELOPMENT
Diets rich in fats and sugars can cause hyperinsulinemia, dyslipidemia, hypertension, augmented abdominal adipose tissue and resistance to insulin and leptin. These metabolic alterations induce a peripheral systemic inflammatory process that can affect the blood-brain barrier and the brain functioning of regions linked to attention and learning and memory processes. Some metabolic disorders of the pregnant mother, obesity during pregnancy and pre- and postnatal traumatic experiences can trigger changes in the control of food intake in children and adolescents and induce overweight in critical stages of their development. Obesity affects the functioning of the hippocampus and produces a decrease in the prefrontal cortex gray matter, thereby modifying cognitive abilities, especially executive functions.
CONCLUSIONS
Overweight and obesity in childhood and adolescence are a risk factor not only for general health but also for proper brain development and cognitive functions and can therefore lead to school failure.
Topics: Adolescent; Body Mass Index; Child; Cognition; Executive Function; Humans; Overweight; Pediatric Obesity
PubMed: 35879881
DOI: 10.33588/rn.7503.2022173 -
Revista Latino-americana de Enfermagem 2019analyze associations between demographic, academic, health, stress, overweight and obesity characteristics among nursing students.
OBJECTIVE
analyze associations between demographic, academic, health, stress, overweight and obesity characteristics among nursing students.
METHOD
this is a cross-sectional study with 95 students from a private university in Rio Grande do Sul, Brazil. A demographic, academic and health characterization questionnaire and the Assessment of Stress in Nursing Students (ASNS) scale were applied. Anthropometric measures were taken and descriptive and bivariate analyses were performed.
RESULTS
female students predominated in this study, mean age: 25.6±5.87 years. Weight gain was observed in 52.6% of the students, with the 'Professional training' session reporting high (29.5%) and very high (36.8%) levels of stress. None of the stress scale sessions was associated with overweight and obesity.
CONCLUSION
overweight and obesity were associated with male participants, high blood pressure, weight gain since the beginning of the course, altered waist circumference, no physical activity, eating more in stressful situations, and consumption of unhealthy foods.
Topics: Adult; Blood Pressure; Body Mass Index; Brazil; Cross-Sectional Studies; Female; Humans; Life Style; Male; Middle Aged; Obesity; Overweight; Stress, Psychological; Students, Nursing; Waist Circumference
PubMed: 31596412
DOI: 10.1590/1518-8345.2966.3177 -
BMC Cardiovascular Disorders Jun 2023Data on the impact of age at onset of overweight/obesity on the risk of hypertension are limited. We aimed to investigate the above-mentioned association in Chinese...
BACKGROUND
Data on the impact of age at onset of overweight/obesity on the risk of hypertension are limited. We aimed to investigate the above-mentioned association in Chinese population.
METHODS
6700 adults who participated in at least three survey waves and were free of overweight/obesity and hypertension on first survey were included using China Health and Nutrition Survey. The age of participants at the onset of overweight/obesity (body mass index ≥ 24 kg/m) and subsequent hypertension occurrence (blood pressure ≥ 140/90 mmHg or use of antihypertensive medication) were identified. We used the covariate-adjusted Poisson model with robust standard error to calculate the relative risk (RR) and 95% confidence interval (95%CI) to examine the relationship between the age at onset of overweight/obesity and hypertension.
RESULTS
There were 2,284 new-onset overweight/obesity cases and 2,268 incident cases of hypertension during an average 13.8-year follow-up period. Compared with the population without overweight/obesity, the RR (95% CI) of hypertension was 1.45 (1.28-1.65), 1.35 (1.21-1.52) and 1.16 (1.06-1.28) for overweight/obesity onset in participants aged < 38 years, 38-47 years, and ≥ 47 years, respectively. The risk of hypertension increased linearly with a decrease in age at onset of overweight/obesity (P < 0.001 for trend). The sensitivity analyses results were similar after excluding the participants taking antihypertensive medications or those with new-onset obesity or using waist circumference to define overweight/obesity.
CONCLUSIONS
Our results emphasize the importance of assessing age at onset of overweight/obesity to prevent hypertension.
Topics: Adult; Humans; Age of Onset; Antihypertensive Agents; East Asian People; Hypertension; Obesity; Overweight
PubMed: 37391689
DOI: 10.1186/s12872-023-03347-z -
European Journal of Clinical Nutrition Dec 2021Overweight, obesity, and their comorbidities remain global health challenges. When established early in life, overweight is often sustained into adulthood and... (Review)
Review
Overweight, obesity, and their comorbidities remain global health challenges. When established early in life, overweight is often sustained into adulthood and contributes to the early onset of non-communicable diseases. Parental pre-conception overweight and obesity is a risk factor for overweight and obesity in childhood and beyond. This increased risk likely is based on an interplay of genetic alterations and environmental exposures already at the beginning of life, although mechanisms are still poorly defined. In this narrative review, potential routes of transmission of pre-conceptional overweight/obesity from mothers and fathers to their offspring as well as prevention strategies are discussed. Observational evidence suggests that metabolic changes due to parental overweight/obesity affect epigenetic markers in oocytes and sperms alike and may influence epigenetic programming and reprogramming processes during embryogenesis. While weight reduction in overweight/obese men and women, who plan to become pregnant, seems advisable to improve undesirable outcomes in offspring, caution might be warranted. Limited evidence suggests that weight loss in men and women in close proximity to conception might increase undesirable offspring outcomes at birth due to nutritional deficits and/or metabolic disturbances in the parent also affecting gamete quality. A change in the dietary pattern might be more advisable. The data reviewed here suggest that pre-conception intervention strategies should shift from women to couples, and future studies should address possible interactions between maternal and paternal contribution to longitudinal childhood outcomes. Randomized controlled trials focusing on effects of pre-conceptional diet quality on long-term offspring health are warranted.
Topics: Adult; Diet; Fathers; Female; Humans; Male; Mothers; Overweight; Pediatric Obesity; Pregnancy
PubMed: 34131301
DOI: 10.1038/s41430-021-00920-7 -
Journal of Perinatal Medicine Jan 2023Overweight and obesity in pregnancy and prepregnancy are perinatal risks. Studies showed prevention of these risks with counseling about the risks and treatment... (Review)
Review
Overweight and obesity in pregnancy and prepregnancy are perinatal risks. Studies showed prevention of these risks with counseling about the risks and treatment strategies like lifestyle interventions as exercise on a daily basis, nutritional health and diet.
Topics: Female; Pregnancy; Humans; Overweight; Pregnant Women; Pregnancy Complications; Obesity; Diet; Body Mass Index
PubMed: 36018720
DOI: 10.1515/jpm-2022-0313 -
JAMA Network Open Jul 2023Soft drink consumption is associated with weight gain in children and adolescents, but little is known about the association between soft drink consumption and...
IMPORTANCE
Soft drink consumption is associated with weight gain in children and adolescents, but little is known about the association between soft drink consumption and prevalence of the overweight and obesity in adolescents.
OBJECTIVE
To investigate the association of soft drink consumption with overweight and obesity in adolescents enrolled in school (hereafter, school-going adolescents) using country-level and individual-level data.
DESIGN, SETTING, AND PARTICIPANTS
This cross-sectional study used data from 3 cross-sectional studies including 107 countries and regions that participated in the Global School-Based Student Health Survey (2009-2017), the European Health Behavior in School-Aged Children study (2017-2018), and the US Youth Risk Behavior Survey (2019).
EXPOSURE
Daily soft drink consumption (consuming soft drinks 1 or more times per day or not).
MAIN OUTCOME AND MEASURE
Overweight and obesity defined by the World Health Organization Growth Reference Data.
RESULTS
Among the 107 countries and regions, 65 were low- and middle-income, and 42 were high-income countries and regions, with a total of 405 528 school-going adolescents (mean [SD] age, 14.2 [1.7] years; 196 147 [48.4%] males). The prevalence of overweight and obesity among adolescent students varied from 3.3% (95% CI, 2.6 to 4.1) in Cambodia to 64.0% (95% CI, 57.0 to 71.6) in Niue, and the prevalence of adolescent students consuming soft drinks 1 or more times per day varied from 3.3% (95% CI, 2.9 to 3.7) in Iceland to 79.6% (95% CI, 74.0 to 85.3) in Niue. There was a positive correlation between the prevalence of daily soft drink consumption and the prevalence of overweight and obesity (R, 0.44; P < .001). The pooled analysis using individual-level data also showed a statistically significant association between daily soft drink consumption and overweight and obesity (daily soft drink consumption vs nondaily soft drink consumption), with an odds ratio of 1.14 (95% CI, 1.08 to 1.21) among school-going adolescents.
CONCLUSIONS AND RELEVANCE
In this study of 107 countries and regions, the prevalence of daily consumption of soft drinks was associated with the prevalence of overweight and obesity among adolescent students. Our results, in conjunction with other evidence, suggest that reducing soft drink consumption should be a priority in combating adolescent overweight and obesity.
Topics: Male; Child; Humans; Adolescent; Female; Overweight; Pediatric Obesity; Cross-Sectional Studies; Carbonated Beverages; Surveys and Questionnaires
PubMed: 37486630
DOI: 10.1001/jamanetworkopen.2023.25158 -
High Blood Pressure & Cardiovascular... Sep 2023Obesity has been associated with increased arterial stiffness. Sex-differences in arterial stiffness in obesity have been less explored.
INTRODUCTION
Obesity has been associated with increased arterial stiffness. Sex-differences in arterial stiffness in obesity have been less explored.
AIM
To explore sex-differences in arterial stiffness by applanation tonometry in 323 women and 225 with overweight and obesity, free of cardiovascular disease.
METHODS
Covariables of arterial stiffness were identified in multivariable linear regression analyses in the total cohort and separately in women and men.
RESULTS
In the total study cohort, women had higher augmentation pressure (AP) and augmentation index (AIx), and lower carotid-femoral pulse wave velocity (cf-PWV) than men, independent of confounders (all p < 0.001). In sex-specific analyses, higher AP was associated with higher age and 24-hours systolic blood pressure (BP), and with lower heart rate in women (all p < 0.001), and with higher age and BP in men (all p < 0.001). Similarly, higher AIx was associated with higher age and BP, and lower body mass index (BMI) and heart rate in women (all p < 0.05), and with higher age in men (all p < 0.001). Higher cf-PWV correlated with higher age and BP in women (all p < 0.005), and additionally with higher heart rate and non-smoking in men (all p < 0.05). When replacing BMI with waist-hip ratio, higher waist-hip ratio was associated with higher cf-PWV in men only (p < 0.05).
CONCLUSIONS
Among subjects with overweight and obesity, AP and AIx were higher in women, and cf-PWV was higher in men. Age and 24-hours systolic BP were the main factors associated with arterial stiffness in both sexes, while measures of adiposity had little impact on arterial stiffness.
Topics: Male; Humans; Female; Young Adult; Adult; Blood Pressure; Overweight; Pulse Wave Analysis; Vascular Stiffness; Obesity
PubMed: 37505440
DOI: 10.1007/s40292-023-00593-2 -
Obesity Research & Clinical Practice 2022The COVID-19 pandemic has impacted the ability of people globally to consistently engage in their typical physical activity and exercise behaviour, contributing to the... (Review)
Review
The COVID-19 pandemic has impacted the ability of people globally to consistently engage in their typical physical activity and exercise behaviour, contributing to the rising number of people living with overweight and obesity. The imposed government lockdowns and quarantine periods saw an increase in social media influencers delivering their own home-based exercise programmes, but these are unlikely to be an evidence-based, efficacious, long-term solution to tackle sedentary behaviour and increase physical activity. This rapid review aims to conceptualise home-based exercise and physical activity programmes, by extracting relevant programme characteristics regarding the availability of evidence and effectiveness of home-based exercise programmes. Fifteen studies met the inclusion criteria, of which there were varied reports of significant positive effects of the exercise programme on weight management and related outcomes. The two most common measures were Body Mass Index and body mass, as of which almost all reported a trend of post intervention reduction. Some programmes reported qualitative data, identifying barriers to physical activity and preferred programme components, highlighting a need to consider factors outside of physiological measures. The findings provide guidance and direction for the development of future home-based physical activity and exercise programmes for adults living with overweight and obesity.
Topics: Adult; COVID-19; Communicable Disease Control; Exercise; Humans; Obesity; Overweight; Pandemics
PubMed: 35183471
DOI: 10.1016/j.orcp.2022.02.003 -
Fertility and Sterility Jan 2021
Topics: Body Mass Index; Female; Fertilization in Vitro; Humans; Insemination; Obesity; Overweight
PubMed: 33272628
DOI: 10.1016/j.fertnstert.2020.09.141