Community-Based Strategies for Obesity Prevention: A Nutritional Perspective

Dear Colleagues,

Obesity is a major public health issue, and although its prevalence is stabilizing in many countries, in some studies uneven data have been observed and increasing trends still continue to be reported.

Living with overweight or obesity increases an individual’s risk of non-communicable diseases, which are often more frequently observed as BMI increases. Excess adiposity is also related to increased mortality and is an important risk factor for disability.

Evidence suggests that strategies to prevent overweight should include multiple approaches, target specific population groups, and consider life-cycle stages as well as the different determinants of obesity. Long-term global strategies play an important role in creating supportive environments that facilitate change.

The retail food environment is implicated in obesity and cardiometabolic disease risk. However, further investigations are needed to better understand the complex relationships between exposure and obesity-related outcomes, including regional differences in the affordability, proximity, and availability of food products; relationships between food advertising and obesity-related outcomes; and individual characteristics that might moderate the associations observed at broader levels (e.g., inhibitory control, health literacy, and food values).

While substantial focus has been placed on individual-level obesity prevention and management strategies through diet and lifestyle, increased attention to population- and community-level approaches is also urgently needed.

This Special Issue of Nutrients encourages the submission of original qualitative, quantitative, and mixed-methods studies based on interventions, programs, practices, and policies aimed to prevent overweight and obesity, particularly those considering community-based strategies and life-cycle approaches. Submissions that target population- and community-level approaches to prevent or manage obesity via considerations of food access and exposure, through observational studies, interventional studies, review articles, and commentaries, are all welcome.

Prof. Dr. Carmen Pérez-Rodrigo
Prof. Dr. Javier Aranceta-Bartrina
Guest Editors

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• overweight
• obesity
• prevention
• community-based intervention
• life cycle
• inequalities
• supportive environment
• dietary patterns
• lifestyles