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Population and Community-Based Approaches to Prevent or Manage Obesity

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

Deadline for manuscript submissions: closed (30 July 2021) | Viewed by 7398

Special Issue Editor


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Guest Editor
McGill University, Canada
Interests: food environment; eating behavior; cardiometabolic disease risk

Special Issue Information

Dear Colleagues,

Obesity rates are increasing globally at alarming rates. While substantial focus has been placed on individual-level prevention and management strategies through diet and lifestyle, increased attention to population- and community-level approaches is urgently needed. The retail food environment is implicated in obesity and cardiometabolic disease risk; however, further investigations are needed to better understand complex relationships between exposures and obesity-related outcomes, including regional differences in affordability, proximity, and product availability; relationships between food advertising and obesity-related outcomes; and individual characteristics that might moderate associations observed at broader levels (e.g., inhibitory control, health literacy, food values). Moreover, the increasing use of digital technologies has impacted traditional “foodscape” assessments and increased access channels to a variety of food products. The relationships between these digital methods and obesity risk are largely unknown. Finally, advocacy around “food as medicine” is growing with the emergence of “food farmacies” that prescribe healthy foods to at-risk groups, removing two key barriers to healthy eating: cost and choice. Thus, this Special Issue seeks submissions that target population- and community-level approaches to prevent or manage obesity via considerations of food access and food exposures. Observational studies, interventional studies, review articles, and commentaries are welcome.

Dr. Daiva E. Nielsen
Guest Editor

Manuscript Submission Information

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Keywords

  • food environment
  • obesity risk
  • cardiometabolic disease
  • digital food access
  • food farmacy

Published Papers (2 papers)

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Research

15 pages, 746 KiB  
Article
Community-Based Efforts Aim to Improve the Food Environment within a Highly Obese Rural Appalachian County
by Rachel Gillespie, Emily DeWitt, Heather Norman-Burgdolf, Brynnan Dunnaway and Alison Gustafson
Nutrients 2021, 13(7), 2200; https://doi.org/10.3390/nu13072200 - 26 Jun 2021
Cited by 4 | Viewed by 4449
Abstract
Rural communities in Appalachia are displaying increased obesity prevalence, yet traditional interventions have not provided a broad enough impact to improve dietary consumption patterns. Therefore, expanding efforts that address the food environment and incorporate behavioral nudges through community-developed marketing strategies may be a [...] Read more.
Rural communities in Appalachia are displaying increased obesity prevalence, yet traditional interventions have not provided a broad enough impact to improve dietary consumption patterns. Therefore, expanding efforts that address the food environment and incorporate behavioral nudges through community-developed marketing strategies may be a viable mechanism to improve food and beverage choices within this unique population. This study installed shelf-wobblers across n = 5 gas stations in one rural Appalachian county in Kentucky. Smart Snacks were identified from store inventory lists utilizing the CDC Food Service Guideline for Federal Facilities calculator and were categorized into high-protein snacks, low-fat carbohydrate snacks, meal replacement snacks, and no-calorie beverages. NEMS-CS audits were conducted, and monthly sales data was collected at baseline and for six months thereafter for each store location. A difference-in-difference model was used, adjusting for total sales or total mean sales for each Smart Snack model to assess the percentage change within and between stores. Overall, percent change in mean sales and total sales across all stores resulted in a percentage increase of sales of Smart Snack items following wobbler installment. This study provides unique insight into how a community-driven approach to marketing can influence the sale of healthier food and beverage items. Full article
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12 pages, 738 KiB  
Article
Clinical Usefulness of Anthropometric Indices to Predict the Presence of Prediabetes. Data from the ILERVAS Cohort
by Marta Sánchez, Enric Sánchez, Marcelino Bermúdez-López, Gerard Torres, Cristina Farràs-Sallés, Reinald Pamplona, Eva Castro-Boqué, José Manuel Valdivielso, Francisco Purroy, Montserrat Martínez-Alonso, Pere Godoy, Dídac Mauricio, Elvira Fernández, Marta Hernández, Ferran Rius, Albert Lecube and On Behalf of the ILERVAS Project Collaborators
Nutrients 2021, 13(3), 1002; https://doi.org/10.3390/nu13031002 - 19 Mar 2021
Cited by 5 | Viewed by 2230
Abstract
Prediabetes is closely related to excess body weight and adipose distribution. For this reason, we aimed to assess and compare the diagnostic usefulness of ten anthropometric adiposity indices to predict prediabetes. Cross-sectional study with 8188 overweight subjects free of type 2 diabetes from [...] Read more.
Prediabetes is closely related to excess body weight and adipose distribution. For this reason, we aimed to assess and compare the diagnostic usefulness of ten anthropometric adiposity indices to predict prediabetes. Cross-sectional study with 8188 overweight subjects free of type 2 diabetes from the ILERVAS project (NCT03228459). Prediabetes was diagnosed by levels of glycated hemoglobin (HbA1c). Total body adiposity indices [BMI, Clínica Universidad de Navarra-Body Adiposity Estimator (CUN-BAE) and Deurenberg’s formula] and abdominal adiposity (waist and neck circumferences, conicity index, waist to height ratio, Bonora’s equation, A body shape index, and body roundness index) were calculated. The area under the receiver-operating characteristic (ROC) curve, the best cutoff and the prevalence of prediabetes around this value were calculated for every anthropometric index. All anthropometric indices other than the A body adiposity were higher in men and women with prediabetes compared with controls (p < 0.001 for all). In addition, a slightly positive correlation was found between indices and HbA1c in both sexes (r ≤ 0.182 and p ≤ 0.026 for all). None of the measures achieved acceptable levels of discrimination in ROC analysis (area under the ROC ≤ 0.63 for all). Assessing BMI, the prevalence of prediabetes among men increased from 20.4% to 36.2% around the cutoff of 28.2 kg/m2, with similar data among women (from 29.3 to 44.8% with a cutoff of 28.6 kg/m2). No lonely obesity index appears to be the perfect biomarker to use in clinical practice to detect individuals with prediabetes. Full article
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