The impact of COVID-19 on smoking cessation services with insights for post-pandemic delivery.

Smoking is a leading cause of preventable morbidity and mortality globally. During the COVID-19 pandemic, Smoking Cessation (SC) services faced many challenges, including lockdown and social distancing restrictions. Consequently, SC services had to adapt to the challenges in different ways or halt delivery.

The effect of discretionary snack consumption on overall energy intake, weight status, and diet quality: A systematic review.

The consumption frequency and portion size of discretionary snacks are thought to contribute to a greater food intake and risk of overweight or obesity in the developed world but evidence from epidemiological studies is inconclusive. To investigate this, we systematically evaluated evidence on the effects of discretionary snack consumption on weight status, energy intake, and diet quality. Articles involving discretionary snacks reported against the outcome measures of any primary, peer-reviewed study using human participants from free-living conditions for all age groups were included.

Positive nutrition: shifting the focus from nutrients to diet for a healthy lifestyle.

Purpose And Methods: This summary is based on a scientific symposium organized by the Mediterranean Diet Roundtable and the American Italian Food Coalition titled, 'Positive Nutrition: shifting focus from nutrients to diet for a healthy lifestyle.' It was held at the Embassy of Italy in Washington DC in September of 2022. The panel of experts discussed how science can inform policy, what insights may be gleaned from different countries' approaches to healthy eating and what principles of the Mediterranean diet will inform strategies for a healthy future.

The implications of defining obesity as a disease: a report from the Association for the Study of Obesity 2021 annual conference.

Unlike various countries and organisations, including the World Health Organisation and the European Parliament, the United Kingdom does not formally recognise obesity as a disease. This report presents the discussion on the potential impact of defining obesity as a disease on the patient, the healthcare system, the economy, and the wider society. A group of speakers from a wide range of disciplines came together to debate the topic bringing their knowledge and expertise from backgrounds in medicine, psychology, economics, and politics as well as the experience of people living with obesity.

Can We Deliver Person-Centred Obesity Care Across the Globe?

Purpose Of Review: This article discusses what person-centred care is; why it is critically important in providing effective care of a chronic, complex disease like obesity; and what can be learnt from international best practice to inform global implementation.

Recent Findings: There are four key principles to providing person-centred obesity care: providing care that is coordinated, personalised, enabling and delivered with dignity, compassion and respect. The Canadian 5AsT framework provides a co-developed person-centred obesity care approach that addresses complexity and is being tested internationally.

Exploring reasons for attrition among vulnerable and under-served sub-groups across an online integrated healthy lifestyles service during COVID-19.

Objectives: Reported health behaviour change intervention attrition rates vary considerably, from 10% to more than 80%, depending on the type and setting of the treatment programme. A better understanding of the determinants of programme adherence is required. Between March and August 2020, a convenience sample of 44 individual telephone interviews, as well as 42 online Qualtrics surveys took place.

Efficacy of a county-wide schools weight management intervention.

Aims: This study aimed to evaluate the effectiveness of the Local Authority commissioned large-scale public health service that provided a 6-week school-based weight management intervention for children aged 4-19 years.

Methods: A quantitative retrospective cohort study identified participants from 130 schools consisting of 8550 potential children aged 4-19 years across a mixture of Lower Super Output Area (LSOA) deprivation groups. Participants were invited to take part in a 5- to 12-week Healthy Lifestyles intervention with a focus on weight management delivered by OneLife Suffolk between 1 January 2017 and 1 January 2020.

Testing a multicomponent lifestyle intervention for combatting childhood obesity.

Background: Childhood obesity is a major global health concern. Weight-management camps involving delivery of a program of physical activity, health education, and healthy eating are an effective treatment, although post-intervention weight-management is less well understood. Our objective was to assess the effectiveness of a weight-management camp followed by a community intervention in supporting weight-management for overweight children and children with obesity.

Implementation fidelity of an Integrated Healthy Lifestyle Service: a process evaluation.

Aims: The current study aimed to evaluate implementation fidelity of an Integrated Healthy Lifestyle Service (IHLS).

Methods: A pragmatic sample of 28 individual interviews and 11 focus groups were conducted. This resulted in a total of 81 (22 male) individuals comprising key stakeholders (n = 18), as well as intervention staff across senior management (n = 4), team lead (n = 14) and practitioner (n = 11) roles, and intervention clients (n = 34).

Understanding how local authorities in England address obesity: A wider determinants of health perspective.

Local government organisations (LAs) have a major role in the prevention and treatment of obesity in England. This study aims to 1) understand what actions are being taken by LAs to address obesity, and 2) determine how actions counter the perceived causes of obesity when mapped against the Wider Determinants of Health (WDoH) model. Thirty-two LAs were invited to complete an Action Mapping Tool, 10 participated.

Prevalence of Severe Obesity among Primary School Children in 21 European Countries.

Background: The World Health Organization (WHO) European Childhood Obesity Surveillance Initiative (COSI) was established more than 10 years ago to estimate prevalence and monitor changes in overweight and obesity in children aged 6-9 years. Since then, there have been five rounds of data collection in more than 40 countries involving more than half a million children. To date, no comparative studies with data on severe childhood obesity from European countries have been published.

Whole systems approaches to obesity and other complex public health challenges: a systematic review.

Background: Increasing awareness of the complexity of public health problems, including obesity, has led to growing interest in whole systems approaches (WSAs), defined as those that consider the multifactorial drivers of overweight and obesity, involve transformative co-ordinated action across a broad range of disciplines and stakeholders, operate across all levels of governance and throughout the life course. This paper reports a systematic review of WSAs targeting obesity and other complex public health and societal issues, such as healthy lifestyles for prevention of non-communicable disease.

Methods: Seven electronic databases were searched from 1995 to 2018.

Why consistent completion criterion are required in childhood weight management programmes.

Objectives: Current research in the field of childhood weight management (WM) effectiveness is hampered by inconsistent terminology and criterion for WM programme completion, alongside other engagement-related concepts (e.g. adherence, dropout and attrition).

Cardiac autonomic regulation as a predictor for childhood obesity intervention success.

Childhood obesity is a major public health concern; behavioural interventions induce weight reduction in some, but success is variable. Heart rate variability (HRV) has been associated with impulse control and extent of dieting success. This study investigated the relationship between HRV and post childhood obesity intervention weight-management success, and involved recording the frequency-domain HRV measures ratio between low frequency and high frequency power (LF/HF) and high frequency power (HF), and the time-domain measure, percentage of successive beat-to-beat intervals that differ by more than 50ms (PNN50).

Design programmes to maximise participant engagement: a predictive study of programme and participant characteristics associated with engagement in paediatric weight management.

Background: Approximately 50% of paediatric weight management (WM) programme attendees do not complete their respective programmes. High attrition rates compromise both programme effectiveness and cost-efficiency. Past research has examined pre-intervention participant characteristics associated with programme (non-)completion, however study samples are often small and not representative of multiple demographics.

The use of commitment techniques to support weight loss maintenance in obese adolescents.

Objectives: Obesity is a rising problem in adolescents related to unhealthy behaviours. Commitment devises are one type of behavioural intervention that may help people change their behaviours. The current pilot trial tests whether commitment devices delivered via text message help adolescents maintain their recent weight loss.

Self-esteem outcomes over a summer camp for obese youth.

Background And Objectives: Variation in the existing literature on the psychosocial benefits of weight loss in obese youth results, in part, from methodological limitations and modest weight loss. Accordingly, this research assessed perceived self-competence and low self-esteem during an intensive weight loss programme in a large sample of obese youth and related these to starting weight, gender and weight loss.

Methods: Over 4 years, 303 obese male and female adolescents (body mass index [BMI] 34.

Measuring perceived exercise capability and investigating its relationship with childhood obesity: a feasibility study.

Background/objectives: According to the COM-B ('Capability', 'Opportunity', 'Motivation' and 'Behaviour') model of behaviour, three factors are essential for behaviour to occur: capability, opportunity and motivation. Obese children are less likely to feel capable of exercising. The implementation of a new methodological approach to investigate the relationship between perceived exercise capability (PEC) and childhood obesity was conducted, which involved creating a new instrument, and demonstrating how it can be used to measure obesity intervention outcomes.

A five year longitudinal study investigating the prevalence of childhood obesity: comparison of BMI and waist circumference.

Objective: The purpose of this study was to examine the prevalence of obesity over time in the same individuals comparing body mass index (BMI), waist circumference (WC) and waist to height ratio (WHtR).

Study Design: Five year longitudinal repeated measures study (2005-2010). Children were aged 11-12 (Y7) years at baseline and measurements were repeated at age 13-14 (Y9) years and 15-16 (Y11) years.

Neuropsychological assessment as a predictor of weight loss in obese adolescents.

Background: Obese individuals are known to be more impulsive than their normal-weight counterparts. Impulsivity has been postulated to be a predictor of weight loss.

Design: A pre-post study was designed to determine for the first time whether impulsivity changed with weight loss during a lifestyle and physical activity intervention programme lasting 2-8 weeks.

The predictive ability of triglycerides and waist (hypertriglyceridemic waist) in assessing metabolic triad change in obese children and adolescents.

Background: The metabolic triad [fasting insulin, apolipoprotein B, and low-density lipoporotein (LDL) peak particle density] is characteristic of increased intra-abdominal adipose tissue and insulin resistance and can be predicted by the simple and adoptable screening tool, the hypertriglyceridemic waist. The associations between hypertriglyceridemic waist components [fasting triglycerides (TG) and waist circumference cut-points derived from a child-specific metabolic syndrome definition] with the metabolic triad were examined in obese youth before and after weight loss.

Methods: A continuous metabolic triad score (MTS) was calculated as a cumulative and standardized residual score of fasting insulin, apolipoprotein B, and LDL peak particle density (z-scores of the metabolic triad variables regressed onto age and sex).

The metabolic inter-relationships between changes in waist circumference, triglycerides, insulin sensitivity and small, dense low-density lipoprotein particles with acute weight loss in clinically obese children and adolescents.

Objective: Small, dense low-density lipoprotein (LDL) particles are highly atherogenic and strongly associated with obesity-related dyslipidemia. The metabolic inter-relationships between weight loss induced changes in waist circumference, triglycerides, insulin sensitivity and small-dense LDL particles in clinically obese children and adolescents have not been studied.

Methods: Seventy-five clinically obese boys and girls (standardized body mass index 3.