Obesity and Overweight: Prevention, Causes and Treatment

A special issue of Healthcare (ISSN 2227-9032). This special issue belongs to the section "Preventive Medicine".

Deadline for manuscript submissions: 31 May 2025 | Viewed by 1006

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Department of Experimental Medicine, University of Campania “Luigi Vanvitelli”, 80138 Naples, Italy
Interests: neuroscience; obesity; cognitive functions; body weight regulation
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Special Issue Information

Dear Colleagues,

The global prevalence of obesity and overweight continues to rise, posing significant challenges to public health systems worldwide. Obesity is a complex condition with multifaceted causes, including genetic, behavioral, and environmental factors, and it significantly increases the risk of various chronic diseases, such as diabetes, cardiovascular disorders, and certain cancers. Understanding the underlying causes and identifying effective prevention and treatment strategies are crucial to tackling this growing epidemic.

We are pleased to invite you to contribute to this Special Issue, which aims to explore the prevention, causes, and treatment of obesity and overweight. The focus aligns with the scope of Healthcare, which addresses the improvement in health and healthcare systems globally, particularly through evidence-based practices.

This Special Issue aims to highlight innovative research on obesity prevention, causal pathways, and therapeutic interventions, offering insights into both individual and population-level strategies to mitigate the health risks associated with obesity.

In this Special Issue, original research articles and reviews are welcome. Research areas may include (but are not limited to) the following:

  • Behavioral interventions;
  • Public health policies;
  • Nutritional strategies;
  • Genetic and environmental risk factors;
  • Pharmacological and surgical treatments for obesity.

We look forward to receiving your valuable contributions.

Prof. Dr. Marco La Marra
Guest Editor

Manuscript Submission Information

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

Please visit the Instructions for Authors page before submitting a manuscript. The Article Processing Charge (APC) for publication in this open access journal is 2700 CHF (Swiss Francs). Submitted papers should be well formatted and use good English. Authors may use MDPI's English editing service prior to publication or during author revisions.

Keywords

  • obesity prevention
  • overweight management
  • chronic diseases
  • behavioral interventions
  • nutritional strategies
  • public health policies
  • genetic risk factors
  • environmental influences
  • pharmacological treatments
  • surgical interventions

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Published Papers (1 paper)

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Research

11 pages, 451 KiB  
Article
Associations of Mentally Active Versus Passive Sedentary Behavior with Overweight/Obesity in Adults: Role of Patterns and Sex
by Daliya S. Alobaid and Abdullah B. Alansare
Healthcare 2025, 13(4), 361; https://doi.org/10.3390/healthcare13040361 - 8 Feb 2025
Viewed by 734
Abstract
Objectives: This study assessed associations of total and mental-activity-based sedentary behavior (SB) with the risk of being overweight or obese in adults. The role of sex and SB patterns and the effects of statistically exchanging different mental-activity-based SBs on body mass index [...] Read more.
Objectives: This study assessed associations of total and mental-activity-based sedentary behavior (SB) with the risk of being overweight or obese in adults. The role of sex and SB patterns and the effects of statistically exchanging different mental-activity-based SBs on body mass index (BMI) were explored. Methods: Participants (n = 1154) from the Saudi Post-COVID-19 Sedentary Behavior Survey self-reported demographics, health-related variables, and last-measured body height and weight. BMI was calculated to classify adults as normal weight or overweight/obese. The Sedentary Behavior Questionnaire estimated total and mentally active and passive SB per day, during weekdays, and on weekends. Adjusted logistic regression and isotemporal substitution models assessed the associations of SBs with the risk of being overweight or obese and the effects of displacing mental-activity-based SBs on BMI, respectively. Results: No significant relationships were observed in the overall sample (p > 0.05). Once sex was considered, the risk of being overweight or obese increased between 5.2% and 10.7% for each hour increase in total and mentally active SBs per day and on weekends in men only (p < 0.05 for all). Replacing one hour of mentally active SB with mentally passive SB resulted in non-significant effects on BMI (p > 0.05). Conclusions: These findings reveal the importance of distinguishing between SBs based on mental activity for more optimal obesity outcomes, particularly in men. Importantly, exchanging mental-activity-based SBs does not appear to be an effective behavioral strategy to reduce obesity. Obesity prevention and management plans should target reducing total and mentally active SBs daily and on weekends. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Obesity and Overweight: Prevention, Causes and Treatment)
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