Obesity Prevention and Intervention in Children and Adolescents

Dear Colleagues,

Obesity is among the most significant health challenges facing today’s 1.8 billion children and adolescents. The prevalence of obesity has increased globally over the last four decades, with an estimated 42 million children under the age of 19 being overweight or obese. Obesity risk factors, such as suboptimal diet and physical inactivity, are well established during childhood and adolescence, making these life stages critical periods for the development of lifelong health trajectories. Obesity is also a visible risk factor associated with stigma and discrimination. Stigmatisation threatens mental and physical health, generates health inequalities, and interferes with intervention efforts. Moreover, there is an inequitable distribution of overweight and obesity, with a higher prevalence in children and adolescents from low socioeconomic backgrounds. There is a critical need for effective and inclusive interventions which support all children and adolescents, including vulnerable groups, to improve risk factors and lead healthy lives.

In this Special Issue on “Obesity Prevention and Intervention in Children and Adolescents”, we are seeking unpublished works, including but not limited to (i) interventions targeting individuals or families for the prevention and management of overweight and obesity; and (ii) interventions targeting environment or policy change. Papers reporting on formative research of intervention design, primary and secondary outcome data or process evaluation data will be considered. We will consider studies utilising new digital technologies, those targeting vulnerable population groups, traditional clinical trials, observational studies, systematic reviews and meta-analyses.

Dr. Stephanie Partridge
Guest Editor

Manuscript Submission Information

Manuscripts should be submitted online at www.mdpi.com by registering and logging in to this website. Once you are registered, click here to go to the submission form. Manuscripts can be submitted until the deadline. All submissions that pass pre-check are peer-reviewed. Accepted papers will be published continuously in the journal (as soon as accepted) and will be listed together on the special issue website. Research articles, review articles as well as short communications are invited. For planned papers, a title and short abstract (about 100 words) can be sent to the Editorial Office for announcement on this website.

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. International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health is an international peer-reviewed open access monthly 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 2500 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.