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Effects of Nutrition and Physical Activity Lifestyle Interventions on Childhood Obesity (2nd Edition)

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

Deadline for manuscript submissions: 20 August 2026 | Viewed by 1727

Special Issue Editor

Prof. Dr. Ahmad Alkhatib

E-Mail Website
Guest Editor
School of Health and Life Sciences, Birmingham City University, Edgbaston, Birmingham B15 3TN, UK
Interests: ageing; metabolic disease; nutrition supplementation; exercise; sport nutrition; integrative physiology models; epidemiology of health and disease
Special Issues, Collections and Topics in MDPI journals

Special Issue Information

Dear Colleagues,

Childhood obesity continues to increase globally in both developed and developing countries, leading to debilitating chronic diseases. Childhood obesity has quadrupled over the last four decades, and obesity complications and comorbidities are no longer adult diseases but are becoming highly prevalent among children and adolescents, especially diabetes, hypertension, fatty liver and cardiorespiratory diseases. Interventions at all levels are needed, especially regarding lifestyle.

This Special Issue aims to bring research on lifestyle obesity interventions to the forefront of science. Nutritional eating behaviour and physical activity are the two modifiable factors towards disease-free living. Interventions aimed at modifying diets and nutritional supplementation, either alone or with modifications to physical activity or exercise, are a contemporary scientific issue across an individual’s lifespan from childhood to older age. Therefore, we welcome submissions that further our understanding of obesity determinants in early years and physical activity/exercise intervention approaches.  

Preventative interventions against childhood obesity in the home, school, healthcare and community settings can be effective. Evidence suggests that interventions must target the appropriate developmental stage and ideally include multiple components (e.g., nutrition and physical activity) and settings or levels (e.g., family, school, policy, neighbourhood environment). This can help ameliorate the physiological-based risks of obesity, including metabolic, hormonal and immunological adversities.

All study types (clinical and randomised trials, physiological, behavioural, and psycho-social) and designs (interventions, epidemiology, cross-sectional, modelling) are welcome.

Prof. Dr. Ahmad Alkhatib
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 250 words) can be sent to the Editorial Office for assessment.

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. Nutrients 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 2900 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

  • childhood obesity
  • prevalence
  • determinants
  • interventions
  • exercise
  • physical activity
  • nutrition
  • diet
  • behaviours
  • physiology adaptations
  • obesity comorbidity
  • obesity diabetes
  • prevention of paediatric disease
  • lifestyle

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Published Papers (2 papers)

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Research

20 pages, 569 KB  
Article
Influence of Parental Lifestyle and Dietary Patterns on Mediterranean Diet Adherence in Children and Adolescents: A Cross-Sectional Study
by Sevasti Peraki, Izolde Bouloukaki, Antonios Christodoulakis, Dimitrios Vavoulas and Ioanna Tsiligianni
Nutrients 2026, 18(10), 1576; https://doi.org/10.3390/nu18101576 - 15 May 2026
Viewed by 133
Abstract
Background/Objectives: Adherence to the Mediterranean diet (MD) is associated with reduced risk of non-communicable diseases but has declined among children, even in traditionally high-adherence settings such as Greece. As parental lifestyle behaviors strongly influence children’s dietary patterns, this study examined the associations between [...] Read more.
Background/Objectives: Adherence to the Mediterranean diet (MD) is associated with reduced risk of non-communicable diseases but has declined among children, even in traditionally high-adherence settings such as Greece. As parental lifestyle behaviors strongly influence children’s dietary patterns, this study examined the associations between parental lifestyle factors and children’s MD adherence in Crete, Greece. Methods: A total of 760 parent–child dyads participated in this cross-sectional study. Children’s adherence to the MD was assessed using the KIDMED index. Parents completed validated instruments, including the MEDAS (MD adherence), IPAQ (physical activity), PSQI (sleep quality), and NLS (nutrition literacy), along with questions on dietary habits and screen time behaviors. ANOVA/Kruskal–Wallis tests and multivariable linear regression identified predictors of KIDMED scores. Results: Mean KIDMED score was 5.95 ± 2.65; 32% achieved optimal adherence. Younger children showed higher adherence. Higher children’s adherence to MD was positively associated with parental MD adherence (β = 0.493), urban residence (β = 0.544), higher parental education (β = 0.493), consistent daily meal routines (breakfast and mid-morning and mid-afternoon snacks), higher water intake, and fresh juice consumption (all p < 0.05) were positively associated with parental MD adherence. Conversely, lower adherence was associated with parental age ≥45 years (β = 0.987), higher parental BMI (β = 0.072), consumption of sugar-sweetened (β = 0.390) or artificially sweetened beverages (β = 0.497), and weekend screen time ≥3 h/day (β = 0.383) (all p < 0.05). Conclusions: Children’s adherence to the MD is strongly associated with parental dietary behaviors and structured meal routines. These findings support family-focused interventions that emphasize parental dietary role modeling to counter declining MD adherence among Mediterranean youth. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Effects of Nutrition and Physical Activity Lifestyle Interventions on Childhood Obesity (2nd Edition))
21 pages, 1353 KB  
Article
Low Skeletal Muscle Mass Identifies Very High Metabolic Risk in Slovak Children with Obesity: A Body Composition-Based Approach to Risk Stratification
by Alžbeta Bánovčinová, Ingrid Schusterová, Štefan Tóth, Tibor Porubän, Dominik Pella, Mariana Dvorožňáková and Pavol Fülöp
Nutrients 2025, 17(23), 3715; https://doi.org/10.3390/nu17233715 - 27 Nov 2025
Viewed by 1192
Abstract
Background: Childhood obesity demonstrates substantial metabolic heterogeneity. We determined insulin resistance prevalence in Slovak children with obesity using multiple validated markers and identified high-risk phenotypes. Methods: Cross-sectional study of 54 obese children (BMI 29.5 ± 4.7 kg/m2) and 33 [...] Read more.
Background: Childhood obesity demonstrates substantial metabolic heterogeneity. We determined insulin resistance prevalence in Slovak children with obesity using multiple validated markers and identified high-risk phenotypes. Methods: Cross-sectional study of 54 obese children (BMI 29.5 ± 4.7 kg/m2) and 33 controls (BMI 20.6 ± 1.9 kg/m2). All underwent bioelectrical impedance analysis and fasting metabolic profiling, including HOMA-IR and triglyceride-to-HDL cholesterol (TG/HDL-C) ratio. Insulin resistance was defined as HOMA-IR > 3.42 (obese) or >1.68 (controls), and TG/HDL-C > 0.99 mmol/L. Age-matched sensitivity analysis was performed on 28 pairs. Results: Among obese children, 44.4% demonstrated HOMA-IR-defined insulin resistance versus 45.5% of controls using respective cut-offs, with significantly higher mean HOMA-IR (3.66 ± 2.09 vs. 2.53 ± 2.59, p = 0.034). Age-matched analysis (n = 28 pairs, mean age difference 0.22 years) confirmed these findings with HOMA-IR 3.46 ± 2.18 vs. 2.27 ± 2.22 (p = 0.0271). The TG/HDL-C ratio identified insulin resistance in 38.9% of obese versus 12.1% of controls. Critically, 22.2% of obese children showed concordant elevation of both markers (vs. 6.1% controls; OR 4.43); in age-matched analysis, this difference was even more pronounced (17.9% vs. 3.6%). Low skeletal muscle mass (<25th percentile for age and sex) with high body fat (>40%) characterized 22.6% of obese children, demonstrating 91.7% insulin resistance prevalence versus 31.0% without low muscle mass (p < 0.001), with HOMA-IR 1.9 points higher (95% CI: 0.31–2.73). Remarkably, 50% of children with low muscle mass showed concordant elevation of both metabolic markers versus 14.3% without (OR 6.0). Conclusions: Low skeletal muscle mass in obese Slovak children represents a very-high-risk phenotype with 91.7% insulin resistance prevalence and 6-fold increased odds of severe metabolic dysfunction. Age-matched analysis confirmed that metabolic differences are independent of age effects. Body composition-based risk stratification enables personalized interventions targeting the highest-risk children. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Effects of Nutrition and Physical Activity Lifestyle Interventions on Childhood Obesity (2nd Edition))
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