BMC Obesity

Background: Obesity is a major health problem in Arab countries. Bariatric surgery can improve the quality of life of an obese individual. However, different types of bariatric surgery result in varying levels of food intolerance as a side effect. Many patients who undergo bariatric surgery are also at risk of subsequently developing eating disorder behaviors. The aim of the study was to compare the quality of life, food tolerance, and behaviors of eating disorders related to laparoscopic sleeve gastrectomy and gastric banding...

Background: We undertook a survey of all bariatric centres in Scotland in order to describe current pre- and post-operative care, to estimate their costs and explore differences in financial impact. Methods: A questionnaire was distributed to each health centre. Descriptive statistics were used to present average cost per patient along with 95% confidence intervals, and the range of costs. Results: Results show nearly a five-fold difference in costs per patient for pre-operative services (range £226 - £1071) and more than a three-fold difference for post-operative services (range £259 - £896)...

Background: Overweight and obesity are complex conditions, associated with a wide range of serious health issues. In contemporary society, body size is an important part of a person's self-representation. Lifestyle changes are difficult and long-term weight management is associated with a high risk of failure. In primary health care in Norway, lifestyle interventions are offered by Healthy Life Centres (HLCs) to those seeking help with weight management. The aim of this study was to explore HLC participants' experiences of living with overweight or obesity and perceptions of seeking help to change dietary and activity habits...

Background: Excessive gestational weight gain and rapid infancy weight gain (RIWG) are associated with increased susceptibility to childhood obesity. Since low-income and minority children are particularly at risk, investigation of the associations between gestational weight gain and rate of infancy weight gain may inform childhood obesity prevention. This study investigated the associations between gestational weight gain and rate of infancy weight gain during the first four to six months postpartum in participants from the Special Supplemental Nutrition Program for Women, Infants, and Children (WIC) in Hawai'i and Puerto Rico...

BACKGROUND: Overweight and obesity are associated with health complications the gravity of which, vary with the regional deposition of the excess fat. The Body Mass Index (BMI) is often used to measure obesity although is an inferior predictor of cardiovascular disease risk mortality and morbidity compared with measures of abdominal obesity. We analyzed data from Uganda's 2014 World Health Organization (WHO) STEPwise approach to surveillance of Non-communicable diseases (NCDs) survey to estimate the prevalence of abdominal obesity and associated factors to provide information on the prevention and control of overweight and obesity...

Background: Patient-centered outcome measures for childhood obesity are limited. Identifying outcomes that patients and families consider important could be a viable avenue for better engagement of patients and interventions that are efficacious and acceptable to patients. Latino children experience high rates of obesity, and under-recognition of obesity in preschool aged children is common. Methods: We used growth chart data to identify low-income, Latino children 2-5 years of age with obesity who decreased their adiposity (positive deviants) and a set of controls...

Background: Bariatric surgery leads to changes in mental health, quality of life and social functioning, yet these outcomes differ among individuals. In this study, we explore patients' psychosocial experiences following bariatric surgery and elucidate the individual-level factors that may drive variation in psychosocial outcomes. Methods: Eleven semi-structured focus groups with Michigan Bariatric Surgery Collaborative (MBSC) patients ( n  = 77). Interviews were audio recorded, transcribed verbatim, and analyzed using a grounded theory approach...

Background: A major contributor to the growing obesity crisis is screen based sedentary behaviour among young children. Media parenting practices may be an important determinant of children's screen time, however published research exploring the influence of parenting practices on children's screen time has mainly focused on children's television use and the parenting practices of the mother. This study examined children's use of mobile media devices (as well as television use) and included the role of fathers in media parenting, allowing a fuller understanding of the role mothers' and fathers' media parenting practices play on children's screen time in the current media environment...

BACKGROUND: Tranexamic acid reduces blood loss associated with various surgical procedures. Postoperative bleeding caused by dissection or bleeding of the enteric staple lines is a well-known complication following bariatric surgery. Reoperation in order to restore hemostasis is frequently necessary (up to 2.5% in literature). The effect of conservative therapy using tranexamic acid for postoperative hemorrhage after bariatric surgery is still very much a novel technique. The aim is to present our results (reoperation rate and thrombo-embolic complication rate) of tranexamic acid therapy for postoperative bleeding after bariatric surgery in comparison to those in existing literature...

Background: Several studies examining the association and discriminative ability of adiposity measures for prehypertension and hypertension among adolescents have reported varying outcomes. We aimed to determine the discriminative ability of the Body Mass index (BMI), Waist Circumference (WC), and Waist-to-Height Ratio (WHtR) adiposity measures for elevated blood pressure (prehypertension and hypertension combined) among adolescents in Gombe, northeast Nigeria. Methods: This cross-sectional study used a multi-stage sampling technique and involved 367 secondary school adolescent (10-18 years) boys and girls in Gombe Local Government Area, Gombe State, northeast Nigeria from January to September 2015...

Background: Childhood socioeconomic position (SEP) has previously been associated with increased risk of overweight among children and adolescents. However, it remains uncertain whether the timing of exposure is important in relation to developing overweight in early adulthood. We aimed to examine how SEP during early (0-8 years) and late childhood (9-14 years) relates to overweight at age 15, 18 and 21. Methods: Longitudinal study in Western Denmark of 2879 young people (aged 15 in 2004)...

Background: People with a disability affecting their mobility are more likely to be overweight or obese than those without a mobility disability. The guidelines on how to prevent and treat overweight/obese adults in the general population have not been adapted to the needs of people with a mobility disability. A reasonable useful first step in the process of adapting such guidelines is to conduct a qualitative study of the perceived needs of these people. Aim: The aim was to explore the experienced importance of body weight among adults with a mobility disability and their perceived needs and actions to reach and maintain a healthy weight...

Background: The relationship between obesity and depression is complex. This study assessed the impact of body mass index (BMI) on the link between BMI, inflammation, oxidative stress, sleep quality and self-reported depressive symptoms. Methods: We used data from the U.S. National Health and Nutritional Examination Survey 2005-2008 cycles ( n  = 9133; ≥20y). Depressive symptoms and sleep quality were determined from questionnaires. C-reactive Protein (CRP) was used as a biomarker of inflammation and γ-glutamyltransferase was used to assess oxidative stress...

BACKGROUND: Understanding how normal weight and obese young children process high-calorie food stimuli may provide information relevant to the neurobiology of eating behavior contributing to childhood obesity. In this study, we used fMRI to evaluate whether brain activation to high-calorie food images differs between normal weight and obese young children. METHODS: Brain activation maps in response to high-calorie food images and non-food images for 22 healthy, 8-10-years-old children ( N  = 11/11 for normal weight/obese respectively) were generated and compared between groups...

Background: Faecal dysbiosis associated with the use of metformin has been conceived as a favourable ("good") dysbiosis and that with intake of non-nutritive sweeteners (NNS) as unfavourable ("bad"). The study aimed to construct an alternative dysbiosis index (ADI) for the separation of the dysbioses into "good" and "bad", and to validate the ADI. Methods: Subjects with morbid obesity were included. Use of NNS and drugs were noted, IBS was classified according to the Rome III criteria and the severity measured with the Irritable bowel severity scoring system (IBSSS)...

Background: Gastrointestinal (GI) co-morbidity is common in obese patients, but the effect of weight loss surgery on GI symptoms is incompletely elucidated. The aims of the present study were to explore changes in GI symptoms and food tolerance following weight loss surgery and to study whether such changes were associated with dietary modifications and/or the type of surgical procedure [Roux-en-Y Gastric Bypass (RYGB) versus Vertical Sleeve Gastrectomy (VSG)]. Methods: Participants: Patients with morbid obesity scheduled for weight loss surgery...

Background: This study systematically examined obesity research in occupational safety and health regarding the use of various obesity measurement and classification methods. Methods: A systematic search of the PubMed database on English language publications from 2000 to 2015 using related keywords and search of citations resulted in selection of 126 studies. They were categorized into two groups based on their main research question: 1) general physical or mental work-related functioning; and 2) task or body part specific functioning...

Background: Bariatric surgery is currently the most effective strategy for producing significant and durable weight loss. Yet, not all patients achieve initial weight loss success and some degree of weight regain is very common, sometimes as early as 1-2 years post-surgery. Suboptimal weight loss not fully explained by surgical, demographic, and medical factors has led to greater emphasis on patient behaviors evidenced by clinical guidelines for appropriate eating and physical activity...

Background: Genome-wide association studies have implicated the transcription factor 7-like 2 ( TCF7L2 ) gene in type 2 diabetes risk, and more recently, in decreased body mass index. Given the contrary direction of genetic effects on these two traits, it has been suggested that the observed association with body mass index may reflect either selection bias or a complex underlying biology at TCF7L2 . Methods: Using 9031 Hispanic/Latino adults (21-76 years) with complete weight history and genetic data from the community-based Hispanic Community Health Study/Study of Latinos (HCHS/SOL, Baseline 2008-2011), we estimated the multivariable association between the additive number of type 2 diabetes increasing-alleles at TCF7L2 (rs7903146-T) and body mass index...

Background: Body mass index (BMI) has been used to assess body adiposity, but it cannot adequately reflect body fat (BF) amount. The body adiposity index (BAI) has been shown a better performance than BMI for this purpose, but it can be inaccurate to estimate BF under extreme amounts of fat. Here, we propose a new anthropometric index, the Belarmino-Waitzberg (BeW) index, for specific estimation of BF in severely obese patients. Methods: In 144 adult patients with severe obesity, BF was estimated by air displacement plethysmography (ADP), as the reference method, along with the follow anthropometric measurements: height, abdominal circumference (AC), hip circumference (HC), weight, BMI (weight/ height2 ) and BAI ([HC(cm) / height (m)1...