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With a global increase in the prevalence of obesity, nutrition and exercise play a key role in its prevention and treatment. Natural product (nutraceutical) interventions are currently being investigated on a large‐scale basis as potential treatments for obesity and weight management. This paper aims to examine current research on nutraceuticals and their role in the management of obesity and body composition. This paper will focus specifically on nutraceuticals, which are plant‐based, which may aid in preventing/treating the metabolic syndrome. Those that will be discussed include conjugated linoleic acid (CLA), capsaicin, Momordica Charantia (MC) and Psyllium fibre.

Recent empirical evidence has suggested that the utilization of such nutraceuticals to treat human cases of the metabolic syndrome may indeed be warranted. By examining various databases and conducting literature searches the following herbs and food additives were found to be of significant importance within this realm of food science. More importantly, emphasis was placed on research which used the randomized placebo control design.

Whilst many of the nutraceuticals already have widespread usage, dosage and utilization have still not been critically examined in research literature. Many studies have focused solely on animal research, while others have implemented these nutraceuticals in controlled human trials.

Whilst many journal articles met rigorous scientific standards, international research in this area has also revealed that, language barriers may exist. The field of clinical nutraceutical research is rel atively new in North America, and thus much information is still available in the East but barriers still exist with respect to knowledge of certain herbs.

Clinical nutritionists as well as physicians must gain knowledge of nutraceutical usage as well as availability. With recent marketing of products online, issues of safety should also be raised with respect to clinical treatment. Some products may have contra‐indicatory properties and thus further investigation with nutraceuticals and significant interactions with physician supervised treatment should also be evaluated in future research.

To date few papers have evaluated nutraceutical usage specifically clinical usage and, furthermore, the implications that some may have on obesity and treatment of the metabolic syndrome. Filling this gap in the literature may allow other researchers, clinicians and physicians to learn more about nutraceuticals.

Reviews “The Obesity Epidemic: Science, Morality and Ideology” by Michael Gard and Jan Wright, finding that it challenges currently established thinking on obesity which finds expression in cliche phrases like “couch potato” and “ticking time‐bomb”. Shows how, according to this book, the common assumptions made about the decline of modern society into obesity are actually importing moralistic judgments into a scientific question, that the energy in – energy out balance does not appear to apply to real life, that there is actual evidence of a positive association between TV viewing and physical activity levels, and that there is no clear relationship between school exercise and physical activity in later life.

Migration from third‐world and low‐income countries to high‐income Western countries presents significant challenges for individuals and families, and for health service providers in the receiving societies. Cultural conflicts related to preferred body size/shape and parenting practices, together with differential intergenerational rates and styles of acculturation, can affect nutritional and lifestyle choices and be associated with high rates of childhood obesity. Using African cultures as an example, this paper examines these issues. It concludes that, in designing and implementating obesity prevention programmes, health service providers need to understand these factors and how they play out.

This chapter analyzes which factors influence adolescent obesity by separating nutritional factors of the food consumed from socioeconomic and demographic variables.

A general linear equation is utilized to model the results empirically. A descriptive analysis is also utilized to determine which foods adolescents consume.

The empirical results found that food at home and food away from home and calories have a similar positive influence on obesity as measured by body mass index (BMI). The evidence shows that mothers have a greater influence on adolescents’ BMI than do fathers.

The results offer insight on what factors may be attributed to obesity in urban China.

The school fringe environment (peripheral 400 m buffer) offers an important opportunity for young people to obtain food and drink. There is international evidence to suggest socio-economic influence on food outlet availability and healthfulness within these environments; however the situation in the UK is unclear. The purpose of this paper is to describe food outlet provision (frequency and type) within primary school fringes across the spectrum of deprivation.

Ten primary schools in Newcastle upon Tyne were purposefully selected from a comprehensive list of all schools within the region. Two schools were chosen at random from each quintile of deprivation. A total of 400-metre buffer zones around schools were audited. School fringe food environments were classified using a Food Outlet Classification System. Access (i.e. frequency), and type of food outlets were compared to area level deprivation, obesity prevalence rates and area type.

Food outlet frequency was highest in the most deprived school fringe area. Convenience stores and takeaways represented the greatest proportion of total food outlets across all school fringe environments. More total food outlets were observed in fringes with above national average obesity prevalence rates for children.

UK case study approach limits widespread and international applicability.

Informs school, health and urban planning disciplines regarding current picture of UK school fringes.

Provides evidence in UK context that area deprivation and Census 2001 Supergroup class show significant correlations with school fringe food environment.

This chapter explores the development of advertising regulations governing food advertising to children in Australia since the 1940s. By introducing the advertising and marketing self-regulatory system, the Australian Government is taking a neoliberal approach, advocating for the free market to initiate and sustain the country’s economic development, instead of greater government regulation. By examining the primary and secondary literature, such as government reports and research, and newspaper and academic articles, this chapter outlines different regulatory initiatives adopted by both the government and food industry to limit food and beverage advertising to children on television and online, in order to prevent obesity rates increasing in children. This chapter synthesizes and critically evaluates food industry and public health studies, government and non-government reviews, and other research studies to evaluate the influence of self-regulation on Australian television food advertising within the neoliberal context since the 1990s. It contributes to the literature on food advertising regulations for children in Australia by offering evidence of how the government, public health authorities and the food industry have attempted to keep pace with changes in the advertising, marketing and media industries by developing and reviewing advertising codes. It identifies the loopholes that exist in these self-regulatory codes and concludes that Australia’s current advertising regulatory arrangements are failing to protect our children from unhealthy food marketing on television, especially on relatively under-regulated online platforms such as social media and branded websites. The issues identified in this chapter could aid the food and beverage industry, as well as the self-regulatory system, to offer comprehensive and applicable solutions to combat Australia’s obesity crises by implementing new legislations that align with different marketing practices.

The purpose of this paper is to determine the prevalence of general and abdominal obesity among adolescents attending independent schools in Qatar.

A school-based cross-sectional study was conducted in November-December 2013 in 23 secondary schools. A total of 1,161 students aged 14 to 19 year olds were randomly selected using a multistage stratified cluster random sampling technique. Body weight, height and waist circumference (WC) were measured using standard protocol. The International Obesity Task Force (IOTF) age- and sex-specific body mass index (BMI) reference were used to define overweight and obesity. Abdominal obesity (AO) was defined by waist to height ratio (WHtR ≥ 0.5) and by sex- and age-specific WC cut-off values.

The prevalence of overweight and obesity among the study population was 20.6 and 20.7%, respectively. The highest rate of overweight and obesity was observed among boys, and the youngest age group. The rate of obesity defined by either WC/or WHtR was higher than that assessed by BMI. The prevalence of AO assessed by WC and WHtR was 48.8 and 46.9%, respectively. The rate of AO was significantly higher (p < 0.05) among boys compared to girls for both assessment criteria. The proportion of adolescents with AO (WHtR ≥ 0.5) according to BMI was 17.3%, 80.8% and 97.1% for adolescents with normal, overweight and obesity had AO, respectively. Being male was significantly associated with higher odds of having both general obesity and AO.

The study revealed a high prevalence of general and abdominal obesity in adolescents in Qatar. Waist measures appear to be an important indicator in identifying adolescents at risk and should be included as screening tools for cardiometabolic risk.

The aim of this paper is to qualitatively examine the ways in which primary school children, aged between 7 and 12, perceive various facets of obesity as defined by the common sense model of illness representation (CCM).

The study was qualitative in nature. Semi‐structured interviews were conducted with 33 children on all dimensions of the CSM. Twenty four children were normal weight and nine were overweight. A drawing task formed the methodology for the “identity” section of the interview.

Although children identified food intake as a main cause of obesity, almost half did not name sedentary behaviours as a cause of obesity. Duration (timeline) of obesity was regarded by most children as reliant on a person's undertaking of positive health behaviours. Normal weight children were found to list more severe consequences of obesity than the overweight group. It was found that experience contributed to the detailed knowledge of overweight children's perceptions of cures of obesity. Overweight children also spoke of personal incidents of barriers to cures.

The findings suggest that the CSMs can be used to classify children's perceptions of obesity. Future childhood obesity interventions can utilise these findings to create campaigns and strategies that are more consistent with children's understandings of this condition.

To the authors' knowledge, no previous study has examined children's perceptions of obesity beyond perceived causes.