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The purpose of this paper is to assess eight weeks individualized balanced low-calorie diet on anthropometric measurements and body composition in apparently healthy obese women.

Forty apparently healthy obese women (body mass index: 27.5-40 kg/m² and age: 18-40 years) were recruited from the nutrition clinic in the north-west of Iran, Ardabil city. Anthropometric measurements and body composition analysis were done at baseline and after the intervention.

During eight weeks, individualized balanced low-calorie diet resulted in a significant decrease in body weight (−4.0 ± 0.3 kg, p < 0.001), body mass index (−1.6 ± 0.1 kg/m², p < 0.001), waist circumference (−2.9 ± 0.3 cm, p < 0.001), waist-to-hip ratio (−0.01 ± 0.004, p = 0.001), waist-to-height ratio (−0.02 ± 0.002, p < 0.001), per cent body fat (−1.1 ± 0.2 per cent, p < 0.001), fat mass (−2.5 ± 0.3 kg, p < 0.001), visceral fat level (−0.8 ± 0.1, p < 0.001), visceral fat area (−11.3 ± 2.3 cm², p < 0.001), trunk mass fat (−1.2 ± 0.1 kg, p < 0.001), left arm mass fat (−0.2 ± 0.03 kg, p < 0.001), right arm mass fat (−0.2 ± 0.03 kg, p < 0.001), left leg mass fat (−0.4 ± 0.1 kg, p < 0.001), right leg mass fat (−0.4 ± 0.05 kg, p < 0.001), abdominal volume index (−1.1 ± 0.1 m², p < 0.001), conicity index (−0.007 ± 0.002 m^2/3/kg^1/2, p = 0.001) and body adiposity index (1.0 ± 0.1 per cent, p < 0.001).

The limitation concerns the generalizability to the general population of obese women. Future studies should take sex differences into consideration. These studies may focus on the long-term benefits.

Balanced low-calorie diet-induced moderate weight loss alone may represent an effective strategy for reducing metabolic risk factors among obese women.

The prevalence of overweight and obesity in children and adolescents is on the increase in developing countries. Therefore, a cheap, accessible and simple screening tool such as the mid-upper arm circumference (MUAC) is required for the prompt assessment. The purpose of this paper is to determine the usefulness of MUAC in assessing overnutrition in comparison with bioelectrical impedance analysis (BIA).

Participants included 1,067 children aged 6–18 years recruited from private and public schools in Egor Local Government Area in Benin City, Nigeria. Body fat was estimated by BIA using a Tanita scale, whereas the MUAC was measured with a non-elastic tape. Receiver operating characteristic analysis was used to test the ability of MUAC to determine children and adolescents identified as overweight and obese by BIA.

The prevalence of overnutrition by MUAC (12.4 percent – overweight 6.0 percent and obesity 6.4 percent) was comparable to that by BIA (12.3 percent – overweight 5.4 percent, obesity 6.9 percent). There was a significant correlation between MUAC and body fat percentage, fat mass, fat mass index and fat-free mass index in both males and females (p=0.000).

This study, in contrast to most other studies on the use of MUAC in the assessment of overnutrition, has the advantage of using BIA cut-offs values against body mass index which does not assess body fat composition. BIA is, however, not the gold standard in the measurement of body fat composition. The optimal MUAC cut-off values of this study may not be representative of the entire country because of its restriction to Benin. Similar studies from different parts of Nigeria will be required to validate this smoothed MUAC percentiles for use in the screening of children and adolescents for overnutrition.

MUAC compares well with BIA in this study and can be a useful, alternative and practical screening tool for assessing obesity in the resource-poor setting.

In Ghana, the body mass index (BMI) is widely used in clinical practice in assessing weight status, but it is limited as a measure of adiposity. The purpose of this study was to compare bioelectrical impedance analysis (BIA) and body mass index (BMI) methods in determining obesity among some Ghanaians.

This was a cross-sectional survey involving 134 participants whose BMI were determined. Percentage body fat mass (%BF) and percentage visceral fat (%VF) were obtained by BIA using a hand-to-hand Omron body composition monitor with a weighing scale.

Based on the WHO BMI criteria, 6.0 per cent of the participants were obese. However, according to BIA 18.7 and 20.9 per cent of the participants were obese according to % BF and %VF, respectively. The BMI and %BF showed higher prevalence of obesity among female participants (8.2 and 34.4 per cent, respectively) than male participants (4.1 and 5.5 per cent, respectively), whereas for %VF, obesity was higher among male participants than female participants (26.0 per cent, 14.8 per cent). There was significant positive correlation between BMI and % BF (r = 0.604, p = 0.001); and between BMI and %VF (r = 0.555, p = 0.001).

There are discrepancies in the prevalence of obesity in the study population as measured by BMI and BIA methods. This suggests that the BMI and BIA may not be reliable tools for assessing obesity in this population. Further studies are needed to determine the cut-offs for BMI and BIA that are associated with metabolic risk in the population. The small sample size limits the generalizability of findings of this study.

Body composition tends to vary by ethnicity and race; hence, it is essential to determine the appropriate tool for assessing adiposity in African populations for prompt and targeted interventions.

The purpose of this paper is to evaluate anthropometric data, body composition and food intake of teenagers.

This paper involves a cross-sectional study with 132 teenagers aged 15 to 19 years old from a public school of Minas Gerais, Brazil. Anthropometric measurements, body composition, food intake and sport practice were obtained. The authors performed Student’s t-test, X2 or Fisher’s exact tests and Pearson’s correlation to evaluate anthropometric variables, nutritional status and sport practice.

Regarding the nutritional status, 81.8 per cent of the teenagers were of normal weight, 10.6 per cent were overweight and 7.6 per cent were obese. Female teenagers had higher values of body fat analyzed by skinfold thickness, fat mass, fat mass index and body fat percentage, while male had higher lean mass evaluated by fat-free mass and fat-free mass index. For both genders, it was observed that there was low intake of fruits and vegetables and daily intake of sweets, soda, salt snacks and fast food like sandwiches and pizza. Only 54.5 per cent of teenagers reported performing physical exercise and there was association between sedentary lifestyle with higher intake of sweets and soft drink.

This paper summarized several methods to assess nutritional status and body composition of teenagers.

Previous research provides evidence of a negative effect of body mass on women's economic outcomes. We extend this research by using a much older sample of individuals from the Panel Study of Income Dynamics and by using a body mass measure that is lagged by 15 years instead of the traditional 7 years. One of the main contributions of this paper is a replication of previous research findings given our differing samples and measures. We compare OLS estimates with sibling fixed effects estimates and find that obesity is associated with an 18% reduction in women's wages, a 25% reduction in women's family income, and a 16% reduction in women's probability of marriage. These effects are robust – they persist much longer than previously understood and they persist across the life course, affecting older women as well as younger women.

Studies investigating the association between dietary inflammatory index (DII) and body mass index (BMI) have led to inconsistent findings. Therefore, to decisively conclude, this paper aims to clarify the relationship between DII and obesity by performing meta-analysis.

PubMed, Scopus and Google Scholar were searched up to July 2017 using key words selected from Medical Subject Headings and other related keywords to identify all relevant articles. In total, 22 articles were entered into the meta-analysis; 22 studies compared the mean of BMI among subjects with highest versus the lowest DII and 4 studies had data on the hazard risk (HR) or odds ratio (OR) for obesity.

A meta-analysis on included studies indicated a significant association on either mean differences (MD) in BMI (MD = 0.811; 95 per cent CI: 0.365-1.256; p: 0.0001) or obesity OR (OR: 1.310; 95 per cent CI: 1.144-1.500; p = 0.000) by comparing the highest and lowest DII categories. Between-study heterogeneity was high (Cochrane Q test, p < 0.001, I² = 98.1 per cent, df = 21, τ² = 0.9273), and only dietary assessment methods could explain the source of heterogeneity in which 24-h dietary recalls were homogeny (I² = 8.4 per cent, df = 2, p = 0.335).

The results of the present meta-analysis suggest that adherence to high DII score increased BMI and obesity. More prospective studies in different populations are needed to better clarify this relation.

The purpose of this study was to evaluate the effects of methyl donor supplementation on anthropometric indices, body composition, glycemic control, lipid profile, homocysteine and appetite regulatory hormones in overweight and obese subjects.

This randomized double-blind placebo-controlled trial was conducted on overweight and obese subjects in Shiraz, Iran, in 2018. The 25 participants in each intervention and control group were required to take methyl donor supplement and placebo, respectively, for eight weeks. A variety of measurements was collected at baseline and the end of the study. The data were analyzed using SPSS 21 software.

The results indicated a significant reduction in weight, body mass index, body fat and waist and hip circumference (p < 0.001 for all parameters) within both groups and a significant improvement in skeletal muscle (p = 0.005), fat-free mass (p = 0.006), visceral fat area (p < 0.001) and body cell mass (p = 0.004) in the intervention group. Also, the results showed a significant difference between the two groups regarding serum homocysteine concentration at the end of the intervention (p < 0.001).

The results demonstrated that methyl donor supplementation might have effects on the improvement of anthropometric indices, body composition, glycemic and lipid profile status and appetite regulatory hormones among obese and overweight individuals. These effects might be attributed to their roles in energy metabolism, protein synthesis and epigenetics regulation.

Garlic supplementation may be inversely contributed to body weight and composition; however, previous results have been inconsistent. This study aims to evaluate the effect of garlic supplementation on body weight and composition using a systematic review and meta-analysis.

Online databases of PubMed, ISI Web of Science, Scopus and Google Scholar were searched up to January 2020. The random-effects model was used to calculate the effect sizes of the included studies. The risk of bias of included studies was assessed using the Cochrane collaboration’s tool. Besides, the NutriGrade scoring system was applied to judge the credibility of the evidence.

In total, 18 studies (with 1,250 participants) were included in the meta-analysis. The pooled analysis revealed that garlic supplementation has a significant increase in body weight [weighted mean difference (WMD) = 0.31 Kg, 95% CI: 0.09, 0.53 Kg, P = 0.005, n = 12 effect sizes]. Waist circumference (WC) does remarkably reduce [WMD = −1.28 cm, 95% CI: −2.08, −0.47 cm, P = 0.002, n = 4 effect size]. However, body mass index, body fat percent and fat-free mass do not dramatically change (P > 0.05). Notably, the pooled analyses on body weight and WC were sensitive to two included studies. NutriGrade’s score was rated low for this meta-analysis.

Although garlic supplementation could slightly increase weight and simultaneously might decrease WC, these associations were not strong enough to corroborate the findings. Also, other anthropometric indices do not significantly change. Further well-designed randomized clinical trial studies are needed to confirm the results.

Past studies have shown wide variation in the obesity rates of Asian American ethnic subgroups. However, whether weight-related behaviors that occur during acculturation are associated with obesity disparities among Asian American ethnic subgroups is unknown. This study examines the differences in body mass index (BMI) across Asian American ethnic subgroups and assesses how acculturation and weight-related behaviors influence these differences. The linear regression models employed in this study use data pools from 2011 to 2014 released by the California Health Interview Survey (CHIS). The sample comprises 3,248 foreign-born Asian Americans aged 18–59 years. Asian Americans who spoke fluent English had significantly lower BMIs than those who spoke poor English, but English fluency did not explain body size disparities among Asian American ethnic subgroups. Filipino Americans had the highest average BMI (25.89 kg/m²) and obesity rate (53.12%), and they were particularly prone to engage in unhealthy weight-related behaviors, such as consuming fast food, drinking soda, and engaging in sedentary lifestyles. However, weight-related behaviors did not explain their high risk of obesity compared to other Asian American ethnic subgroups. The results underscore the potential for misinterpretation when pan-ethnic labels, such as Asian American, collapse the unique experiences of different immigrant origin groups. Future research may investigate whether other factors that affect the acculturation process, such as attitudes, self-identity, beliefs, or experiences with racism and discrimination, explain obesity disparities among Asian American ethnic subgroups.

This study aims to examine the relationship between muscle strength, eating index and blood pressure in adolescent girls. Growing studies show earlier onset of hypertension in youth. The prevalence may deteriorate during the COVID-19 pandemic due to unhealthy behavioral changes. Muscle mass (MM) is reported to be associated with blood pressure (BP), but there are limited studies that observed the relationship between the functional properties of muscle (muscle strength [MS]), healthy eating index (HEI) and BP.

This cross-sectional study involved 499 girls aged 15–18 years. HEI was generated from a 24-h food recall. MM and body fat (BF) were measured by bioelectrical impendence analysis (BIA), and MS and BP were measured by hand grip and Tensimeter, respectively. Multiple linear tests were performed to obtain an adjusted model.

Almost five out of 100 girls had high BP (4.8%) and a good diet (4%). The majority of them had desirable MM (75.9%) and low MS (50.1%). HEI negatively and MS are positively associated with systolic blood pressure (SBP). The inclusion of MM in the model diminished the association between MS and SBP completely. After adjustment for age and BF, only MM (ß = 0.19, 95% CI = 0.35, 0.95) was associated with SBP. HEI was inversely (ß = −0.16, 95% CI = −0.31, −0.09) whereas MM (ß = 0.13, 95% CI = 0.11, 0.53) was positively associated with diastolic BP.

Studies associating MM or MS with better physical performance and metabolic health are mostly reported in the elderly; current finding contributes to the lack of literature and implies the importance of examining those associations at a younger age.

HEI and MM are associated with young girls’ BP in different directions. Healthy eating and engagement in activities to optimize muscle function should be promoted in adolescent girls to alleviate the risk of getting cardiovascular disease.