Article “Effects of Multidisciplinary Interventions on Weight Loss and Health Outcomes in Children and Adolescents with Morbid Obesity”
The article “Effects of multidisciplinary interventions on weight loss and health outcomes in children and adolescents with morbid obesity” discusses treatment strategies aimed at reducing morbid obesity in children. Morbid obesity in children is rightly considered one of the most threatening states as it poses high cardiovascular risks and, in many cases, is conducive to diabetes-2 development (Zolotarjova et al., 2018). The article states that to tackle the disease effectively, it is imperative to use a multidisciplinary approach that includes an increase in physical activity, nutrition education, behavior modification, and family involvement. Nutrition education presupposes moderate energy restriction of food intake which has been found more effective than strict food limitations. Daily physical activity should embrace regular exercise found preferable over exhausting training several times a week. Behavior modification comprises the management of psychological conditions using coping skill training, positive reinforcement, and aims setting techniques. Family involvement presupposes the engagement of parents along with children in family therapy programs and healthy lifestyles as children tend to copy parents’ behavior. The combination of the named components allows to significantly reduce morbid obesity rates in children and improve their quality of life.
Article “Combined Acupoints for the Treatment of Patients with Obesity: An Association Rule Analysis”
The article entitled “Combined acupoints for the treatment of patients with obesity: An association rule analysis” features acupuncture as a treatment strategy for obesity in adults. Acupuncture practice is not only a safe means of intervention, but has proven to be effective in reducing body fat mass (BFM), body weight (BW), body mass index (BMI), hip circumference (HC), and waist circumference (WC) (Lu et al., 2022). Acupuncture combining several acupoints is found to be more effective than single-acupoint treatment. However, the effect of acupuncture on hip and waist circumference reduction has been more marked than on the diminishing of body weight. Body mass index happened to be practically unaffected by acupuncture, single-point, or combined. This fact proves the necessity of combining acupuncture with other obesity therapies to reach a better effect.
Article “The Epidemiology of Obesity”
The article entitled “The epidemiology of obesity” deals with factors conducive to the development of obesity in men and women across the globe. It has been found that obesity rates in developing countries are increasing more rapidly than those in developed ones due to the quick changes in socioeconomic status in those countries. Moreover, factors that influence obesity development in men and women are different. Thus, lifestyle factors are more influential in the women population while socioeconomic status is more relevant for men (Chooi et al., 2019). Diary and physical activity factors play a major role in both groups, men and women alike. The article states that women are more obesity-prone and the development of obesity, in many cases, is connected to age factors. The older a person is, the more he or she is obesity-prone and should be selective in food and lifestyle.
Article “Western Diet and the Immune System: An Inflammatory Connection”
The article entitled “Western diet and the immune system: An inflammatory connection” features the relations between a rich-in-calory diet and a sedentary lifestyle conducive to obesity development and chronic metabolic inflammation. It has been found that weight gain, as well as the pathological increase in lipids and dysfunction of energy metabolism, lead to the activation of the immune system (Chris et al., 2019). Nowadays, it is well known that tissue-specific and systemic immune responses play a vital role in metabolic regulation. Immune-metabolic deficiencies, in their turn, lead to the occurrence of health risk factors such as obesity, insulin resistance, and hypertension. Moreover, a Western rich-calorie diet is indirectly accessory in inflammation-driven atherosclerosis development. Saturated and non-saturated fatty acids, abundant in Western rich-calorie food, can activate the murine inflammasome, responsible for many infectious diseases’ development (Christ et al., 2019). Thus, while traditional low-calorie food is neutral in terms of inflammation, a rich-calorie Western diet causes an inflammatory response that may lead to the development of infectious deceases in many population groups.
Article “Diet and Immune Function”
The article entitled “Diet and immune function” features the relationship between food, energy, and the immune system. The article states that the immune system needs energy to be activated and work properly, and the more active the pathogens are, the more energy the system needs.
Undernutrition may lead to a poor immune response to pathogens and infection. Most immune cells are found in the gut-associated lymphoid tissue, and nutrients can either stimulate the development of the gut-associated lymphoid tissue or be neutral to it. A well-functioning immune system is formed in childhood when breast milk, containing essential nutrients, fosters the growth and maturity of gut-associated lymphoid tissue (Childs et al., 2019). Moreover, environmental and timing factors play a vital role in forming a person’s immunity. With age, a person’s immune system begins to work less efficiently largely due to metabolism-induced inflammation connected to obesity and a rich-in-calorie diet. It has been found that the Western diet, with fatty acids and sugars, predisposes an individual to meta inflammation while food rich in proteins serves to stimulate the immune response. Thus, food nutrients can be conducive to strong immune responses as well as to inflammation and damage to the immune system depending on the food an individual eats. Obesity-prone individuals often suffer from comorbidities associated with poor immune response.
References
Chooi, Y. C., Ding, C., & Magkos, F. (2019). The epidemiology of obesity. Metabolism, 92, 6-10. Web.
Childs, C. E., Calder, P. C., & Miles, E. A. (2019). Diet and immune function. Nutrients, 11(8), 1933. Web.
Christ A., Lauterbach M., Latz E. (2019). Western diet and the immune system: An inflammatory connection. Immunity, 51(5), 794-811. Web.
Lu, P. H., Chen, Y. Y., Tsai, F. M., Liao, Y. L., Huang, H. F., Yu, W. H., & Kuo, C. Y. (2022). Combined Acupoints for the Treatment of Patients with Obesity: An Association Rule Analysis. Evidence-Based Complementary and Alternative Medicine, 2022. Web.
Zolotarjova, J., Ten Velde, G., & Vreugdenhil, A. C. E. (2018). Effects of multidisciplinary interventions on weight loss and health outcomes in children and adolescents with morbid obesity. Obesity Reviews, 19(7), 931-946. Web.