Obesity is an increasing problem on a global scale, and strategies for its prevention involve experts from many disciplines including nutritionists, physicians, policy-makers and public health professionals. This book covers the latest advances in obesity development, management and prevention with specific focus on dietary interventions. Part one covers the development of obesity and key drivers for its continuation and increase. Part two looks at the role of specific dietary components in obesity management, and part three discusses the role of behavioural factors such as eating patterns in managing and preventing obesity. Part four focuses on structured dietary interventions for obesity treatment, and part five looks at public interventions and consumer issues.

Table of Contents:
List of contributors Woodhead Publishing Series in Food Science, Technology and Nutrition Preface Introduction: an overview of the key drivers of obesity and their influence on diet 1 Introduction 2 Behavioural factors 3 Environmental and structural factors 4 Biological factors 5 Summary and conclusions Part One: General issues 1: Trends in understanding patterns of obesity and health outcomes 1.1 Introduction 1.2 The importance of abdominal obesity 1.3 Global trends in obesity 1.4 Economic development and obesity 1.5 Social class differences in obesity 1.6 Obesity in women and its implications for maternal and infant health 1.7 Childhood obesity 1.8 Conclusions 2: Overview of the key current population-level strategies used to prevent obesity 2.1 Introduction 2.2 Physical activity strategies 2.3 Food and beverage strategies 2.4 School strategies 2.5 Healthcare and workplace strategies 2.6 Messaging strategies 2.7 Conclusion: integrating approaches Part Two: The role of different dietary components in obesity management 3: The role of high sugar foods and sugar-sweetened beverages in weight gain and obesity 3.1 Introduction 3.2 Sugar in our food supply 3.3 Biological mechanisms for some effects of sugar in beverages 3.4 Randomized clinical trials and longitudinal cohort studies link intake of sugar-sweetened beverages to the risk of obesity 3.5 Fruit juice and weight gain 3.6 Future trends 4: The impact of fruit and vegetable intake on weight management 4.1 Introduction 4.2 Importance of fruits and vegetables (FV) 4.3 FV and obesity prevention 4.4 Future trends 5: High protein diets in obesity management and weight control 5.1 Introduction 5.2 Internationally popular higher-protein diets 5.3 The Commonwealth Scientific and Industrial Research Organisation (CSIRO) Total Wellbeing Diet 5.4 Evidence from meta-analyses and selected randomised control trials for the efficacy of higher-protein diets for weight control and metabolic health 5.5 Potential risks of high protein dietary patterns 5.6 Strategies to improve compliance to higher protein diets 5.7 Conclusions 6: Low-fat diets in obesity management and weight control 6.1 Introduction: overview of dietary fat and body weight 6.2 Total fat: mechanisms for association with body weight regulation 6.3 Type of fat: biological mechanisms for effects on energy balance 6.4 Sustainability of weight loss on low-fat diets 6.5 Conclusions 6.6 Future trends 7: The ‘Mediterranean diet’ and weight management 7.1 Introduction: the Mediterranean diet and other dietary patterns in the context of obesity 7.2 Definition of a Mediterranean dietary pattern 7.3 Epidemiological evidence on Mediterranean diet and weight management 7.4 Dietary and lifestyle intervention based on Mediterranean diet 7.5 Conclusions and future trends 8: Breastfeeding and weight in mothers and infants 8.1 Introduction 8.2 Energetic cost of breastfeeding 8.3 Postpartum weight change 8.4 Breastfeeding benefits for infants 8.5 Commentary on studies into the effect of breastfeeding on the weight of mothers and infants 8.6 Future trends Part Three: The role of eating patterns and other behavioural factors in obesity management 9: The role of dietary energy density in weight management 9.1 Introduction 9.2 Energy density explained 9.3 Controlled studies demonstrate the influence of dietary energy density on satiety, satiation, and energy intake 9.4 Dietary energy density and weight management 9.5 Strategies to reduce dietary energy density 9.6 Future trends 9.8 Acknowledgements 10: Controlling appetite and food intake by regulating eating frequency and timing 10.1 Introduction 10.2 The relationship between motivation to eat and eating behaviour 10.3 Eating frequency and energy balance – observational studies of free-living adults consuming self-selected diets 10.4 Eating frequency and energy balance – intervention studies 10.5 Eating frequency and energy balance – controlled feeding studies 10.6 Small inter-meal ingestive events 10.7 Timing of eating within a habitual diurnal rhythm 10.8 Timing of eating and disruption of diurnal rhythms 10.9 Summary and future trends 11: Managing food portion size and its effect on weight control 11.1 Introduction: trends in food portion sizes 11.2 Effects of food portion size on energy intake 11.3 Explanations for the effects of portion size on energy intake 11.4 Environmental strategies influencing portion control behaviors 11.5 Self-regulation strategies to control portion sizes 11.6 Summary and conclusions 11.7 Acknowledgement 12: Eating in response to external cues 12.1 Introduction 12.2 Effects of food cues 12.3 Potential moderators influencing responding to food cues 12.4 How plentiful food cues affect dieters/overweight individuals 12.5 Factors influencing overweight/obese people and restrained eaters to respond more to salient food cues 12.6 Psychological processes governing eating behavior 12.7 Implications for obesity management 13: The interaction of diet and physical activity in managing obesity 13.1 Introduction 13.2 The independent and combined roles of physical activity and diet in prevention of weight gain 13.3 Physical activity and diet during weight reduction programmes 13.4 The roles of physical activity and diet in maintenance of reduced body weight 13.5 Conclusions Part Four: Structured dietary interventions in the treatment of obesity 14: Defined energy deficit diets for the treatment of obesity 14.1 Introduction 14.2 History of defined energy prescriptions 14.3 Terminology and definitions 14.4 Estimating total energy requirements 14.5 Magnitude of energy deficit 14.6 Practical worked example of prescribed energy calculations 14.7 Conclusion 15: Meal replacements for the treatment of obesity 15.1 Introduction 15.2 Very low calorie diet (VLCD) versus partial meal replacement or controlled diet 15.3 Meal replacement as part of a low calorie diet (LCD) versus conventional diet 15.4 Type 2 diabetes 15.5 Composition of meal replacements 15.6 Summary 16: Very-low-calorie diets (VLCDs) for the treatment of obesity 16.1 Introduction 16.2 Indications and contraindications for the use of very-low-calorie diets (VLCDs) 16.3 How to use VLCDs 16.4 Efficacy of VLCDs 16.5 Safety of VLCDs 16.6 Monitoring required during the diet 16.7 Future trends 17: Commercial weight loss programs and their effectiveness in managing obesity 17.1 Introduction 17.2 Commonly available commercial weight loss programs 17.3 Efficacy of commercial weight loss programs: a summary of available evidence 17.4 Internet-based weight loss programs 17.5 The cost-effectiveness of commercial weight loss programs 17.6 Applications in the treatment of overweight and obesity 17.7 Conclusions 18: Popular diets and over-the-counter dietary aids and their effectiveness in managing obesity 18.1 Introduction: why diets are best sellers 18.2 Claims that ‘the science is wrong’ 18.3 All or nothing approaches 18.4 Claims to more moderate diets 18.5 Unconventional diets 18.6 Evaluation of promised time-scales 18.7 Evaluation of claims to simplicity 18.8 Over-the-counter weight loss aids 18.9 Discussion 18.10 Sourcing unbiased information Part Five: Government and industry interventions in the prevention of obesity 19: Regulatory strategies for preventing obesity and improving public health 19.1 Introduction 19.2 Restricting child-targeted food marketing 19.3 Improving the school environment 19.4 Food and beverage taxes 19.5 Nutrition labeling 19.6 Limiting portion sizes of sugar-sweetened beverages 19.7 Conclusion 20: Fiscal strategies to influence diet and weight management 20.1 Introduction 20.2 Evidence to support fiscal strategies as an intervention 20.3 Evidence for differential effects of fiscal strategies 20.4 Evidence for cost-effectiveness of fiscal interventions 20.5 Evidence for interplay with other interventions 20.6 Existing strategies and policies in place 20.7 Politics and practicalities of taxing unhealthy food 20.8 Conclusion 21: Consumer responses to government dietary guidelines in the management and prevention of obesity 21.1 Introduction 21.2 History of dietary guidelines 21.3 Effectiveness of dietary guidelines in preventing obesity 21.4 Effectiveness of dietary guidelines in promoting healthier food choices 21.5 Effectiveness of dietary guidelines in promoting dietary behaviour change 21.6 Conclusion 22: The impact of marketing of ‘junk’ foods on children’s diet and weight 22.1 Introduction 22.2 Extent of children’s exposure to food and beverage marketing 22.3 International policy to reduce the impact of unhealthy food and beverage marketing to children 22.4 Food marketing effects on food consumption and nutrition and weight outcomes 22.5 Future trends 23: Front-of-pack and point-of-purchase labelling schemes designed for obesity prevention 23.1 Introduction 23.2 Definitions and scope 23.3 Current status of front-of-pack and point-of-purchase labelling schemes 23.4 Impact of front-of-pack and point-of-purchase labelling schemes and interventions involving such schemes 23.5 Future trends in front-of-pack and point-of-purchase labelling schemes Index