Dietary Patterns and their Association to Obesity
Topic Summary
Dietary patterns and their associations to obesity is a topic of concern because, in recent years, the prevalence of obesity has been on the rise across the globe. Obesity is a chronic disease and therefore needs to be understood because it is connected to the increased risks of hypertension, heart diseases, and some types of cancers among other health issues. Obesity and the health risks it is associated with have been a cause of death to many people and this makes it a serious problem that should be researched (Roman et al. 2019). The analysis of dietary patterns may give insights into the impact of the overall diet on obesity. The research on dietary patterns will help develop more understanding of the different dietary patterns people have and their impact on their overweight issues. It will be used to show the impact of healthy dietary patterns on obesity and if it helps in the reduction of obesity and the overall weight.
The dietary patterns research is being conducted because there is a major concern for the researchers in being able to identify the dietary components that may play a role in the prevention of obesity and the health issues it is associated with (Roman et al. 2019). One of the reasons that could make the findings controversial is the traditional single nutrition-based approach in nutritional epidemiology which is commonly used in most of the researches. Hence the recommendation of an overall dietary intake pattern which reflects the dietary intake intricacy as a methodology to examine the association between diet and obesity.
Article Summary
This research article clarifies the connection between dietary patterns and obesity. The dietary patterns approach offers a complete assessment of the general diet, the mixture of different nutrients, and food clusters (Roman et al. 2019). It shows the regularity of their intake and also agrees to the relations between several nutrients taken together. In this article, a priori and a posteriori are two methods of analysis that have been incorporated to evaluate dietary patterns. A priori is used to employ diet scores to assess the mark of a person’s observance of different dietary guides. A posteriori is used to recognize the dietary patterns within residents devoid of creating any prior norms on these patterns.
Studies from the article were about obesity in Romania, its prevalence, and the associated risk aspects within the residents of Romania. The methods used for this research were observation, and cross-section which was performed in eight centers throughout Romania. (Roman et al. 2019). The sample representatives enrolled were adults from all ages and country regions and the main aim of being evaluating the prevalence of obesity and overweight and lifestyle behaviors. Physical activity was evaluated using 9 queries based on the regularity of work-related and physical activities. Dietary consumption evaluation was done using a semi-quantitative food regularity question form which assessed the frequency intake of 90 food items including beverage categories. After the eating behaviors were analyzed, there was a high rate of unhealthy habits that were reported. The three dietary patterns that were identified in the research were high meat, western, and prudent.
When testing the connection between obesity and dietary patterns, high meat was connected to a greater possibility of the obesity occurrence. The prudent pattern was connected to a lesser possibility of an obesity occurrence (Roman et al. 2019). A high percentage showed that the population had an increasing trend of consuming fast foods mostly for people living in the urban region. The research showed that choices that involve unhealthy diets remain to be an issue within the residents of Romania. Other unhealthy behaviors that were reported included, irregular habits of food consumption, eating while working among others. Analysis of the association between obesity and dietary patterns revealed that high meat intake was connected to higher chances of being overweight and prudent pattern was connected to lesser chances of being overweight. The research of dietary patterns can be a starting point for the development strategies that target particular groups intending to improve nutrition and prevent future development of obesity and other related health issues.
Conclusion
The association of obesity and dietary patterns is a topic that has generated different discussions on the impact of the dietary patterns on obesity. This research has been helpful and insightful in showing the importance of having a dietary pattern being that it reduces the risks of having obesity. The research also incorporates good eating habits and physical activity which is also important in reducing the risks of being overweight. I believe that dietary patterns are highly associated with obesity because the participants that did not observe their diet and consumed high meat had a more chance of having obesity. On the other hand, the other ones that observed a dietary pattern had a low chance of being overweight. Lifestyle behaviors are also part of this topic and this research shows that healthy lifestyle behaviors prevent and reduce the chances of being overweight. Individuals that did not practice healthy lifestyle behaviors such as irregular habits of eating were more prone to having obesity.
References
Roman, G., Rusu, A., Graur, M., Creteanu, G., Morosanu, M., Radulian, G., Amorin, P., Timar,
R., Pircalaboiu, L., & Bala, C. (2019). DIETARY PATTERNS AND THEIR ASSOCIATION WITH OBESITY: A CROSS-SECTIONAL STUDY. Acta endocrinologica (Bucharest, Romania : 2005), -5(1), 86–95. https://doi.org/10.4183/aeb.2019.86
