Childhood overweight/obesity (OV/OB) is a major public health problem in Western countries, often accompanied with comorbidities (e.g., hypertension and insulin resistance) (i.e., metabolically unhealthy obesity—MUO). Among diet-related risk factors of OV/OB risk and MUO, meal patterns remain limitedly studied. The aim of this systematic review was to explore associations between meal patterns and the risk of childhood OV/OB and MUO in children/adolescents aged 2–19 years. Longitudinal studies and randomised controlled trials from PUBMED and Scopus published between January 2013 and April 2024 were retrieved. Twenty-eight studies were included, all of which reported on OV/OB risk, with none on MUO risk. Regular consumption of breakfast (n = 3) and family meals (n = 4) and avoiding dining while watching TV (n = 4) may be protective factors against childhood OV/OB, whereas meal skipping (primarily breakfast; n = 4) may be a detrimental factor. Mixed effects of meal frequency on OV/OB risk were observed; no effects of frequency of lunch or of fast-food consumption and of meals served at school were found. There was insufficient evidence to support the role of other patterns (meal timing, eating in other social contexts). Meals were mainly participant-identified, leading to increased heterogeneity. Research focusing on childhood MUO and the use of harmonised definitions regarding the assessment of meal patterns are highly warranted.

Objective: The aim of this study was to evaluate primary and secondary school teachers’ attitudes and perceptions regarding the usefulness and effectiveness of Health Education Nutrition Programmes (HENPs) in Greece. Design: Qualitative study using semi-structured interviews. Method: In total, 18 teachers (7 men, 11 women), aged 36–55 years, working in primary ( n = 8) and secondary education ( n = 10) were recruited via purposive sampling from three counties in Greece and were interviewed via through an online platform. Thematic analysis was used to interpret the data. Results: Four main themes were identified: teachers’ awareness of HENPs; the role of the external environment in shaping students’ dietary habits; the value of experiential learning; and barriers and facilitators to the implementation of HENPs. Most teachers considered HENPs important and effective in improving children’s eating habits through experiential learning; however, training and support were very limited. The family has a crucial role in shaping children’s eating habits, which highlights the need for collaboration between school and family. The main barriers for the implementation of HENPs were lack of time and resources. Conclusions and implications: Teachers perceive HENPs as effective tools to improve children’s dietary behaviour. However, they need support/training from experts to deliver them successfully at school. Expert guidance to train the teachers and family involvement are needed to increase the effectiveness of the HENPs used in Greek primary and secondary schools.

Childhood overweight/obesity (OV/OB) is a major public health problem, of greater concern when accompanied with comorbidities such as hypertension and insulin resistance leading to metabolically unhealthy obesity (MUO). Aetiologic associations between meal patterns, OV/OB risk and MUO are limited. The aim of this systematic review was to explore associations between meal patterns and the risk of childhood OV/OB and MUO. Longitudinal studies and randomised controlled trials from PUBMED and Scopus published between January 2013 - April 2024 were retrieved. Twenty-eight studies were included, all of which reported on OV/OB risk; none on MUO risk. Regular consumption of breakfast and family meals and avoiding dining while watching TV may be protective factors against childhood OV/OB, whereas meal skipping (primarily breakfast) may be a detrimental factor. Mixed effects of meal frequency on OV/OB risk were observed; no effects of frequency of lunch or of fast-food consumption and of meals served at school were found. There was insufficient evidence to support the role of other patterns (meal timing, eating in other social contexts). Meals were mainly participant-identified, leading to increased heterogeneity. Research focusing on childhood MUO and improved methodological approach (e.g. harmonised definitions) regarding the assessment of meal patterns are highly warranted.

In light of the updated Eatwell Guide and the corresponding change in the consumption of fruit smoothies, the aim of this study was to measure the glycaemic index and load of two commercial fruit smoothies and to investigate the retention of dietary fibre following production. In vitro analysis was performed to identify fibre material (cellulose and pectins) using calcofluor staining and immunocytochemical labelling. A repeated measures cross-over study was conducted (n 10) to determine the glycaemic index (GI) and glycaemic load (GL) of the smoothies. Results showed that dietary fibre was still present in the smoothies after processing (16.9–17.5% cellular material by dry weight). The GI was low for both smoothies (39 and 36), whereas the GL was medium and borderline-low, respectively (11.4 and 9.7). The retention of fibre in these smoothies may have a potential positive effect on glycaemic response and may contribute to daily fibre requirements.

The growing epidemic of childhood obesity is a major threat to their overall development and poses a number of challenges for health systems. We propose an integrated framework to comprehensively address childhood obesity. The proposed architecture addresses essential data management and pre-processing functionalities to support scalable, secure, and privacy-preserving data processing in distributed environments. We are also incorporating a health data-driven AI approach for predictive analytics and decision support. There is additionally a User Engagement Layer, which serves as the main point of interaction for users. It connects individuals to system capabilities, facilitating data collection, progress monitoring, and insights. Finally, we present four serious games designed to address protective factors (such as physical activity and healthy eating) and mitigate risk factors (such as excessive screen time and unhealthy food choices). The identified educational objectives were translated into game elements including goal setting, social support, and positive reinforcement. In order to facilitate our approach, we have described the essential data flows and user interactions within our Biobank architecture.