Decades of research from Aragon to improve health: "Childhood obesity mortgages entire generations"

The multidisciplinary group GENUD (University of Zaragoza, IIS Aragón, IA2 and Ciberobn) specializes in nutrition, physical exercise, growth and development

The GENUD research group (Growth, Exercise, Nutrition and Development) of the University of ZaragozaThe Agri-food Institute of Aragon (IA2), the Health Research Institute of Aragon (IIS Aragon) and the Biomedical Research Networking Center for the Physiopathology of Obesity and Nutrition (Ciberobn), have been working for decades to Improve health through diet and physical activity, and have become a benchmark at a national and international level. One of her lines of research focuses on the study of different aspects related to childhood obesity., such as its epidemiology, epidemiological genetics, behaviors related to energy balance, body composition, prevention and treatment of the same, as well as physical activity and health or social inequalities associated with lifestyles. 

From the public campus, he has participated in a global macro-study, published by the scientific journal Nature, with data from 232 million people in 200 territories since 1980, which demonstrates that Obesity rates have slowed, stabilized, and may even have begun to reverse in several high-income countries.but it continues to increase in developing countries, challenging the idea of ​​a homogeneous "global epidemic". These results are especially relevant for researchers in the GENUD group, whose scientific career has contributed extensively to research on growth, nutrition, physical activity and health in children and adolescents, providing scientific information to the international NCD-RisC collaboration, a global network that brings together researchers from numerous countries to analyze health-related trends and risk factors.

This is explained by researchers Germán Vicente-Rodríguez, Professor and co-principal investigator of EXER-GENUD at the University of Zaragoza, and Pilar De Miguel-Etayo, MD, dietitian-nutritionist and postdoctoral researcher at NUTRI-GENUD at the University of Zaragoza, members of Ciberobn and IIS Aragón, who acknowledge that obesity shows "signs of stabilization, especially relevant in the child population, but that does not mean that the problem has disappeared," since "It remains one of the great public health challenges."

This is just one of the projects to which the scientific team has dedicated its efforts in recent years. GENUD began in the 80sLed by Dr. Bueno and Dr. Sarría, pioneers in research studies on growth, body composition, nutrition, and diet at the Faculty of Medicine, and accredited by the Government of Aragon since the program's inception approximately 25 years ago, Dr. Germán Vicente-Rodríguez describes it as an interdisciplinary group that It brings together more than 40 professionals from different areas, from nutrition, medicine, nursing and psychology to graduates in physical activity and sports sciences or sports physical educators.

His are widely recognized The principal investigators are Dr. Luis Moreno and Dr. José Antonio Casajús, specializing in nutrition and exercise, respectively.A significant part of their work is dedicated to training: "We are professors in undergraduate and master's programs and also in the doctoral school. The GENUD group has this dual aspect of research and, of course, education."

"Childhood obesity," they acknowledge, "is not only worrying, it's critical, among other things because generates associated pathologies and it's appearing at an early age." Furthermore, Dr. Vicente-Rodríguez indicates, "it mortgages entire generations": "Either we put a stop to it, or it generates higher levels of adiposity and therefore obesity as children grow up." In other words, he explains, "an overweight child has a much higher probability of becoming obese."

In this regard, Dr. Pilar De Miguel-Etayo emphasizes that "it is worrying because of all the associated pathologies." Hence the The importance of a comprehensive approach, both in terms of exercise and nutrition, without forgetting mental health. According to Dr. Germán Vicente-Rodríguez, "obesity is a multifactorial disease; attributing it to a single cause or a single solution is very complex and shouldn't be done." Therefore, "it's essential to analyze both the environment and the individual." And that's the work of the GENUD group. "We are able to interpret the problem from multiple angles, and that is a strength because we also try to offer solutions from different fronts: psychological, physical, and nutritional." 

The research projects they undertake are also very varied. In the field of nutrition, De Miguel-Etayo highlights the Corals project, a prospective cohort study being conducted in seven Spanish cities, observing participants for years to identify risk factors for childhood obesity, and Melipop, a clinical trial coordinated from Aragon and taking place in three Spanish cities, in a cohort of children initially aged 3 to 6 years and at risk of obesity, with a planned follow-up of 10 years for the prevention of childhood obesity through Mediterranean lifestyle, reaching 206 Spanish families, of which 170 have completed the first year of participation.

In addition, they have other projects, such as the one developed by Dr. Gloria Bueno Lozano at the Lozano Blesa University Clinical Hospital in Zaragoza, called EXOMAIRr, in collaboration with other centers in Spain, «focused primarily on assessing the effect of the exposome"Everything that surrounds people in their daily lives, from the proximity of parks and supermarkets to exposure to chemicals... In other words, exposure to environmental risks in cardiometabolic health trajectories during puberty and early adulthood, using artificial intelligence to improve the diagnosis, treatment, and prediction of the risk of developing insulin resistance and/or obesity." Approximately 120 adolescents from the region are participating in this initiative.

The exercise program within the GENUD group is aimed at children and adolescents, whose activity levels and physical fitness are monitored. Dr. Germán Vicente-Rodríguez explains that "Around 3.000 young people from all over Aragon are being evaluated.""Replicating a study that was done about 30 years ago, to see the changes in trends."

Another project is aimed at people who have undergone bariatric surgeryThese women are offered specific exercise and training programs: "We try to improve both their muscle quality and bone tissue, because bariatric surgery has side effects." She also indicates that "in terms of body composition, we currently have an active cohort of older adults, whom we began evaluating in 2008, and we are now conducting a follow-up." They have assessed the body composition or percentage of fat in approximately 3.000 people throughout Spain, around 600 of them in Aragon.

Enemies of a healthy life

Both researchers agree that "the main public health problem" regarding childhood obesity is "habits, both dietary and sedentary." "This leads," Dr. Vicente-Rodríguez indicates, "to a decrease in the physical activity the child performs and therefore also a..." decreased energy expenditure and a weakening of the metabolic system."

In this regard, Dr. De Miguel-Etayo adds that "With increased screen time or reduced physical activity, there is a greater likelihood of unhealthy eating habits being present.""With a higher intake of energy-dense foods that have lower nutritional value." "These are two lifestyle habits that go hand in hand," he summarizes. "And that's what we can modify to prevent a disease that is appearing earlier and earlier."

Source: Heraldo de Aragón