With the increasing prevalence of obesity, there is a continuous search for effective obesity-prevention and health-promotion interventions. These interventions should be based on factors that have the potential to influence body weight and health. This study describes various health-related factors in a Canadian university community with the aim of developing more specific obesity interventions. A total of 3143 individuals completed an online questionnaire made up of 3 sections--on physical activity (PA), food habits, and other relevant lifestyle factors. The sampling error was +/-3.3% with a 95% confidence interval. Results showed that 22.9% of students and 37.3% of staff members were either overweight or obese. Students had less desirable eating patterns than staff members in terms of fish, energy drink, and regular milk product intake, and both groups reported undesirable breakfast consumption and quality. Nevertheless, results also showed that a high percentage of individuals in both groups did not meet the recommendations for vegetable, fruit, and fish intake, or PA. Only a few gender differences were observed in eating habits. Soft drink and energy drink consumption was higher and breakfast consumption was lower in men, whereas a higher percentage of women did not meet the recommendations for vegetable, fruit, or fish consumption. Dieting behaviours, disinhibition susceptibility, and moderate-intensity (MIPA) were the 3 lifestyle factors most highly associated with overweight and obesity in both groups. Results also suggest that female students were highly preoccupied with their body weight. This study shows that overweight and obesity are problems in a university community, and that they are associated with many health-related lifestyle behaviours. Although most of the lifestyle factors and health measures examined are similar across groups and genders, some differences call for the development of health-promotion programs with specific targeting strategies.

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The aim of this study was to examine the acute effects of mental work and moderate-intensity physical activity on various components of energy balance in young and healthy adults. With the use of a randomized crossover design, 35 participants aged 24 ± 3 years completed three 45-min conditions, namely, (i) resting in a sitting position (control), (ii) reading and writing (mental work (MW)), and (iii) exercising on a treadmill at 40% of peak oxygen uptake (exercise), followed by an ad libitum lunch. The endpoints were spontaneous energy intake (EI), energy expenditure (EE), appetite sensations, and EI for the remainder of the day. We observed that the energy cost of the control and MW conditions was about the same whereas the exercise condition increased EE to a greater extent in men than women. Exercise induced a decrease in EI relative to EE compared to the control condition that was more pronounced in men than women. However, women tended to increase their energy intake after the MW condition compared to the control one whereas an opposite trend was observed in men. None of the appetite sensation markers differed significantly between both sexes. In conclusion, men and women have specific food intake patterns when submitted to cognitive and physical stimuli.

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The research related to childhood obesity generally emphasizes the impact of unhealthy eating and sedentary behavior as the main determinants of the predisposition to the positive energy balance that underlies excess body fat accumulation. Recent investigations have, however, demonstrated that “noncaloric” activity-related factors can induce a significant imbalance between spontaneous energy intake and energy expenditure. This is the case for short sleep duration that favors hormonal changes that increase hunger and energy intake. This agrees with our research experience demonstrating that short sleeping predicts the risk of obesity in children to a greater extent than sedentary behavior. Recent research by our team has also showed that demanding mental work promotes a substantial increase in energy intake without altering energy expenditure. In addition, our preliminary data suggest that the regular practice of school-related cognitive efforts is predictive of an increase in abdominal fat accumulation. As discussed in this paper, individual variations in brain oxygenation and its related cerebral aerobic fitness might play a role in the relationship between mental work, energy intake, and the risk of excess body weight.