Obesity, Associated Diseases and Potential Complications: Prevention and Treatment Strategy through Nutritional Intervention Combined with Physical Activity

Abstract

Obesity modulate the production of hormones and adipokines such as leptin, adiponectin, and resistin, thereby favoring the development of chronic Noncommunicable Diseases (NCDs). Nutritional intervention is a strategy used for its prevention and/or treatment. We analyzed the benefits of a nutritional intervention program combined with the practice of physical activity on body composition and NCD markers. Eighteen people with a mean age of 58 ± 8 years, weight of 73.68 ± 16.57 kg, Body Mass Index (BMI) of 28.30 ± 4.88 kg/m2, Waist Circumference (WC) of 95.72 ± 13.57 cm, waist/hip ratio of 0.80 ± 0.07, and body fat percentage of 35.22% ± 4.84% who practiced aquatic aerobics and/or swimming participated in a six-month nutritional intervention program with weekly meetings. Data collection was performed before and after the intervention. We evaluated BMI, body fat percentage, WC, and hip circumference as well as the levels of leptin, resistin, adiponectin, and insulin. Nutritional intervention combined with physical activity contributed to a reduction in weight by 1.47% (p < 0.05), BMI by 1.32% (p < 0.05), and the plasma concentration of leptin by 18.04% (p < 0.05) and resistin by 8.70% (p < 0.05). There was no significant change in the hormones adiponectin and insulin. Total cholesterol decreased by 22% (p < 0.01) and low-density lipoprotein cholesterol (LDL-c) by 51.80% (p < 0.0001). During the follow-up period we observed a reduction in weight, BMI, leptin, resistin, total cholesterol, and LDL-c. Therefore, we conclude that changes in eating habits along with the performance of physical activity assist in the treatment of overweightness and obesity and, thus, prevent associated diseases.