Hanen Samouda

LIH Luxembourg Institute of Health | CRP Santé · Population Health Department.

Background Existing information about population physical activity (PA) levels and sedentary time in Luxembourg are based on self-reported data. Methods This observational study included Luxembourg residents aged 18-79y who each provided ≥4 valid days of triaxial accelerometry in 2016-18 ( n =1122). Compliance with the current international PA gui...

Despite inititatives to reduce tobacco consumption, smoking remains a primary cause of death for both smokers and non-smokers exposed to environmental tobacco smoke (ETS). The characteristics of some specific groups can make them more exposed to ETS or limit the benefit of prevention measures. This study investigated determinants of ETS in a popula...

It is widely accepted that the gut microbiota plays a significant role in modulating inflammatory and immune responses of their host. In recent years, the host-microbiota interface has gained relevance in understanding the development of many non-communicable chronic conditions, including cardiovascular disease, cancer, autoimmunity and neurodegene...

Introduction Multimorbidity, defined as the co-existence of two or more chronic conditions, is affecting an increasing number of Europeans, leading to poorer quality of life (QoL). This study assessed how functional limitation affects the QoL trajectories in a cohort of older individuals having multimorbidity, and whether there are any gender diffe...

Introduction Although health outcomes are related to the characteristics of the geographic areas in which people live, there is limited knowledge on how the prevalence of multimorbidity varies within and across major Canadian urban centres. Our goal was to assess the level of between-neighbourhood variation in the prevalence of multimorbidity in Ca...

Background Several countries across Europe are engaging in burden of disease (BoD) studies. This article aims to understand the experiences of eight small European states in relation to their research opportunities and challenges in conducting national BoD studies and in knowledge translation of research outputs to policy-making. Methods Countries...

It is now well accepted that most chronic diseases have a common feature which is “low-grade” inflammation. Whether inflammation is causal or rather consequent to these diseases is still a matter of debate. A key factor of inflammation is considered to be “oxidative stress”, which is the result of an alteration of redox homeostasis which is critica...

Objective To investigate whether prediction equations including a limited but selected number of anthropometrics that consider differences in subcutaneous abdominal adipose tissue (SAAT), may improve prediction of the visceral adipose tissue (VAT) in youth. Study design Anthropometrics and abdominal adipose tissue by MRI were available in 7-18 yea...

Background Calculating the disease burden due to injury is complex, as it requires many methodological choices. Until now, an overview of the methodological design choices that have been made in burden of disease (BoD) studies in injury populations is not available. The aim of this systematic literature review was to identify existing injury BoD st...

Background Bioelectrical impedance analysis (BIA) is a widely used method to assess total body fat (TBF) depots characterising obesity. Automated BIA devices provide an inexpensive and easy assessment of TBF, making them widely available to the general public and healthcare providers without specific qualification to assess body composition. The eq...

It is now well accepted that most chronic diseases have a common feature which is “low-grade” inflammation. Whether inflammation is causal or rather consequent to these diseases is still a matter of debate. A key factor of inflammation is considered to be “oxidative stress”, which is the result of an alteration of redox homeostasis which is critica...

Background Assessment of disability-adjusted life years (DALYs) resulting from non-communicable diseases (NCDs) requires specific calculation methods and input data. The aims of this study were to: (i) identify existing NCD burden of disease (BoD) activities in Europe; (ii) collate information on data sources for mortality and morbidity; and (iii)...

Background Chronic inflammation has been associated with insulin resistance and related metabolic dysregulation, including type 2 diabetes mellitus (T2DM). Several non modifiable (i.e. genetic predisposition) and modifiable (i.e. sedentary lifestyle, energy-dense food) risk factors were suggested to explain the mechanisms involved in the developmen...

Noncommunicable chronic diseases have been on the rise for decades. Almost 10% of the world adult population lives with type 2 diabetes mellitus (T2DM)—a leading cause of severe complications associated with disability and premature mortality. Worldwide, nearly 500 million adults are living with T2DM and 4.2 million deaths were caused directly by t...

Background: A balanced diet is an important lifestyle component and has been associated with a reduced risk of chronic diseases. Objectives: To assess dietary intake of adult residents in Luxembourg taking part in two population-based cross-sectional studies (ORISCAV-LUX, 2007-2008 and ORISCAV-LUX 2, 2016-2017). Methods: Dietary intake of the...

Background There is limited knowledge on how the prevalence of multimorbidity varies within and across major Canadian urban centres. The objective of this study was to investigate the between-neighbourhood variation in the prevalence of multimorbidity in Canada’s large urban centres, controlling for compositional effects associated with individual-...

Given the rapid increase in the incidence of cardiometabolic conditions, there is an urgent need for better approaches to prevent as many cases as possible and move from a one-size-fits-all approach to a precision cardiometabolic prevention strategy in the general population. We used data from ORISCAV-LUX 2, a nationwide, cross-sectional, populatio...

We appreciate the commentary by Mrakic-Sposta et al [...]

Visceral adiposity is a major risk factor of cardiometabolic diseases. Visceral adipose tissue (VAT) is usually measured with expensive imaging techniques which present financial and practical challenges to population-based studies. We assessed whether cardiometabolic conditions were associated with VAT by using a new and easily measurable anthropo...

Metabolically unhealthy obesity (MUO) was associated with increased cardiometabolic risk. However, it is not fully understood which lifestyle factors are associated with MUO in youth. We aimed to investigate the relationship between MUO and lifestyle patterns in youth. 7-17 years old youth with overweight (N=48; 60.4% girls) and obesity (N=71; 56.3...

Many chronic conditions such as cancer, chronic obstructive pulmonary disease, type-2 diabetes, obesity, peripheral/coronary artery disease and auto-immune diseases are associated with low-grade inflammation. Closely related to inflammation is oxidative stress (OS), which can be either causal or secondary to inflammation. While a low level of OS is...

The worldwide population is facing a double burden of epidemic, the COVID-19 and obesity. This is even more alarming as obesity increases the COVID-19 severity. However, the relationship between obesity and COVID-19 severity is more complex than a simple association with BMI. In particular, obesity has been associated with low death rates in patien...

Insulin resistance (IR), currently called prediabetes (PD), affects more than half of the adult population worldwide. Type 2 diabetes (T2D), which often follows in the absence of treatment, affects more than 475 million people and represents 10-20% of the health budget in industrialized countries. A preventive public health policy is urgently neede...

The worldwide population is facing a double burden of epidemic, the COVID-19 and obesity. This is even more alarming as obesity increases the COVID-19 severity. However, the relationship between obesity and COVID-19 severity is more complex than a simple association with BMI. In particular, obesity has been associated with low death rates in patien...

A healthy gut microbiota (GM) is paramount for a healthy lifestyle. Alterations of the GM have been involved in the aetiology of several chronic diseases, including obesity and type 2 diabetes, as well as cardiovascular and neurodegenerative diseases. In pathological conditions, the diversity of the GM is commonly reduced or altered, often toward a...

The coronavirus-disease 2019 (COVID-19) was announced as a global pandemic by the World Health Organization. Challenges arise concerning how to optimally support the immune system in the general population, especially under self-confinement. An optimal immune response depends on an adequate diet and nutrition in order to keep infection at bay. For...

and Keywords Background Visceral adipose tissue (VAT) accumulation is a major cardiometabolic risk factor, associated with increased inflammation. Oxidative stress (OS) is also associated with inflammation and cardiometabolic issues, yet mainly through general obesity. Both OS and obesity were linked to vitamin D deficiency. Objectives To investi...

Background Anti-malarial treatments effectiveness remains a critical challenge for control programmes. However, when drug efficacy is established, the dose is calculated based on a predefined weight according to the patient age. Based on the hypothesis that the standard assumption of weight according to the age when administering the drug could lea...

The analyses of geographic variations in the prevalence of major chronic conditions, such as overweight and obesity, are an important public health tool to identify “hot spots” and inform allocation of funding for policy and health promotion campaigns, yet rarely performed. Here we aimed at exploring, for the first time in Luxembourg, potential geo...

Univariate logistic predictive models of overweight and obesity in men, in relation to normal weight (EHES-LUX2013-2015). WRPA: Work-related physical activity. TRPA: Transport-related physical activity. APA: Aerobic physical activity. MSPA: Muscle- strengthening physical activity. (DOCX)

Estimated nonparametric trend of women’s and men’s obesity risk by women’s age cohort (left) and men’s age cohort (right) in Luxembourg. Shown is the posterior mean within 80% credible regions [EHES, 2013–2015]. (TIF)

Univariate logistic predictive models of overweight and obesity in women, in relation to normal weight (EHES-LUX2013-2015). WRPA: Work-related physical activity. TRPA: Transport-related physical activity. APA: Aerobic physical activity. MSPA: Muscle- strengthening physical activity. (DOCX)

Estimated nonparametric trend of women’s and men’s overweight risk by women’s age cohort (left) and men’s age cohort (right) in Luxembourg. Shown is the posterior mean within 80% credible regions [EHES, 2013–2015]. (TIF)

EHES questionnaire. (PDF)

Aim: To investigate the relationship between metabolically healthy and unhealthy weight statuses and a wide range of related health issues, and healthcare and loss-of-productivity costs. Methods: A total of 693 men and 729 women, aged 25-64 years, took part in the European Health Examination Survey conducted in Luxembourg between 2013 and 2015....

Objectives: The current study aimed to identify factors that could predict attrition in youths starting ambulatory treatment to control or lose weight. Design: Retrospective longitudinal study. Setting: Paediatric clinic: ambulatory treatment programme. Patients and measures: A youth sample (n=191; 89 boys; aged 7–17 years) completed measures of...

Background Malnutrition and Plasmodium falciparum malaria are two major public health problems in sub-Saharan Africa. In this study, we described as our primary outcome the proportion of presence of P. falciparum during follow-up and explore the relationships between malaria drug safety and nutritional inadequacies. Methods This was a secondary an...

Background: The efficiency of traditional anthropometric measurements such as body mass index (BMI) or waist circumference (Waist C) used to replace biomedical imaging for assessing visceral adipose tissue (VAT) is still highly controversial in youth. Hypothesis and objectives: We evaluated the most accurate model predicting VAT in overweight/ob...

Background: Paediatric research analysing the relationship between the easy-to-use anthropometric measures for adiposity and cardiometabolic risk factors remains highly controversial in youth. Several studies suggest that only body mass index (BMI), a measure of relative weight, constitutes an accurate predictor, whereas others highlight the poten...

Childhood obesity is associated with early cardiometabolic risk (CMR), increased risk of adulthood obesity, and worse health outcomes. Leg fat mass (LFM) is protective beyond total fat mass (TFM) in adults. However, the limited evidence in children remains controversial. We investigated the relationship between LFM and CMR factors in youth. A total...

This study aims to compare three body mass index (BMI)-based classification systems of childhood obesity: the French, the International Obesity Task Force (IOTF) and the World Health Organization (WHO) references. The study involved 1382 schoolchildren, recruited from the Lille Academic District in France in May 2009 aged 8.4±1.7 years (4.0-12.0 ye...

Objective: Validation of body adiposity index (BAI) in a paediatrics sample; and to develop, if necessary, a valid BAI for paediatrics (i.e. BAIp). Methods: A total of 1615 children (52% boys) aged 5-12 years underwent anthropometry. Their body composition was assessed using a foot-to-foot bioimpedance. The validity of BAI = (Hip circumference/H...

This study explored the proportion of European youth who are sufficiently active according to physical activity (PA) recommendations, based exclusively on objective assessment through accelerometers. A systematic electronic search of studies published up to March 2012 was conducted. PubMed was used to identify accelerometry-assessed PA studies that...

Objective: To investigate whether a combination of a selected but limited number of anthropometric measurements predicts visceral adipose tissue (VAT) better than other anthropometric measurements, without resort to medical imaging. Hypothesis: Abdominal anthropometric measurements are total abdominal adipose tissue indicators and global measure...

Introdução: A obesidade infantil tornou-se um grave problema de saúde pública nos países desenvolvidos, que frequentemente transita para a vida adulta. Este estudo teve como objetivo avaliar a prevalência da obesidade e a distribuição da gordura abdominal em crianças Portuguesas dos 6 aos 12 anos de idade provenientes da região centro de Portugal,...

AimTo examine: (i) if maturity-related gender differences in moderate-to-vigorous physical activity (MVPA) depend on how maturity status is defined and measured; and (ii) the influence of maturity level on compliance with PA recommendations. Methods The study involved 253 children (139 boys) aged 9.9 0.9 years, with mean stature and weight of 1.39...

Background: Childhood obesity is a major public health issue in developed countries, and frequently proceeds into adulthood. The aim of this study was to estimate the prevalence of obesity and abdominal fat distribution in 6-12 years old children from the central region of Portugal, providing new data about trends on prevalence, epidemiology and e...

This study is aimed at updating the relationships between physical activity (PA) and the metabolic syndrome (MetS) and/or insulin resistance (IR) in youth. Cross-sectional, prospective cohort and intervention studies, which examined the effect of PA on MetS, its components and IR in children and adolescents (<18 yrs), were searched by applying a co...

Introduction Les facteurs de risque de diabete de type 2 et de maladies cardiovasculaires sont associes a l’exces de poids des l’enfance. Des prises en charge precoces sont d’autant plus importantes a mettre en place que de nombreuses etudes ont confirme le risque de continuum entre exces de poids a l’enfance et a l’âge adulte. Nous avons evalue l’...

Introduction Les facteurs de risque de diabète de type 2 et de maladies cardiovasculaires sont associés à l’excès de poids dès l’enfance. Des prises en charge précoces sont d’autant plus importantes à mettre en place que de nombreuses études ont confirmé le risque de continuum entre excès de poids à l’enfance et à l’âge adulte. Nous avons évalué l’...

Objectives: Evaluate the impact of ambulatory group therapy (GT) versus individual therapy (IT) on a large group of overweight/obese children and adolescents.Methodology: Self-referred overweight and obese children/adolescents, were invited to participate and randomised to GT or IT for 4 months. GT included physical activity, dietary education and...

Objectives: Compare the characteristics of children, who were compliant or non-compliant in two different therapeutic programs coping with overweight/obesityMethodology: Self-referred overweight and obese children/adolescents, were invited to participate and were randomised to group or individual therapy for a period of 4 months. Group therapy (GT)...

Objective: To analyze the additional effect of body fat distribution anthropometric indexes to BMI Z Score for assessing hormonal, metabolic and inflammatory profiles amongst overweight and obese children.