Nathalie Michels

Nathalie Michels
Ghent University | UGhent · Department of Developmental, Personal, and Social Psychology

Post-doctoral researcher in psychophysiology and public health

About

257
Publications
114,685
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18,347
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Introduction
I found my passion in public health via the links between psychosocial (stress, eating behavior) and physiological factors (obesity, appetite hormones). In my two competitive postdoc grants, I initiated many related international projects in -omics fields like the microbiome and metabolomics, inspired by research stays abroad. I have established my independent research line with funding that I obtained while supervising 7 PhD’s and guaranteeing quick high-quality output. Through science communication, I motivate people towards a healthy lifestyle. I often dive into novel interdisciplinary challenges. Recently, I started studying environmental factors by new collaborations within environmental psychology and physiology.
Additional affiliations
January 2014 - present
Ghent University
Position
  • PostDoc Position
October 2009 - December 2013
Ghent University
Position
  • PhD on ChiBS project: "Children's Body composition and Stress"
Description
  • Two year follow-up in Belgian children (5-12y) examining the association between chronic psychosocial stress and obesity and the interaction with lifestyle factors (diet, physical activity and sleep).

Publications

Publications (257)
Article
Aim Urbanized environments may stimulate unhealthy food choices and stress. Several theories explain that exposure to green nature can counter these stress effects. Since we spend most time indoors, integrating nature in the interior could be a promising health promotion tool. Hence, we tested whether the beneficial effect of nature for stress reco...
Article
Background Telomeres are vulnerable to various environmental exposures and lifestyle factors, encompassed in the exposome. Recent research shows that telomere length is substantially determined early in life and that exposures in childhood may have important consequences in setting later life telomere length. Objectives We explore in a child popul...
Article
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To summarize the microbiome's role in metabolic disorders (insulin resistance, hyperglycemia, type 2 diabetes, obesity, hyperlipidemia, hypertension, nonalcoholic fatty liver disease [NAFLD], and metabolic syndrome), systematic reviews on observational or interventional studies (prebiotics/probiotics/synbiotics/transplant) were searched in MEDLINE...
Article
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The persistent coexistence of stress and paediatric obesity involves interrelated psychophysiological mechanisms, which are believed to function as a vicious circle. Here, a key mechanistic role is assumed for stress responsiveness and eating behaviour. After a stress induction by the Trier Social Stress Test in youngsters (n = 137, 50.4% boys, 6–1...
Article
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Background Adolescents exposed to victimization are at an increased risk for a variety of adverse mental health outcomes, including depressive symptoms. Yet, the biological pathways underlying these associations remain poorly understood. Focusing on within‐person processes, we examined whether low‐grade systemic inflammation mediated the longitudin...
Article
Dysregulated inflammation underlies many human diseases, and measures of responsiveness to activation, and sensitivity to inhibition, provide important information beyond baseline assessments of chronic inflammation. This study implements a simplified cell culture protocol in a school‐based setting, using finger stick capillary blood collected from...
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Coastal destinations are highly popular for leisure, yet the effects of spending time at the coast on mental and physical health have remained underexplored. To accelerate the research about the effects of the coast on health, we compiled a dataset from a survey on a sample (N = 1939) of the adult Flemish population about their visits to the Belgia...
Article
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Summary Background Underweight and obesity are associated with adverse health outcomes throughout the life course. We estimated the individual and combined prevalence of underweight or thinness and obesity, and their changes, from 1990 to 2022 for adults and school-aged children and adolescents in 200 countries and territories. Methods We used data...
Article
Objective Stress plays a central role in obesity development but research on treatment options to tackle elevated stress levels in youth with obesity is scarce. The present study examined the impact of the Multidisciplinary Obesity Treatment (MOT; lifestyle intervention including physical exercise, healthy meals, and Cognitive Behavioral Techniques...
Article
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The digital environment can pose health risks through exposure to unhealthy content. Yet, little is known about its relation to children’s cognitive functioning. This study investigates the association between digital media (DM) exposure and children’s cognitive functioning. This cross-sectional study is based on examinations of children aged 8–18...
Article
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Background Emotion-driven impulsiveness (i.e., impulsivity) is associated with obesity in adolescents. Yet, how exposure to digital media (DM) is related to impulsivity in free-living European youth remains unknown. Methods This study included ADHD-free adolescents aged 12-18 years, who participated in the third examination wave of the IDEFICS/I.F...
Article
Before and after Trier Social Stress Test, 91 participants (18–50 years, 67% women) inhaled one odor during 10 min: Scots pine, grass (=cis-3-hexenol), or control (=demineralized water). Group differences were tested on repeated measurements of stress (affect reports, salivary cortisol and heart rate variability) and eating behavior (food choice an...
Article
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In recent years, ambient ionization mass spectrometry (AIMS) including laser ablation rapid evaporation IMS, has enabled direct biofluid metabolome analysis. AIMS procedures are, however, still hampered by both analytical, i.e., matrix effects, and practical, i.e., sample transport stability, drawbacks that impede metabolome coverage. In this study...
Article
This lab-based study tested whether nature sounds can lead to less stress reactivity, better stress recovery, less stress-induced eating and healthy food choice stimulation, while differentiating between bird and water sounds. Before (5 min) and after (8 min) the Trier Social Stress Test, 59 participants (47% men, 18–30 years) were exposed to one o...
Preprint
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While rapid analysis of the human biofluid metabolome is now possible using ambient ionization mass spectrometry (AIMS), these procedures are hampered by in-source matrix effects and reduced sample stability impeding metabolome coverage while remaining relatively labor-intensive. In this study, we aimed at developing biofluid-specific metabolome sa...
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Physical activity (PA) is recognized as a marker of health. The aim was to investigate PA differences from adolescence to young adulthood. European adolescents included in the HELENA study were invited to participate in a follow-up study, 10 years later. The present study included 141 adults (25.0 ± 1.4 years) for whom valid accelerometer data were...
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Optimal growth and development in childhood and adolescence is crucial for lifelong health and well-being1–6 . Here we used data from 2,325 population-based studies, with measurements of height and weight from 71 million participants, to report the height and body-mass index (BMI) of children and adolescents aged 5–19 years on the basis of rural an...
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Background Despite previous research pointing out a bifurcation in cortisol stress reactivity, it is not yet clear if all variables explaining inter‐individual differences in stress responses are captured. Objectives To explore which (psychosocial and demographic) variables predict the cortisol response after a standardized stress‐and affective st...
Preprint
Full-text available
In recent years, ambient ionization mass spectrometry (AIMS) including laser ablation rapid evaporation IMS (LA-REIMS), has enabled direct biofluid metabolome analysis. AIMS procedures are however still hampered by both analytical, i.e., matrix effects, and practical, i.e., sample transport stability, drawbacks that impede metabolome coverage. In t...
Article
Full-text available
Background A global shift towards more healthy and sustainable diets is necessary for the prevention of obesity and chronic diseases, as well as for the growing pressure on our ecosystems. Given that parents are important actors in affecting dietary behaviors of their children, developing intervention strategies targeting families and their practic...
Article
Background: Telomere shortening, recognised as one of the most well known biomarkers of biological ageing, is susceptible to various environmental and lifestyle factors, encompassed in the exposome. Research shows that telomere length is substantially determined early in life and that exposures in childhood can have important consequences in setti...
Article
Outdoor environments benefit health by providing psychological restoration, but the degree of psychological restoration may vary considerably within heterogenous areas. This study focused on the Belgian coast to quantify the inter- and intra-environment variation in psychological restoration and the influence of natural and urban components and peo...
Article
Objective To explore parental feeding practices and eating behavior as predictors of the child's emotional eating (EE) and child's emotion regulation (ER) as a potential moderator. Design Parental eating behavior (emotional, external, and restrained eating), 9 parental feeding practices (restriction, food as reward, food as ER, monitoring, healthy...
Article
Establishing healthy and sustainable dietary habits in childhood is necessary for the prevention of obesity and chronic diseases, as well as for the growing pressure on our ecosystems. Considering that parents are the most important actors in affecting dietary behaviors of their children, and that there is a social gradient for obesity, this study...
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Cardiovascular diseases are the leading cause of mortality worldwide. These diseases originate in childhood, and a better understanding of their early determinants and risk factors would allow better prevention. The BELINDA (BEtter LIfe by Nutrition During Adulthood) study is a 10–14-year follow-up of the HEalthy Lifestyle in Europe by Nutrition in...
Article
One of the current main public health problems is the prevalence of obesity in children. Unhealthy lifestyle behaviors such as poor dietary habits, high sedentary screen time (SST), and low levels of physical activity (PA) have a strong tendency to track from childhood into adulthood. The aim of this manuscript is to assess the association between...
Article
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Objectives Previous studies demonstrated that self-compassion may generate positive effects on adults’ mental health through its impact on stress responses. As adolescence is characterized by elevated levels of stress, self-compassion may be particularly relevant for this age group. The aim of this study was to assess the immediate effects of a bri...
Article
Background and aims (Poly)phenols might contribute to prevent cardiovascular disease, but limited prospective studies exist among adolescents. This study aimed to evaluate within-subject longitudinal changes in (poly)phenols intakes and food group contributors while also exploring the association with metabolic syndrome risk (MetS) during 10 years...
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Background: It is unclear which psychological factors (stressors, emotional correlates, and psychophysiological markers) induce cancer risk. This currently limits the potential for prevention strategies. Purpose: The aim of this review is to bring forth evidence of stress as a determinant of cancer risk from a public health perspective, written...
Article
Introduction et but de l’étude La transition de l’adolescence à l’âge adulte comprend plusieurs changements majeurs, notamment l’indépendance, le statut scolaire et professionnel, les nouveaux centres d’intérêts et rôles sociaux. Elle est associée à une modification des habitudes de vie, notamment l’activité physique (AP) qui est un des déterminant...
Article
It is often assumed that emotional eating occurs when an individual is unable to utilise emotion regulation (ER) to cope with stress. In this stress exposure study, we explored whether manipulating participants’ ER strategies (rumination or self-compassion) influenced their stress-related affect and food consumption. Fifty-three adolescents ( M age...
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Associations between hair cortisol concentration (HCC), diurnal salivary cortisol (sCort) and alpha-amylase (sAA), and temperament dimensions were examined among 3–6-year-old Finnish children (n = 833). Children's hair samples were collected at preschool, while parents collected five saliva samples from children during one weekend day and completed...
Article
The recently developed Salzburg Stress Eating Scale (SSES) is the first to specifically address the relationship of stress experiences and coping failure on the one hand and increases or decreases in food intake on the other hand. The SSES demonstrated good psychometric properties in English and German speaking adult samples. However, it has not be...
Article
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Background Hypertension can be detected at the primary health-care level and low-cost treatments can effectively control hypertension. We aimed to measure the prevalence of hypertension and progress in its detection, treatment, and control from 1990 to 2019 for 200 countries and territories. Methods We used data from 1990 to 2019 on people aged 30...
Article
Obesity in childhood and adolescence is a complex health issue that has detrimental effects on the physical and psychological health of the youngster, both in the short and long term. A characteristic of obesity is the associated chronic low-grade inflammation which can result in insulin resistance. Previous research suggested that biomarkers refer...
Article
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Purpose: Evidence concerning eating disorders as risk toward developing cancer is sparse. Energy restriction might be cancer protective, while malnutrition, vomiting, laxative and substance use might stimulate cancer development. We examined whether individuals with an eating disorder (not restricted to anorexia nervosa) had a different risk of dev...
Article
The aim of this study was to investigate the association of endothelial lipase gene (LIPG) polymorphisms with cardiovascular disease (CVD) risk factors in adolescents and their interaction with physical activity. Six polymorphisms of LIPG were genotyped in 1057 European adolescents (12–18 years old) enrolled in the Healthy Lifestyle in Europe by Nu...
Article
We evaluated the association between intake of total polyphenols, polyphenol classes and the 10 most consumed individual polyphenols with serum total antioxidant capacity (TAC) in 749 European adolescents (53% girls; 15% overweight; 12.5–17.5 years-old) from the cross-sectional HELENA study of 2006–2007. Dietary polyphenol intake was calculated fro...
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The aim of this study was to determine factors associated with physical fitness (PF) in children who underwent surgery for congenital heart disease (CHD). Sixty-six children (7–14 years) who underwent surgery for ventricular septal defect (n = 19), transposition of great arteries (n = 22), coarctation of aorta (n = 10), and tetralogy of Fallot (n =...
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From 1985 to 2016, the prevalence of underweight decreased, and that of obesity and severe obesity increased, in most regions, with significant variation in the magnitude of these changes across regions. We investigated how much change in mean body mass index (BMI) explains changes in the prevalence of underweight, obesity, and severe obesity in di...
Article
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From 1985 to 2016, the prevalence of underweight decreased, and that of obesity and severe obesity increased, in most regions, with significant variation in the magnitude of these changes across regions. We investigated how much change in mean body mass index (BMI) explains changes in the prevalence of underweight, obesity, and severe obesity in di...
Article
Introduction It is still unclear which green nature aspects can counteract psychosocial stress: the green color or rather the environmental content (=nature). Since stress is often stimulating excess/unhealthy food intake, we hypothesize that green nature also buffers stress-induced eating. This study analyzed the effects of green/nature pictures o...
Article
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Within mental health as risk factor for excess weight, prevention-relevant questions remain: does the relation persist after considering lifestyle, which lifestyle parameters might be most important to target, which gender or age subgroups are most at risk? The cross-sectional Belgian health survey 2013 (n = 4687; ≥15 years) measured mental health...
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Background: During adolescence, health behaviors and weight status are increasingly influenced by friendship and peer networks. This paper examines resemblances in weight-related characteristics and how they differ by sociodemographic factors. Methods: Over 3,000 friendships were reported by 1,603 adolescents, aged 11-16 years, who participated...
Article
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Background: Psoriasis is a complex disease associated with multiple comorbidities, including metabolic syndrome and leaky gut syndrome. Dietary lifestyle interventions have been reported to affect the disease in terms of lesional severity. It remains unclear how diets affect these comorbidities and the general health in psoriasis patients. Modifie...
Preprint
BACKGROUND Psoriasis is a complex disease associated with multiple comorbidities, including metabolic syndrome and leaky gut syndrome. Dietary lifestyle interventions have been reported to affect the disease in terms of lesional severity. It remains unclear how diets affect these comorbidities and the general health in psoriasis patients. Modified...
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Leucocyte telomere attrition is considered a marker for cellular ageing caused by cumulative exposure to oxidative stress, inflammation, and endocrine dysfunction. Apart from a reflection of biological ageing (and thus telomeres being an outcome), telomere attrition is potentially involved in the onset of cardiovascular disease as cellular senescen...
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Context Apart from ruminant fat, trans-fatty acids are produced during the partial hydrogenation of vegetable oils, (eg, in the production of ultraprocessed foods). Harmful cardiovascular effects of trans-fatty acids are already proven, but the link with cancer risk has not yet been summarized. Objective A systematic review (following PRISMA guide...
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Background Comparable global data on health and nutrition of school-aged children and adolescents are scarce. We aimed to estimate age trajectories and time trends in mean height and mean body-mass index (BMI), which measures weight gain beyond what is expected from height gain, for school-aged children and adolescents. Methods For this pooled ana...
Article
Objective: Research examining aspects of positive mental health as potential predictors of cardiometabolic health in young populations is scarce. We investigated the associations between psychosocial well-being and waist circumference (WAIST), blood pressure (BP), the homeostasis model assessment for insulin resistance, triglycerides, and high-dens...
Article
The microbiome has been hypothesized to play a role in cancer development. Due to the diversity of published data, an overview of available epidemiological evidence linking the microbiome with cancer is now needed. We conducted a systematic review using a tailored search strategy in Medline and EMBASE databases to identify and summarize the current...
Article
Purpose Psychosocial stressors derived from socioeconomic disadvantages in adolescents can result in higher risk of metabolic syndrome (MetS). We aimed to examine whether socioeconomic disadvantages were associated with MetS independent of lifestyle and whether there was a dose-response relationship between the number of cumulated socioeconomic dis...
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Background Short sleep duration has been suggested to lead to insulin resistance both directly by altering glucose metabolism and indirectly through obesity. This study aims to investigate associations between nocturnal sleep duration and insulin resistance considering abdominal obesity as a mediator. Methods We analysed data of 3 900 children age...
Poster
This poster discussed the findings published in Hooyberg et al 2020 (Environmental Research)
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Introduction Psychosocial stressors deriving from socioeconomic disadvantages in adolescents can result in higher metabolic syndrome (MetS) risk. We aimed to examine whether socioeconomic disadvantages were associated with MetS independent of lifestyle and whether there was a dose response relationship between the number of cumulated socioeconomic...
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Introduction New dietary recommendations focus on a plant-based diet. As dietary habits are formed during adolescence, knowledge on determinants of this food choice in this age-group can help prevention campaigns. Since an unbalanced choice in plant-based food might lead to nutrient deficiencies, it is also crucial to detect its association with nu...
Article
Proper dietary habits and behaviours are at the heart of maintaining an appropriate nutritional status, an adequate body mass and, as such, avoiding obesity and/ or its comorbidities. A child's diet is highly influenced by the home food environment and upbringing. The aim of the current study was to explore if and how parental feeding practices and...
Article
Objectives: Cardiovascular diseases (CVDs) are responsible of 31% of all deaths worldwide. Genetic predisposition to CVDs in adolescents remains largely unknown. Aims of present research are to examine the association of ADIPOQ gene polymorphisms with cardiovascular disease risk factors in European adolescents. Methods: A total of 14 polymorphis...
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High blood cholesterol is typically considered a feature of wealthy western countries1,2. However, dietary and behavioural determinants of blood cholesterol are changing rapidly throughout the world³ and countries are using lipid-lowering medications at varying rates. These changes can have distinct effects on the levels of high-density lipoprotein...
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Context: Vegetarian and vegan diets are increasing in popularity. Although they provide beneficial health effects, they may also lead to nutritional deficiencies. Cognitive impairment and mental health disorders have a high economic burden. Objective: A meta-analysis was conducted to examine the relationship between vegan or vegetarian diets and...
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In this paper, we give an integrated overview of the most recent insights regarding the role of the microbiota in obesity across body-sites for different age groups based on observational and interventional data published between April 2019 and March 2020.
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As the prevalence of metabolic syndrome (MetS) in children and young adults is increasing, a better understanding of genetics that underlie MetS will provide critical insights into the origin of the disease. We examined associations of common genetic variants and repeated MetS score from early childhood to adolescence in a pan-European, prospective...
Article
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Background: The associations between physical activity (PA), sedentary behaviour (SB) and bone health may be differentially affected by weight status during growth. This study aims to assess the cross-sectional and longitudinal associations between PA, SB and bone stiffness index (SI) in European children and adolescents, taking the weight status i...
Article
Objectives To examine the association of lipoprotein lipase (LPL) polymorphisms with cardiovascular disease (CVD) risk factors in European adolescents, along with the influence of physical activity on these associations. Methods A total of 13 LPL polymorphisms were genotyped in 1.057 European adolescents (12‐18 years old) from the Healthy Lifestyl...
Article
Ambient ionization-based techniques hold great potential for rapid point-of-care applicable metabolic fingerprinting of tissue and fluids. Hereby, feces represents a unique biospecimen as it integrates the complex interactions between the diet, gut microbiome and host, and is therefore ideally suited to study the involvement of the diet-gut microbi...
Article
Background: Although high dietary polyphenol intake is negatively associated with risk of certain inflammation-associated chronic diseases, the underlying mechanisms are not fully understood and few studies have explored this in adolescents. Objective: This study aimed to evaluate the association between intakes of total polyphenols, polyphenol cl...
Article
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Background: Levels of physical activity and variation in physical activity and sedentary time by place and person in European children and adolescents are largely unknown. The objective of the study was to assess the variations in objectively measured physical activity and sedentary time in children and adolescents across Europe. Methods: Six da...
Article
Whereas urine and blood are typically targeted in clinical research, saliva represents an interesting alternative as its intrinsic metabolome is chemically diverse and reflective for various biological processes. Moreover, saliva collection is easy and non-invasive, which is especially valuable for cohorts in which sample collection is challenging,...
Article
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Purpose The role of polyphenol intake during adolescence to prevent metabolic syndrome (MetS) is little explored. This study aimed to evaluate the association between intake of total polyphenols, polyphenol classes and the 10 most consumed individual polyphenols with MetS risk in European adolescents. Methods Of the cross-sectional HELENA study, 6...