2018Health2

On-line application form

Supervisor mail:
lmoreno@unizar.es

Title of the research project:

Effect of genetic polymorphisms in the Mediterranean diet impact. Influence in the response of body composition and obesity in children.

Description of the research project:

Obesity is defined as an excess of body fat. The excess body fat has important effects on health in the short, medium and long terms. In the short term, the most frequent consequences are those of psychological and social nature, although metabolic complications are also common.

The development of obesity at the individual level is determined by genetic susceptibility. However, some risk factors, such as those related to diet and lifestyle (physical activity and sedentarism), favor their development and are responsible for the increase in their prevalence in the recent decades.

The response of subjects to dietary components might be different depending on the genotype. In Predimed study (Corella D et al), a significant gene-diet interaction with vegetable consumption in determining cardiovascular mortality has been observed. Higher consumption of vegetables decreased the risk more in Cys326Cys participants, supporting the beneficial role of the antioxidant compounds present in vegetables in providing protection from DNA damage and mortality risk in genetically susceptible individuals.

Other published research within the Predimed study (Corella D et al, Garcia-Calzon et al) highlight that the Mediterranean Diet pattern itself had the positive, principal effect on the association between the Pro/Ala genotype and telomere changes.

The definitions of sustainable diets show that they affect various dimensions (agricultural, food, nutritional, environmental, social, cultural, economic) that interact with one another, either inseparably or separately and distinctly.

It has been found a consistent gene-diet interaction between the gene variants and adherence to Mediterranean Diet after the intervention.

However, Iaccarino Idelson, P et al show a low adherence to Mediterranean Diet. A declining adherence to the Mediterranean Diet in the mediterranean countries over the last decades, in parallel with a shift towards a western dietary pattern, may be associated with the incidence of chronic non-communicable diseases from childhood onward. The most outstanding event has been the rise of pediatric obesity, which often tracks into adulthood, increasing the risk of developing cardiovascular disease, type 2 diabetes and other chronic diseases.

The main objectives are: 1) to decrease obesity incidence after the start of the intervention; 2) to assess the polymorphism effect in the Mediterranean diet impact and its influence in obesity and body composition; 3) to improve the adherence to Mediterranean diet pattern by the evaluation of the implementation in the interventions. Moreover, secondary objectives are: 1) to improve body composition; 2) to improve health-related physical fitness assessed in a yearly basis and to improve cardiovascular risk factor after the start of the intervention.

Finally, to describe the linkage of the research project with the suitable Action Plan of Campus Iberus it is important to mention the high relevance to this project with the suggested topics: healthy diet and lifestyle / functional nutrients. The proposed research line will follow Sustainable Mediterranean Diet, Genetic Polymorphisms and Obesity in Children. It exists a strong relationship between University of Zaragoza and Public University of Navarra as they are both planning to apply for a nutritional research grant from Campus Iberus related to the topics.

PHD Programme:

Doctoral programme in Health and Sport Science

University of Zaragoza

Supervisor short biography:

Professor at University of Zaragoza. PhD in Medicine, Masters in nutrition and diet in children and adolescents in University of Zaragoza, Degree in nutrition and dietetics and Public health and community in University of Nancy (France). Senior lecturer in the Faculty of Health Science in the University of Zaragoza and External Senior Lecturer of excellence in University of Sao Paulo (Brazil). He has also been associated member of the John Hopkins Global Center of Childhood Obesity (USA). He is the Principal Investigator of the GENUD research group (Growth, Exercise, Nutrition and Development) at the University of Zaragoza. He is the PI for UNIZAR in Feel4Diabetes and MELIPOP Studies and was the project leader for I-Family, ToyBox, IDEFICS and HELENA in Spain. His research interests are in epidemiological studies of diet and obesity, and obesity prevention programs in children and adolescents. He has published more than 700 articles. 339 articles published between 2015-2018. Sum of number of times cited 16095 (September 2018). H index 62. He has been member of the nutrition committee of the European society of Gastroenterology and Pediatric nutrition (ESPGHAN) and President of Spanish society of nutrition.

Gross annual salary:

22.000-26.000 €

The employment contract in each recruiting institution will apply internal rules so final retribution might slightly differ.

Working hours:
37,5 hours a week

Dedication:
Full time