ReviewJournal of epidemiology and community health2005
Diseases of comfort: primary cause of death in the 22nd century.
Review in Journal of epidemiology and community health, 2005. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 13 papers, 1 of them a synthesis that pooled it.
What it found
Each row is one number read from the abstract, on the scale the paper reported it, with its interval. Left of the dashed line favours the treatment, right favours the comparator. Under each row is the sentence it came from. New to these charts? A ten-minute tutorial.
The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.
The trial behind it
Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.
Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.
Who cites it
13 citing papers in PubMed, 1 synthesis or guideline pooled it.
- The associations between sedentary behaviour and mental health among adolescents: a systematic review.The international journal of behavioral nutrition and physical activity · 2016Pooled it
- Maternal postpartum sedentary life exacerbates the metabolic impact of moderately fat-rich diet in male mice.npj metabolic health and disease · 2025Article
- Exploring Benefits and Barriers of Plant-Based Diets: Health, Environmental Impact, Food Accessibility and Acceptability.Nutrients · 2023Review
- Crossing the Boundaries of Our Current Healthcare System by Integrating Ultra-Weak Photon Emissions with Metabolomics.Frontiers in physiology · 2016Article
- Dietary attitudes and diseases of comfort.Eating and weight disorders : EWD · 2011Review
- Evidence, theory and context--using intervention mapping to develop a school-based intervention to prevent obesity in children.The international journal of behavioral nutrition and physical activity · 2011Article
- Effect of schistosomiasis and soil-transmitted helminth infections on physical fitness of school children in Côte d'Ivoire.PLoS neglected tropical diseases · 2011Article
- Questionnaire-based approach to assess schoolchildren's physical fitness and its potential role in exploring the putative impact of helminth and Plasmodium spp. infections in Côte d'Ivoire.Parasites & vectors · 2011Article
- Obesity patterns among women in a slum area in Brazil.Journal of health, population, and nutrition · 2011Article
- The development, feasibility and acceptability of a school-based obesity prevention programme: results from three phases of piloting.BMJ open · 2011Article
- Obesity and prevalence of chronic diseases in the 1999-2000 Italian National Health Survey.BMC public health · 2008Article
- Health and social consequences in the quest for comfort, convenience and pleasure.Journal of epidemiology and community health · 2006Article
- Body Image, Weight, and Self-Concept in Men.American journal of lifestyle medicineArticle
Corrections and comments
PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.
Authors and funding
4 authors.
Funding
No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.
Abstract
contextThe world has started to feel the impact of a global chronic disease epidemic, which is putting pressure on our health care systems. If uncurbed, a new generation of "diseases of comfort" (such as those chronic diseases caused by obesity and physical inactivity) will become a major public health problem in this and the next century.
objectiveTo describe the concept, causes, and prevention and control strategies of diseases of comfort.
methodsBrokered by a senior research scientist specialised in knowledge translation, a chair, a president, and a past president of national public health associations contributed their views on the subject.
resultsDiseases of comfort have emerged as a price of living in a modern society. It is inevitable that these diseases will become more common and more disabling if human "progress" and civilisation continue toward better (more comfortable) living, without necessarily considering their effects on health. Modern technology must be combined with education, legislation, intersectoral action, and community involvement to create built and social environments that encourage, and make easy, walking, physical activity, and nutritious food choices, to reduce the health damaging effects of modern society for all citizens and not only the few.
conclusionsPublic health needs to be more passionate about the health issues caused by human progress and adopt a health promotion stance, challenging the assumptions behind the notion of social "progress" that is giving rise to the burden of chronic disease and developing the skills to create more health promoting societies in which individual health thrives.
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What OpenQuestion holds
Registered trials
Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.