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Background: Social relationships impact health and may affect proximal determinants such as obesity. Our review examined empirical evidence of the impact of changes in social relationships on risk of obesity in aging adults, with attention to gender., Methods: We systematically searched Medline, EMBASE, Scopus, CINAHL, and ProQuest Dissertations and reference lists of relevant reviews and papers published up to November 2022. Longitudinal studies examining changes in marital status, living arrangement, social participation, and social networks and anthropometric changes or incident obesity were deemed eligible. Relevant data were extracted and synthesized narratively., Results: We identified 41,910 eligible titles, resulting in 252 full texts and 7 included studies. All studies were conducted in the United States and assessed marital transitions only; 3 studies included both women and men. Overall, compared with people who remain non-married, entering marriage leads to a significant increase in body mass index (BMI) for both genders. Conversely, transitioning out of marriage through widowhood or divorce leads to a decrease in weight (kg/lbs), waist circumference, and BMI for both genders. All seven studies were deemed to be of medium quality., Conclusions: Our review revealed a paucity of prospective evidence on social connections as determinants of obesity among aging adults. There is limited evidence that marital transitions are associated with changes in anthropometric measurements in aging individuals, but no evidence on the effects of changes in living arrangements, social participation, and social networks on anthropometric measurements. More research attention to the social determinants of obesity is warranted., (© 2024 The Author(s). Obesity Reviews published by John Wiley & Sons Ltd on behalf of World Obesity Federation.)

Objectives: We aimed to validate dietary assessment methods against the gold standard, doubly labeled water (DLW), for estimating total energy intake (TEI)., Methods: PubMed, Scopus, Web of Science, and Google Scholar databases were searched until May 2023. Inclusion criteria encompassed studies involving participants aged 1-18 years, employing dietary assessment methods like food records, dietary histories, food frequency questionnaire (FFQ), or 24-h recalls estimating TEI alongside DLW to measure total energy expenditure (TEE). Data were pooled using random-effects meta-analysis models., Results: Thirty-three studies were identified, with sample sizes ranging from 9 to 118 participants. Meta-analysis of 22 studies identified underestimation of TEI (mean difference [MD] = -262.9 kcal/day [95% CI: -380.0, -145.8]; I 2  = 93.55%) for food records compared with TEE estimated by DLW. Other dietary assessment methods, including food recalls (n = 9) (MD = 54.2 kcal/day [95% CI: -19.8, 128.1]; I 2  = 49.62%), FFQ (n = 7) (MD = 44.5 kcal/day [95% CI: -317.8, 406.8]; I 2  = 94.94%), and diet history (n = 3) (MD = -130.8 kcal/day [95% CI: -455.8, 194.1]; I 2  = 77.48%), showed no significant differences in TEI compared with DLW-estimated TEE. All studies were of high quality., Conclusion: Food records may underestimate TEI, yet additional research is needed to identify the most accurate methods for assessing children's dietary intake., (© 2024 World Obesity Federation.)