The number of papers addressing overweight and obesity submitted to this journal is still substantial, as previously reported⁽Reference Yngve, Tseng and Haapala¹⁾. As the first issue for the new year we have chosen Overweight and obesity as the hot topic. You can find papers on antioxidant capacity in obese women⁽Reference Hervert-Hernández and Goñi²⁾, growth reference curves for Portuguese adolescents⁽Reference Santos, Moreira and Ruiz³⁾ and validity of self-reported height and weight in Austrian adults⁽Reference Grossschadl, Haditsch and Stronegger⁴⁾. These papers point at the importance of correct assessment and use of the right reference curves. There is also a paper looking at changes in overweight and obesity in childhood and adolescence during health transition⁽Reference Dancause, Vilar and Chan⁵⁾ and one looking at low-income New Yorkers and their food concern related to obesity and diabetes⁽Reference Yaemsiri, Olson and He⁶⁾.

Colleagues from Scotland publish the evaluation of the first phase of a weight management programme performed within the National Health Service – interesting reading, indeed⁽Reference Morrison, Boyle and Morrison⁷⁾. The results point at the ‘you get what you pay for’ principle, with patients who stay in the programme being more likely to lose weight. Being male, depressed, older than 40 years and severely obese (BMI >50 kg/m²) increased the chance of losing more weight while being socially deprived reduced the chance of improvement in weight status. The authors point at the need for more targeted interventions. We look forward to more results from this programme.

Hendrie et al.⁽Reference Hendrie, Coveney and Cox⁸⁾ discuss the complexity of the relationship between behaviours and obesity in childhood and Ergin et al.⁽Reference Ergin, Hassoy and Kunst⁹⁾ discuss socio-economic inequalities in overweight among adults in Turkey. Wiklund et al.⁽Reference Wiklund, Xu and Lyytikäinen¹⁰⁾ publish data from Finland indicating that breast-feeding mothers may be protected against later-life obesity and Wu et al.⁽Reference Wu, Ohinmaa and Veugelers¹¹⁾ look at quality of life related to body weight and related variables among adolescents in Canada.

Tavares et al.⁽Reference Tavares, Fonseca and Garcia Rosa¹²⁾ follow up on the issue of ultra-processed foods (discussed earlier in this journal⁽Reference Monteiro, Levy and Claro¹³⁾) and their importance for the metabolic syndrome in a Brazilian study of adolescents, and Zhang et al.⁽Reference Zhang, van der Lans and Dagevos¹⁴⁾ discuss the same type of issues in their paper from China.

Three reviews on the home environment and its importance for childhood obesity, on dietary weight-loss interventions in people of African ancestry and on free will and the obesity epidemic are also included in this issue⁽Reference Pinard, Yaroch and Hart^15–Reference Levitsky and Pacanowski¹⁷⁾.

Will the ‘epidemic of obesity publications’ still be raging at the end of 2012? Will the obesity epidemic as such level out in the coming years? The editors look forward with anticipation.

Happy New Year!