由超重，肥胖（OO）和2型糖尿病（T2D）造成的公共卫生负担非常重要，并且在全球范围内持续增长。OO和T2D也是其他合并症的主要危险因素，包括许多非传染性疾病和传染病，例如COVID-19. A globalstudyestimated that about 9.7% of the world population (or 711.4 million) were obese and 4.0 million deaths were attributable to obesity in 2015, while T2D affected 463 million adults aged 20 to 79 years worldwide and caused2019年420万人死亡.
OO和T2D在不同的社会经济地位（SES）中分布不均匀的事实，人口统计群体和地理位置使研究人员和政策制定者在尝试设计有效的公共卫生干预措施时更加困惑。OO和T2D的因果关系是复杂且高度多学位的，而不是仅仅能量摄入（食物）和支出（运动）失衡。但是，以前对食品和体育锻炼（PA）邻里环境的研究主要试图将体重指数（BMI）与出售新鲜水果和蔬菜或快餐店和外卖的商店相关联，或与城市化，邻里步行性因素以及进入绿色空间或公共体育馆设施，在很大程度上是天真的，笼罩的假设，粗糙，不完整且经常不一致（在类似的研究）结论中得出的结论远非21世纪的精神和需求。
We know that different people and population groups respond differently to the same food and PA environments, due to a myriad of unique individual and population group factors
We know that different people and population groups respond differently to the same food and PA environments, due to a myriad of独特的个人和人口群体因素和their complex interplays with each other and with food and PA elements: genetic/epigenetic factors (as exemplified by theseNY Times和营养journal articles),代谢因素,gut bacteria profiles, gut hormones profiles, health literacy profiles, dietary and lifestyle habits,screen viewing times, stress levels, sleep patterns, SES, local cuisine and food industry standards and regulations (e.g., food processing levels, food labeling practices, etc.), environmental air and noise pollution levels, activity spaces/histories (people are always ‘on the move’, so associating people with a single address/postcode is not always ideal in food and PA environment studies), etc.
此外，同一家食品商店，静坐餐厅或快餐店通常可以出售或提供健康和不健康的选择/部分，并同时使用好食物和坏食品加工和烹饪方法，以便进行不同产品into ‘good’ or ‘bad’ store/outlet should be avoided. Population dietary behaviors, including amounts consumed per individual snack/meal/day or per family are also important, as even the healthiest options can prove unhealthy when over consumed.
Moreover, appropriate physical exercise, whilst essential for good health and disease prevention, is not very effective for weight maintenance or loss (especially when solely relied upon), and cannot offset the effects of abad diet. In fact, the“wrong” type of physical exercisemight sometimes result in weight gain in certain individuals, and research has shown that some individualsavoid or ‘hate’ exercisebecause of their genetic makeup, even when living in close proximity to green spaces and public gyms.
As far as urbanisation is concerned, research also shows the gap of BMI between urban and rural is closing, mostly by an unprecedentedincrease in rural BMIaround the world in recent years, especially in low- and middle-income regions, so it is not urbanisation that is to blame as such or at least alone.
The research we should be doing in the third decade of the 21st century should use asystems thinking approach, helped by recent advances in lifestyle sensing, big data and related technologies. This would help us to better understand and cater for this myriad of相互联系的因素为了设计针对OO和T2D控制和预防的更有针对性，更有效的公共卫生干预措施。
The research we should be doing in the third decade of the 21st century should use a systems thinking approach
Geo-tagged big data from智能手机/应用程序, wearables andother sensors使研究人员能够在OO和T2D进行创新研究 - 智能手机不仅对数据收集有用；它们还可以用于提供一些基于位置的目标公共卫生干预措施和运动。公共卫生专业人员可以从揭幕中良好的大数据仪表板和相关技术中受益匪浅，并在其目标人群中采取了OO和T2D的多方面挑战。
A recentInternational Journal of Health Geographics社论published in March 2021 marks the launch of a new Article Collection on the subject entitled ‘New horizons in geospatial lifestyle and food environment research‘。编辑在OO和T2D的背景下介绍了地理空间生活方式和食品环境研究和实践的创新，超越了该领域的传统研究设计和方法。希望这个新收藏将在全球公共卫生社区之间发起并激发进一步的富有成果的讨论，并激发了OO和T2D中有关食品和PA环境以及人口因素的许多未来开创性的研究。
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