Overweight and obesity are widespread nutritional disorders. Their treatment aims at effective weight loss (WL) and weight loss maintenance (WLM). Previous systematic reviews show weight regain, after recommended exercise and diet combined. However, certain experimental and methodological inconsistencies in the original studies and in these reviews left space for a substantial revisit of this problem. This study aimed at systematically re-reviewing the effectiveness of exercise combined with diet on WLM in overweight and obese adults. Literature was searched through Embase and Sport Discus (up to 2008), and PubMed (Medline) and ISI Web of science (up to 2012). 14 randomized clinical trials (RCT) were retained, their quality was assessed by the Jadad scale, and detailed methodological and statistical characteristics were evaluated. Overall estimations showed a WL of 11.1 kg (about 13%) after an average of about 4 months from baseline, a WLM of 5.8 kg (about 52%) and a weight regain of 5.1 kg after an average period of about 21 months. WL was successful but almost half of it (about 48%) was regained, which agrees with previous findings. The Jadad score showed very good to excellent quality for all 14 studies. However, further assessment revealed serious weakness such as high average dropout (>20%), not estimating experimental power or not using a control group in more than half of the studies, possible lack of adherence and variability in demographic traits. Future studies may focus on improving these limitations for more accurate results in this crucial research field.

Joint hypermobility syndrome (JHS) is a heritable disorder of the connective tissue characterized by excessive joint movement, musculoskeletal pain and neurophysiological deficits (i.e. decreased proprioceptive acuity, altered neuromuscular reflexes). Such deficits may affect body balance thus increasing the risk of injury. The present study aimed at examining static and dynamic body balance following challenge of the visual and vestibular systems in individuals with JHS. The sample consisted of 21 females with JHS and 20 controls without signs of JHS. Static body balance was assessed by the degree of anteroposterior and mediolateral deviation of the center of pressure, during 20-sec single-leg stances with eyes opened (EO), eyes closed (EC) and eyes opened with head extension (EO-HE) using a foot pressure platform. Dynamic body balance was assessed by the number of landing and balance errors committed during a multiple single-leg-hop-stabilization test. Nonparametric analysis showed that the JHS-group demonstrated significantly greater (a) mediolateral deviation during single-leg-stance with EO (p < 0.01), (b) mediolateral and anteroposterior deviation during single-leg-stance with EO-HE (p < 0.05), and (c) number of landing errors (p < 0.05) compared to the control group. Poor static balance following challenge of the vestibular system may be justified by vestibular deficiency and/or insufficient proprioceptive capabilities of the neck. Impairments of dynamic balance in individuals with JHS may be attributed to proprioceptive deficits, which can alter feedforward and feedback mechanisms.