The 12th International Congress on Obesity, held in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, is now underway, with the event’s first day seeing the publishing of a number of leading pieces of research.

Eleven obesity-related studies were published on Monday, with the first day of the official congress of the World Obesity Federation (WOF) marking the introduction of an event which will see over 1000 experts gather to present findings.

One study found that part-time dieting (two weeks out of every month) may increase continuous weight loss.

In a study conducted by Australian researchers, thirty-six obese men took part in an experiment in which half of them were required to eat a weight-reducing diet for 16 weeks, while the other half were put on a weight-reducing diet for two weeks and then a weight-maintaining diet for two weeks.

After 30 days the latter of the men were found to have lost significantly more body weight and body fat than the continuously dieting men.

In other research, the University College London (UCL) conducted research, which suggested that the level of physical fitness among girls is more important than waist circumference or the amount of body fat in determining arterial stiffness.

The stiffness can be seen as a predictor of cardiovascular disease, with their research surveying 171 obese adolescents in the London area.

A piece of home-grown research in Malaysia observed over 200 children aged 9-14 years in Kuala Lumpur, finding that a high BMI was more common among those children who slept least.

In their research, scientists defined low levels of sleep as less than eight hours per night for children over 10 years old and less than 9 hours per night for younger children.

Those who slept least were 15 per cent more likely to have a high BMI and 30 per cent more likely to have a high waist circumference.

The International Congress on Obesity runs from 17-20 March 2014.