BACKGROUND: Previously, it has been reported that mutations in the genes encoding for adipokines may be associated with impaired food intake and may serve as potential obesity biomarkers. The aim of this study was to investigate the possible associations of defined variability in leptin, leptin receptor, adiponectin, proopiomelanocortin and ghrelin ...

Obesity is defined as the accumulation of excess adipose tissue resulting from various metabolic disorders. Adipocyte dysfunction is strongly associated with the development of obesity and insulin resistance. Metabolic syndrome is characterized by a group of metabolic risk factors in one person. Abdominal obesity and adipocyte dysfunction play an important ...

The postprandial activation of the peripheral sympathetic nervous system is crucial to maintain cardiovascular homeostasis. A contribution of postprandial sympathetic activation to the thermic effect of food is not always evident and depends on the size and composition of the meal, with carbohydrates having the clearest effect. Signals related to ...

The commercial drivers of the obesity epidemic are so influential that obesity can be considered a robust sign of commercial success - consumers are buying more food, more cars and more energy-saving machines. It is unlikely that these powerful economic forces will change sufficiently in response to consumer desires to ...

Several authors have shown that secondary hypothyroidism was programed by neonatal thyroxine (T4) treatment. However, the associated changes of body weight (BW) were less studied, especially those related to the body fat proportion. Here, we have evaluated the effect of neonatal thyroxine treatment on BW, fat proportion, serum leptin, and ...

The purpose of this literature review was to identify and describe the cost of obesity, the contributing factors, and the use of taxation as a possible method of control of this epidemic in a Canadian setting. A review of the current literature found on the PubMed/MEDLINE services of the National ...

Countries undergoing the nutrition transition are experiencing a progressive increase in obesity and nutrition-related chronic diseases (NRCDs). In transitional countries, stunting (shortness for age) and micronutrient deficiencies (iron, vitamin A, and zinc) in children coexist with obesity and NRCDs originating the double burden of nutritional disease. The causal web for ...

The relentless rise in the prevalence of obesity predicts an exponential increase in the incidence of obesity-related complications. Medical and surgical treatments are necessary to prevent and treat obese co-morbidities, thereby avoiding disability and premature death. Interventions for obesity should be evaluated not by weight loss alone but against the ...

OBJECTIVE: We examined associations between density of and proximity to fast food outlets and body weight in a sample of children (137 aged 8-9 years and 243 aged 13-15 years) and their parents (322 fathers and 362 mothers). METHODS: Children's measured and parents' self-reported heights and weights were used to ...

The cause of the current increase in obesity in westernized nations is poorly understood but is frequently attributed to a 'thrifty genotype,' an evolutionary predisposition to store calories in times of plenty to protect against future scarcity. In modern, industrialized environments that provide a ready, uninterrupted supply of energy-rich foods ...

The current obesity epidemic is largely driven by environmental factors, including nutritional transition towards refined and fatty foods with the growing production of energy-dense food at relatively low cost, increased access to motor vehicles, mechanisation of work and sedentary lifestyles. These influences in modern society are modified by individual characteristics. ...

This review critically summarizes the literature on neighborhood determinants of obesity and proposes a conceptual framework to guide future inquiry. Thirty-seven studies met all inclusion criteria and revealed that the influence of neighborhood-level factors appears mixed. Neighborhood-level measures of economic resources were associated with obesity in 15 studies, while the ...

The prevalence and severity of childhood obesity have increased steadily over the past three decades. The human species evolved to rigorously defend its lower limit for weight and adiposity but is tolerant of the upper limit, which, until recent times, was rarely approached. Neuroendocrine mechanisms within the limbic core of ...

Implementation of strategies to address obesity on a global scale has not yet begun in earnest. One key issue is uncertainty about the relative importance of taking aggressive action on the food vs. physical activity side of the energy balance equation, recognizing that interventions in both areas are critical. Using ...

Objective. To investigate adolescent eating, activity, and behavioral patterns, and attitudes and their associations with obesity in selected communities in Indonesia. Design. A cross-sectional questionnaire and physical measurement-based study in three communities of varying modernization levels in Indonesia (Yogyakarta, Kuta, and Jakarta). Subjects. 1758 middle school students (aged 12-15 years) ...

INTRODUCTION: Dopamine (DA) regulates food intake by modulating food reward and motivation but its involvement in obesity is much less understood. Recent evidence points to the involvement of leptin in the DA-related modulation of food intake. Here we assess DA D2 receptors (D2R) in a genetic rodent obesity model characterized ...

Worldwide, the public health community has recognized the growing problem of childhood obesity. But, unlike tobacco control policy, there is little evidence about what public policies would work to substantially reduce childhood obesity. Public health leaders currently tend to support traditional "command and control" schemes that order private enterprises and ...

Human (visceral) obesity is associated with alterations hypothalamus-pituitary-adrenal (HPA) axis functioning. It is however not completely clear whether the HPA axis is causally or co-incidentally related to (visceral) obesity. This review summarizes supporting data of an involvement of the HPA axis in the development of (visceral) obesity. First, several DNA ...

OBJECTIVE: Systemic low grade inflammation may contribute to the development of obesity, insulin resistance, diabetes mellitus and atherosclerotic vascular disease. Food intolerance reflected by immunoglobulin G (IgG) antibodies may predispose to low grade inflammation and atherogenesis. We examined the relationship between IgG antibodies specific for food components, low grade inflammation ...

Animal studies have revealed brain regions that control homeostatic feeding, but the rampant overeating contributing to the obesity epidemic suggests the participation of "nonhomeostatic" control centers. Recent papers by Batterham et al. (2007) and Farooqi et al. (2007) link peptide YY(3-36) and leptin to the activation of nonhomeostatic brain regions.

Recent research and theory point to the possibility that hippocampal-dependent learning and memory mechanisms translate neurohormonal signals of energy balance into adaptive behavioral outcomes involved with the inhibition of food intake. The present paper summarizes these findings and ideas and considers the hypothesis that excessive caloric intake and obesity may ...

Ethnicity is associated with differences in food-related beliefs, preferences, and behaviors, and cultural influences may contribute to the higher than average risk of obesity among children and youth in U.S. ethnic minority populations. However, cultural attitudes and beliefs are not the only potential source of ethnic variation in childhood obesity ...

OBJECTIVE: To investigate the effect of television food advertising on children's food intake, specifically whether childhood obesity is related to a greater susceptibility to food promotion. DESIGN: The study was a within-subject, counterbalanced design. The children were tested on two occasions separated by two weeks. One condition involved the children ...

We have previously described that neonate rats supplemented with physiological doses of oral leptin during lactation become more protected against overweight in adulthood. The purpose of this study was to characterize further the long-term effects on glucose and leptin homeostasis and on food preferences. Neonate rats were supplemented during lactation ...

A missense mutation in the ob gene causes leptin deficiency and morbid obesity. Leptin replacement to three adults with this mutation normalized body weight and eating behavior. Because the neural circuits mediating these changes were unknown, we paired functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) with presentation of food cues to these ...

In accepting any new drug for the treatment of obesity, the safety profile must make it acceptable for almost everyone. Criteria for selecting treatments involve evaluating the risks to the individual from obesity and balancing that against any possible problems with the treatment. Obesity is a chronic disease that has ...

The purpose of this study was to provide some preliminary description of the Latin-Canadian community by reporting the socioeconomic status, physical activity, and weight status (i.e., healthy weight, overweight, or obese status) of Colombians newly immigrated to London, Ontario Canada. Face-to-face interviews were conducted on a convenience sample of 77 ...

OBJECTIVE: This paper examines trends in the neighbourhood food store environment (defined by the number and geographic density of food stores of each type in a neighbourhood), and in food consumption behaviour and overweight risk of 5779 men and women. DESIGN: The study used data gathered by the Stanford Heart ...

Cognitive-motivational accounts of fat food intake propose an association between fat food and action dispositions, which are according to the biphasic emotion theory of Lang [(1995). The emotion probe. Studies of motivation and attention. American Psychologist, 50, 372-385; Lang, P.J., Bradley, M.M., & Cuthbert, M.M. (1997). Motivated attention: Affect, activation ...

Recent evidence suggests that the peptide hormone prolactin (PRL) modulates energy balance through a number of mechanisms, including acting in the brain to increase food intake. In the current studies, we first demonstrated that chronic infusions of PRL into the lateral ventricles increased food intake in cycling rats without disrupting ...

For the past 50 years, the most prevalent theoretical models for regulation of food intake have been based in the physiological concept of energy homeostasis. However, several authors have noted that the simplest form of homeostasis, stability, does not accurately reflect the actual state of affairs and most notably the ...

Studies of the fat-derived hormone leptin have provided key insights into the molecular and neural components of feeding behavior and body weight regulation. An important challenge lies in understanding how the rewarding properties of food interact with, and can override, physiological satiety signals and promote overeating. We used functional magnetic ...

BACKGROUND: A 14-year-old boy presented with daytime somnolence, intermittent emesis and hypothyroidism. Neuroimaging revealed a calcified suprasellar intracranial mass, suspected to be a craniopharyngioma. Subtotal resection of the tumor confirmed the diagnosis. Extreme obesity (BMI >60 kg/m(2)) and hyperinsulinemia followed tumor resection and cranial irradiation. Dietary interventions were unsuccessful, and ...

Cannabinoid system is a crucial mechanism in regulating food intake and energy metabolism. It is involved in central and peripheral mechanisms regulating such behavior, interacting with many other signaling systems with a role in metabolic regulation. Cannabinoid agonists promote food intake, and soon a cannabinoid antagonist, rimonabant, will be marketed ...

BACKGROUND: Consumption of fried food has been suggested to promote obesity, but this association has seldom been studied. OBJECTIVE: We aimed to assess the association of energy intake from fried food with general and central obesity in Spain, a Mediterranean country where frying with oil is a traditional cooking procedure. ...

OBJECTIVE: Prader-Willi syndrome (PWS), the leading known genetic cause of obesity, is characterized by intellectual disabilities, maladaptive and compulsive behaviors, and hyperphagia. Although complications of obesity resulting from hyperphagia are the leading cause of death in PWS, quantifying this drive for food has long been an unmet research need. This ...

To evaluate the efficacy of liraglutide, a new, stable, once-daily human analog of glucagon-like peptide-1, in a new animal model of obesity. Liraglutide was administered subcutaneously once daily (7 microg/kg for 7 weeks) to six female obese Göttingen minipigs. Food intake and feeding patterns were monitored using a novel automated ...

There is a widespread obesity epidemic in the developed world which is having an adverse impact on the health of affected individuals. Many of the afflicted have a genetic predisposition to become obese. These individuals become obese when they over consume highly palatable, calorically dense foods which are readily available ...

Glucocorticoids act primarily in a feed-forward fashion on brain to activate CNS pathways that implement wanting appropriate to physiological needs. Thus, depending on the available conditions, elevated glucocorticoids may augment the behavioural want to run, fight or feed. Although glucocorticoids stimulate intake of chow, fat and sucrose, insulin appears to ...

Numerous peripheral and hypothalamic peptides control food intake. Among these signals are orexin, an orexigenic molecule released into the olfactory bulb by centrifugal hypothalamic fibres and leptin, an anorexigenic molecule that is released peripherally and can pass through the blood-brain barrier. In the present study, we injected either orexin or ...

Leptin interplays with other peptides to control feeding behaviour in humans and animals. Using exendin-4, an agonist of glucagon-like peptide-1, we investigated whether leptin modifies its effect on food intake in the rat. In the first series, exendin-4 alone (0.1, 2 or 10 microg per rat), leptin alone (0.1, 2, ...

Recent studies have provided evidence that the endocannabinoid (EC) system has very significant effects on energy balance and metabolism through the central control of appetite and by affecting peripheral metabolism. Endocannabinoids are endogenous phospholipid derivatives which bind and activate cannabinoid receptors type 1 and type 2 (CB1 and CB2 receptors). ...

The neural systems regulating food intake in obese individuals remain poorly understood. Previous studies applied positron emission tomography and manipulated hunger and satiety to investigate differences in appetitive processing between obese and normal-weight individuals. However, it is not known whether manipulation of stimulus value may yield different neural activity in ...

Leptin, which is produced in proportion to adiposity, has been reported to regulate feeding behaviors. Previous researchers reported that inhibition of nitric oxide (NO) synthase (NOS) decreased food intake, while L-arginine attenuated this effect. Recently, studies showed that NO plays an important role as a mediator of feeding behavior induced ...

OBJECTIVES: Based on cognitive theory (CT), the aim of this study is to investigate the cognitive processing of food cues in clinically overweight adolescents. DESIGN: An experimental design with performance-based measures. METHODS: Eighty-seven (45 overweight, 42 normal weight) adolescents between the ages of 12 and 18 years were examined. All ...

Maternal food restriction during pregnancy results in intrauterine growth-restricted (IUGR) newborns with significantly decreased plasma leptin levels. When nursed by ad libitum-fed controls, IUGR offspring exhibit hyperphagia with adult obesity, marked by increased percentage body fat and plasma leptin, suggesting altered anorexigenic pathways. The authors examined leptin signaling pathways and ...

Obesity is responsible for the mounting incidence of metabolic disease in adult and pediatric populations. Understanding of the pathogenesis and maintenance of the obese state has advanced rapidly over the past 10 years. Bodily energy reserves are managed actively by complex systems that regulate food intake, substrate partitioning, and energy ...

An increasing number of people report concerns about the amount of stress in their life. At the same time obesity is an escalating health problem worldwide. Evidence is accumulating rapidly that stress related chronic stimulation of the hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenal (HPA) axis and resulting excess glucocorticoid exposure may play a potential role ...

Peptide YY(3-36) [PYY(3-36)] is a gut-brain peptide that decreases food intake when administered by intravenous infusion to lean and obese humans and rats. However, chronic administration of PYY(3-36) by osmotic minipump to lean and obese rodents produces only a transient reduction in daily food intake and weight gain. It has ...

In this report, we examine the effects of leptin on the intake of specific macro- and micronutrients in a female patient with leptin gene deficiency. The patient was studied off and on leptin at stable body weight, within the normal to mildly overweight range. The data were obtained by detailed ...