Brain function is different in obese children
Researchers at the Vanderbilt University Medical Center have found that the brains of obese children function differently from the brains of those children of a healthy weight. The study included 38 children, some of whom were overweight or obese, and, through the use of questionnaires and MRI techniques, they found a profound difference in the food-seeking behaviours of obese children. Using previous knowledge about different areas of the brain being involved in certain behaviours, the researchers were able to map out the effect of obesity on the brain, finding that unhealthy eating behaviours reflected an imbalance in the functional connectivity of the brain towards impulsivity.
The study authors hope that their findings could highlight the use of mindfulness, a technique used to focus awareness, as a therapeutic target for obese children by reducing the effect of this imbalance on the brain, and possibly helping control it. By bringing balance in the brain, mindfulness could help to reduce impulsivity, and by encouraging children to eat healthily, there is a hope that their weight would decrease. Furthermore, they highlighted the fact that childhood obesity needs early identification in order to effectively treat and prevent it.
Read More
Are organic pollutants causing abdominal obesity?
Organic pollutants may be causing hormone imbalances that contribute to the development of obesity. This is the outcome of a new study, from Taiwan published in the journal PLOS ONE. Researchers were examining the relationship between abdominal obesity, insulin resistance and dioxin, known as a persistent organic pollutant (POP). Rodent studies have shown that dioxin-like organic pollutants may be obesogens. The researchers analysed the data of 2,876 participants and found that those with higher levels of dioxin in their systems from eating contaminated seafood were fatter and more likely to suffer from insulin resistance.
Dioxins are released into the air by a range of industrial processes, some of which are also found in motor vehicles. Recently, more research has been undertaken into the health harms related to these particles, in particular on the endocrine related effects. The researchers hope that this study will help highlight the problem of POPs and will therefore lead to the reduction in exposure to these endocrine disrupting chemicals.
Read More
Obesity linked with blood clots in children
A recent study has found that obesity can contribute to the formation of venous thromboembolism (VTE) in children. It is a well-established fact that obesity can cause VTE in adults, however this study found that a high BMI is also a risk factor in children. The study was conducted on 88 patients from 2 to 18 years of age. The authors were particularly concerned as the incidence of paediatric VTE has increased over the last 20 years, along with the rise in childhood obesity.
Even though the data is from a single institution, and the sample size is fairly small, it still suggests that there is an association between paediatric VTE and obesity being demonstrated. Clinicians need to be aware of this association, as it has the potential to result in many more health issues for the children such as recurrent clots, pulmonary embolism (a severe condition where blood flow is restricted to the lungs), post-thrombotic syndrome (which is a painful condition affecting limbs that causes ulceration), or even stroke.
Read More
Listening to your body to stop obesity
To be able to cope with stress more effectively, we should listen to our bodies more. This is the conclusion of a study conducted in San Diego, California where researchers evaluated brain function before and after a stressful situation using functional MRI. They found that people with high resilience were far more attentive to signals that their body were giving them (such as changes in breathing and heart rates) and were therefore able to moderate this response, effectively dampening the effect of stress.
As the stress response can play a role in the development of obesity, due to its proven effects on hormone regulation and cravings (sometimes referred to as ‘comfort eating’), this research has the potential to investigate the causes of obesity in some individuals, possibly creating opportunities for new interventions to be developed. The researchers are hoping to build on this work and explore the effect of resilience more, so that it may be used in a therapeutic setting.
Read More
Do sugar-sweetened drinks increase visceral fat?
Consuming sugar-sweetened beverages may increase the amount of visceral fat that your body stores. This is the outcome of a study published in the American Heart Association’s journal Circulation. As these drinks are the largest contributor of added sugar intake in the USA, researchers looked at data from just over 1,000 patients in the Framingham Heart Study (an ongoing project into cardiovascular disease). The participants were given CT scans at the start of the study, and after a 6-year follow-up the researchers observed that there was a direct correlation between increased sugar-sweetened drink consumption and increased visceral fat.
Visceral fat is fat that covers internal organs and has been linked with the development of diabetes and heart disease due to its impact on inflammation and release of adipokines. The exact mechanism in this study is not fully known, however the authors hypothesised that the added sugars in the drinks could contribute to insulin resistance as well, eventually leading to type 2 diabetes, whilst also promoting fat accumulation in visceral tissues. There was no association for diet soda. The study supports the current dietary recommendations of limiting the number of sugar-sweetened beverages that one consumes, to protect against cardiometabolic diseases.
Read More
Water jets fight childhood obesity
The installation of water dispensers in schools is associated with a decreased weight of students. A recent study conducted across 1,227 elementary and middle schools (ages 4-13), including 1,065,562 students in New York City, found that this relatively low-cost intervention has the potential to have great health effects on the children. In 2009, New York City’s Department of Health and Mental Hygiene and Department of Education collaborated to introduce ‘water jets’ into schools. The aim of which was to decrease the volume of high calorie beverages that the children consume and promote water consumption, thereby becoming an intervention against childhood obesity.
The researchers compared the BMI of students before and after the introduction of the water jets and found that, after a 3-month period, BMI in both boys and girls was slightly, but significantly, lowered. The authors hypothesised that the availability of water meant that fewer students would bring in high calorie beverages that may contribute to weight problems. Just under 40% of the children in New York City are classed as being overweight or obese so the city has adopted policies that aim to reduce this number. This intervention could offer a cheap and effective avenue for these policies. However, the researchers do admit that more research will need to be done in order to discover the mechanism behind the effect, although in their study they showed less milk was purchased.
Picture from Healthnewsline
Read More
Losing weight early enough can avoid diabetes
Humans have subconscious urges to eat more during the winter months, whilst also limiting their ability to avoid obesity. This is the conclusion from a study originating at the University of Exeter. The study authors were aiming to understand how evolutionary processes shape the mechanisms that control body weight. Using mathematical models, the researchers explored how much fat animals can and should store, taking food availability and predatory risk into account. They found that there is a possible urge to maintain a higher body weight during winter. This is due to the fact that in the natural world, food is much scarcer during these months.
The study’s lead author, Dr Andrew Higginson explained that all animals, including humans, should show seasonal effects on the urge to gain weight. He further explained that pre-industrial humans would have stored fat, as an insurance in case they could not find food, and this is a trait that we may have taken with us into the present day. The study as a whole hopes to make it easier for models to predict the future behaviours of humans that may impact on control mechanisms for obesity.
Read More
Humans have evolved to eat more over winter
Humans have subconscious urges to eat more during the winter months, whilst also limiting their ability to avoid obesity. This is the conclusion from a study originating at the University of Exeter. The study authors were aiming to understand how evolutionary processes shape the mechanisms that control body weight. Using mathematical models, the researchers explored how much fat animals can and should store, taking food availability and predatory risk into account. They found that there is a possible urge to maintain a higher body weight during winter. This is due to the fact that in the natural world, food is much scarcer during these months.
The study’s lead author, Dr Andrew Higginson explained that all animals, including humans, should show seasonal effects on the urge to gain weight. He further explained that pre-industrial humans would have stored fat, as an insurance in case they could not find food, and this is a trait that we may have taken with us into the present day. The study as a whole hopes to make it easier for models to predict the future behaviours of humans that may impact on control mechanisms for obesity.
Read More
Is exposure to light linked with children’s weight gain?
A new study from the Queensland University of Technology suggests that increased light exposure may play a role in the weight of children. They found that moderate intensity light exposure early in the day was associated with an increased BMI, whilst increased duration of light exposure was also associated with increased BMI 12 months later. The study involved 48 children from ages 3-5 and followed them over a 12-month period. The researchers hypothesised that the increased amount of artificial light that modern day children are exposed to, via phones, tablets and television, might have effects on their metabolism, as this increasing exposure has accompanied an increase in global childhood obesity.
Cassandra Pattinson, the study’s lead author, explained that the timing, intensity and duration of light exposure (both artificial and natural) were already known to have an effect on the ‘circadian rhythm’. This is also known as our internal body clock, and impacts on sleep patterns, metabolism, hormonal changes and weight changes. The researchers hope that the study may pave the way for more exploration about the impact of light on the weight of children and how this knowledge can be used against childhood obesity.
Read More
The high rate of symptoms post-gastric bypass
Although most patients report improved well-being after Roux-en-Y bypass (RYGB) surgery, the prevalence of symptoms was high, and nearly one-third of patients were hospitalised. These are the conclusions from a danish study of 2,238 individuals who underwent RYGB. RYGB has been recognised as a very effective treatment for those suffering from severe obesity, however this study aimed to assess the possible medical, surgical and nutritional symptoms that are experienced by the patients, that could impact upon their quality of life. They found that, of the 1,394 people that replied, 68% had been in contact with various health care systems regarding their symptoms, and 29% had been hospitalised.
The common symptoms were abdominal pain, fatigue, anaemia and gallstones, all of which can greatly affect the quality of life that a patient leads. Interestingly, females reported a higher incidence of symptoms, as did those under 35. The study authors were unable to attribute these differences to specific reasons, however they did stress that the development of weight loss procedures with fewer subsequent symptoms should be a high priority amongst those hoping to treat obesity.
Read More
Maternal obesity is detrimental to foetal growth
Maternal obesity results in placental overgrowth and foetal hypoxia (oxygen deficiency). These are the main findings of a a study, conducted in the University of California. Over the past decade, multiple studies have shown that maternal obesity increases morbidity and mortality for both mothers and children. Some of these studies have also suggested a link between placental pathology and maternal obesity.
This study explored the association between obesity and foetal sex on inflammation within the placental tissue on 423 normal/obese pregnant women. Obesity is associated with inflammation in a range of tissues and in this study they found that maternal obesity inflames the placenta and causes it to overgrow, whilst also potentially starving the foetus of oxygen. There was also a large amount of chronic villitis, which is an inflammatory condition that is known to cause foetal growth restriction and recurrent pregnancy loss. This finding was independent of diabetes and hypertension but differences in the condition of the placenta were seen depending on the sex of the children, with female foetuses of obese mothers having higher rates of chronic villitis. However they were unable to fully explain this disparity or correlate it with pregnancy outcomes. The study highlights the fact that mothers should aim to control their weight before becoming pregnant, as obesity can have unseen effects on their child, that may affect its future health. The study also calls for more research into the long-term effects of these findings, as this could yield valuable information about the health of individuals later in life
Read MoreIs there a need to redefine BMI cut offs for overweight and obesity?
In the 1980s, calculation of the body mass index, BMI, became an international standard for obesity measurement. It is an attempt to determine whether a person is underweight, healthy weight, overweight, or obese by quantifying the amount of tissue mass that a person has against their height. The WHO considers a BMI of 30 or more to be obese, but different countries have adopted various cut offs for each group. BMI is not without controversy, and a new study considers that for BMI thresholds to reflect similar levels of adiposity across all ages and genders, the cut offs used to identify these need to change. The study assessed whether current BMI cut offs used in the UK represent similar levels of adiposity in individuals according to age and gender. The researchers measured BMI and skin fold thicknesses of 4,316 people across England. They then used a statistical analysis called ANCOVA to observe any differences. They found that there were significant differences between different age groups and gender, for example young people had a greater BMI than older people, but had the same adiposity.
As BMI is the most frequently used proxy of obesity in large studies, it was suggested by the study authors that it should reflect changes in body composition that occur with age. The researchers also suggest that the trend observed is regularly seen by health practitioners, but they still use the current cut offs, as no new and viable ones have been proposed. They therefore provide alternative guidelines for different age groups, as outlined in Table 1, explaining this in terms of the amount of muscle (which weighs slightly more than fat) that a young male is likely to have, when compared to an older male counterpart. It will be interesting to see whether changes are made to the current BMI cut offs as a result of this study.
Read More