The biology of obesity #2

Continued from Saturday, Jan-29-11

Second in Series on Obesity Topic:

Results from prospective observational studies do not support the hypothesis that high fat intake leads to later obesity. However, these studies are inconsistent and may be confounded by people modifying food intake in order to prevent changes in body weight or that for other reasons the baseline food recording does not reflect food habits during the follow-up period.2
Intervention studies generally support the hypothesis about a relationship between fat intake, energy intake and eventual weight change. Ad libitum intake of a low-fat diet has been shown to induce a mean weight loss of 1-4kg over a period of one to 12 months, and has further shown a dose-response relationship between the reduction in fat intake and weight loss.7
Genetic factors may influence the satiety effect of fat and the preference for fat

Fat content and energy density of the diet are highly correlated, and only a few studies have targeted the effect of energy density and fat content separately. These studies have indicated that energy density, rather than fat content per se, may favour an increase in energy intake. However, it might be hypothesised that in subjects with a genetic predisposition to low fat oxidation and high fat accumulation in adipose tissue, fat intake per se could be expected to promote obesity. Further, genetic factors may influence the satiety effect of fat and the preference for fat, and may cause some people markedly to increase their food intake in response to a high-fat diet.

Taken as a whole, animal studies, epidemiological observational studies and intervention studies offer substantial support to the hypothesis that high-fat energy percentage or high energy density may play a role in the development of obesity.

Camilla Verdich, PhD, and TIA Sorensen, PhD, are at Copenhagen University Hospital, Denmark. Karine Clement, Fabienne Foufelle, PhD, and P Ferre are with INSERM, France, the French National Institute for Health and Medical Research. Excerpted from Functional Foods, Ageing and Degenerative Disease, C Remacle and B Reusens, editors. ISBN 0-8493-2538-2. Published by Woodhead Publishing Ltd, England. http://www.woodheadpublishing.com

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