Recreational alcohol intake is a widespread activity globally and alcohol energy (7 kcal/g) can be a contributing factor to weight gain if not compensated for. Given that both excessive alcohol ...intake and obesity are of public health interest, the present paper provides an update on the association between alcohol consumption and body weight. In general, recent prospective studies show that light-to-moderate alcohol intake is not associated with adiposity gain while heavy drinking is more consistently related to weight gain. Experimental evidence is also mixed and suggests that moderate intake of alcohol does not lead to weight gain over short follow-up periods. However, many factors can explain the conflicting findings and a better characterization of individuals more likely to gain weight as a result of alcohol consumption is needed. In particular, individuals who frequently drink moderate amounts of alcohol may enjoy a healthier lifestyle in general that may protect them from weight gain. In conclusion, despite the important limitations of current studies, it is reasonable to say that alcohol intake may be a risk factor for obesity in some individuals, likely based on a multitude of factors, some of which are discussed herein.
Purpose of Review
Stress has long been suspected to be interrelated to (abdominal) obesity. However, interindividual differences in this complex relationship exist. We suggest that the extent of ...glucocorticoid action partly explains these interindividual differences. We provide latest insights with respect to multiple types of stressors.
Recent Findings
Increased long-term cortisol levels, as measured in scalp hair, are strongly related to abdominal obesity and to specific mental disorders. However, not all obese patients have elevated cortisol levels. Possibly, the interindividual variation in glucocorticoid sensitivity, which is partly genetically determined, may lead to higher vulnerability to mental or physical stressors. Other evidence for the important role for increased glucocorticoid action is provided by recent studies investigating associations between body composition and local and systemic corticosteroids.
Summary
Stress may play a major role in the development and maintenance of obesity in individuals who have an increased glucocorticoid exposure or sensitivity. These insights may lead to more effective and individualized obesity treatment strategies.
Purpose of Review
Literature from the past five years exploring roles of Three-Factor Eating Questionnaire (TFEQ) Restraint and Disinhibition in relation to adult obesity and eating disturbance (ED) ...was reviewed.
Recent Findings
Restraint has a mixed impact on weight regulation, diet quality, and vulnerability to ED, where it is related detrimentally to weight regulation, diet, and psychopathology, yet can serve as a protective factor. The impact of Disinhibition is potently related to increased obesity, poorer diet, hedonically driven food choices, and a higher susceptibility to ED.
Summary
Restraint and Disinhibition have distinct influences on obesity and ED and should be targeted differently in interventions. Further work is required to elucidate the mechanisms underlying TFEQ eating behavior traits.
Purpose of review
The present review organises the recent literature on the role of memory in eating behaviours and provides an overview of the current evidence relating to the associations between ...memory and weight gain.
Recent findings
Research over the last few years has highlighted working memory as an important cognitive process that underpins many aspects of appetite control. Recent work on episodic memory and appetite has replicated work showing that manipulating memory for recent eating affects later consumption and extended this work to examine associations between individual differences in memory and eating behaviours. Poorer episodic memory ability is related to a reduced sensitivity to internal states of hunger and satiety and a tendency towards uncontrolled eating. There is also recent evidence to suggest that working memory and episodic memory impairments are related to weight gain and high BMI.
Summary
Working memory and episodic memory are core cognitive processes that are critical for food-related decision-making, and disruption to these processes contributes to problems with appetite control and weight gain, which suggests that weight loss programmes might be improved by the addition of cognitive training.
Purpose of Review
The present review was undertaken in order to summarize and evaluate recent research investigating taste exposure, sensory learning, and nutrition education interventions for ...promoting vegetable intake in preschool children.
Recent Findings
Overall, taste exposure interventions yielded the best outcomes for increasing vegetable intake in early childhood. Evidence from sensory learning strategies such as visual exposure and experiential learning also show some success. While nutrition education remains the most common approach used in preschool settings, additional elements are needed to strengthen the educational program for increasing vegetable intake. There is a substantial gap in the evidence base to promote vegetable intake in food fussy children.
Summary
The present review reveals the relative importance of different intervention strategies for promoting vegetable intake. To strengthen intervention effects for improving vegetable intake in preschool children, future research could consider integrating taste exposure and sensory learning strategies with nutrition education within the preschool curriculum.
Purpose of Review
This review explores potential sources of weight bias and stigma during the COVID-19 pandemic, including “quarantine-15” messages and discussion of obesity in media and public ...health campaigns. We examine evidence of the effects of weight bias on well-being during the pandemic and highlight unanswered questions to be addressed in future research.
Recent Findings
Studies that have investigated weight change during stay-at-home orders have yielded mixed findings and relied predominantly on self-reported retrospective recall, thus providing weak evidence of a widespread “quarantine-15” effect. No studies to date have evaluated the effects on weight stigma and health of obesity-focused COVID-19 media and public health messages. Individuals with a history of experiencing weight bias may be more vulnerable to binge eating and psychological distress during the pandemic.
Summary
Weight bias and stigma during the COVID-19 pandemic, and their effects on health and well-being, warrant greater investigation and consideration in public health efforts.
Purpose of Review
Eating behaviours are hypothesised to be the behavioural expression of genetic risk of obesity. In this review, we summarise findings from behavioural genetic research on the ...association between genetic risk for obesity and validated psychometrics measures of eating behaviours in children and adults (published in the past 10 years).
Recent Findings
Twin studies have produced some evidence for a shared genetic aetiology underlying body mass index and eating behaviours. Studies using measured genetic susceptibility to obesity have suggested that increased genetic liability for obesity is associated with variation in obesogenic eating behaviours such as emotional and uncontrolled eating.
Summary
More research on this topic is needed. Especially longitudinal studies using genetically sensitive designs to investigate the direction of genetic pathways between genetic liability of eating behaviours to weight and vice versa, as well as the potential subsequent link to eating disorders.
Purpose of Review
With the growing obesity epidemic among children and adolescents, the evaluation of disease origin to slow disease progression is necessary. Racial disparities which are evident ...amid prevalence and treatment must be studied to counteract disease propagation.
Recent Findings
Disparities are pronounced among Black and Hispanic pediatric patients prior to conception and birth due to genetic composition and fetal environment. Postnatal environment and psychosocial influences can further increase a child/adolescent’s propensity to increased weight. Current treatment options including nutrition, physical activity, behavior modification, pharmacotherapy, and surgery are underutilized in communities of color due to limited access to care and cost.
Summary
Data is limited to demonstrate disparities among treatment of obesity in children and adolescents. The reviewed studies show the role of race on disease treatment. Increased research efforts, especially in pharmacotherapy and metabolic and bariatric surgery (MBS), will help combat obesity in pediatric communities of color.
Effective strategies to combat recent rises in obesity levels are limited. The accumulation of excess body fat results when energy intake exceeds that expended. Energy balance is controlled by ...hypothalamic responses, but these can be overridden by hedonic/reward brain systems. This override, combined with unprecedented availability of cheap, energy-dense, palatable foods, may partly explain the increase in overweight and obesity. The complexity of the processes that regulate feeding behaviour has driven the need for further fundamental research. Full4Health is an EU-funded project conceived to advance our understanding of hunger and satiety mechanisms. Food intake has an impact on and is also affected by the gut-brain signalling which controls hunger and appetite. This review describes selected recent research from Full4Health and how new mechanistic findings could be exploited to adapt and control our physiological responses to food, potentially providing an alternative solution to addressing the global problems related to positive energy balance.
Purpose of Review
This review brings together current evidence from observational, acute, and chronic exercise training studies to inform public debate on the impact of physical activity and exercise ...on food reward.
Recent Findings
Low levels of physical activity are associated with higher liking and wanting for high-energy food. Acute bouts of exercise tend to reduce behavioral indices of reward for high-energy food in inactive individuals. A dissociation in liking (increase) and wanting (decrease) may occur during chronic exercise training associated with loss of body fat. Habitual moderate-to-vigorous physical activity is associated with lower liking and wanting for high-fat food, and higher liking for low-fat food.
Summary
Food reward does not counteract the benefit of increasing physical activity levels for obesity management. Exercise training appears to be accompanied by positive changes in food preferences in line with an overall improvement in appetite control.
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