Obesity and Energetics Offerings

Featured

• Belief beyond the evidence: using the proposed effect of breakfast on obesity to show 2 practices that distort scientific evidence.
• Skipping Breakfast Makes You Fat? Not So Fast.
• Natural pleasure versus addiction.

Findings Contrary to Hypotheses or Popular Beliefs

• Long-term exposure to a high concentration sucrose solution reduces weight gain and changes the preference and appetence for sweet to protein solutions in piglets.
• Increasing the Percentage of Energy from Dietary Sugar, Fats, and Alcohol in Adults Is Associated with Increased Energy Intake but Has Minimal Association with Biomarkers of Cardiovascular Risk.
• Systematic review: studies…generally failed to show that confectionery consumption leads necessarily to a shift of energy intake.
• RCT: Prolonged sitting does not lead to reduced subsequent food intake among youth.
• Impaired glucose tolerance in rats fed low-carbohydrate, high-fat diets.
• Study finds breast cancer risk not connected to insulin.

Sugar & Sugar-sweetened Beverages

• No harmful effect of different Coca-Cola beverages after six months of intake on rat testes.
• High D(+)-Fructose Diet Adversely Affects Testicular Weight Gain in Weaning Rats-Protection by Moderate D(+)-Glucose Diet.
• “There was a statistically significant difference in cognition levels between the three groups with a positive trend in improvement after the ingestion of natural sugar.”
• HFCS Kills Baby Giraffes; Myths about sugar, fructose, and your health.
• Is there really a link between diabetes and the ingestion of fructose.
• Health myths: Sugar makes children hyperactive.
• Classic paper newly relevant: Rats decrease total caloric intake, sometimes to the point of starvation, when sugar solutions are offered in conjunction with a daily pellet meal.
• Mixed methods evaluation of a randomized control pilot trial targeting sugar-sweetened beverage behaviors.
• Dietary choice may be important in sugar’s effect on weight in rats.
• Is sugar a toxin? Experts debate the role of fructose in our obesity epidemic
• A review of the association of artificial sweetener intake with weight gain, hypertension, and diabetes.

Temperature

• Male Weasels Decrease Activity and Energy Expenditure in Response to High Ambient Temperatures.
• Attenuated thermoregulatory responses with increased plasma osmolality in obese subjects during two seasons.
• Hypothermia Activates Adipose Tissue to Promote Malignant Lung Cancer Progression.

Stigma

• Making space for fat bodies? A critical account of ‘the obesogenic environment’.
• Obesity, Labeling, and Psychological Distress in Late-Childhood and Adolescent Black and White Girls. The Distal Effects of Stigma.

Psychology

• The relationship between impulsivity, snack consumption and children’s weight.
• Low childhood conscientiousness predicts adult obesity.
• Good, Bad, and Ugly Nudges for Healthier Shopping.
• General Medical and psychosocial implications of adolescent extreme obesity.
• Perceived Weight Discrimination and Obesity.

Policy Related

• Fat government, thin populace? Is the growth of obesity prevalence lower in more generous welfare states?
• “…menu labeling, ‘fat taxes’, and restrictions on food and beverage marketing and access, have had limited impacts.”
• Obesity’s Political Affiliations.
• Childhood Obesity Task Forces Established by State Legislatures, 2001-2010.

Musculoskeletal

• Overweight and obesity are associated with musculoskeletal complaints as early as childhood: A systematic review.
• The relation between body mass index and musculoskeletal symptoms in the working population.
• Bone Marrow Adipose Tissue in Adolescence- Protective or Pathogenic.
• Childhood obesity as a risk factor for bone fracture: A mechanistic study.

Methods

• Energy-efficient and data synchronized body sensor network for physical activity measurement.
• Imaging obese patients: Problems and solutions.
• Methodology within-person variability in calculated risk factors: Comparing the aetiological association of adiposity ratios with risk of coronary heart disease.
• Obesity risk alleles were more strongly associated with increases in BMI z-score at the upper tail compared to the lower tail of the distribution.
• Inflammation as a Marker for Unhealthy Obesity.
• Calories counted from single photograph.
• Multiple imputation of missing values was not necessary before performing a longitudinal mixed-model analysis.
• New zebrafish model in obesity.

Food

• New research suggests that for some people, low-fat or low-carb diets might actually lead to weight gain.
• RCT: Increased protein intake and meal frequency reduces abdominal fat during energy balance and energy deficit.
• RCT: Resistant starch intake at breakfast affects postprandial responses in type 2 diabetics and enhances the glucose-dependent insulinotropic polypeptide – insulin relationship following a second meal.
• Is snacking good or bad for health: An overview.
• Common nutrient keeps flies sharp into old age.
• Milk fat decreases inflammation biomarkers and ameliorates oxidative status in hypercholesterolemic rats.
• Food-related advertisements and food intake among adult men and women.
• Vinegar may not be appropriate as an appetite suppressant.
• Providing calorie recommendation benchmarks at McDonald’s did not reduce calories purchased in NYC study.

Exercise

• The role of intensity of interval training on fat oxidation and eating behaviour in overweight/obese men.
• Effect of Diet versus Diet and Exercise on Weight Loss and Body Composition in Class II and III Obesity: A Systematic Review.
• Weight loss–induced reduction in physical activity recovers during weight maintenance.

Epidemiology

• Aspartame, low-calorie sweeteners and disease: Regulatory safety and epidemiological issues.
• US Male Obesity from 1800-2000: A Long Term Perspective.
• Worldwide relation between the number of McDonald's restaurants and the prevalence of obesity.
• Higher Risk of Diabetes with Diet Drinks.

Energetics, Ecology, & Evolution

• Inbreeding depression in intraspecific metabolic scaling.
• Measuring the sugar consumption of larvae in bumblebee micro-colonies: a promising new method for tracking food economics in bees.
• THE ROLE OF ENVIRONMENT IN THE EVOLUTION OF EXTREME LONGEVITY IN BIVALVES.

Drugs

• Clinical Use of Metformin in Non-Diabetic, Obese, At-Risk Adolescents: A Systematic Review.
• Research looks at saxagliptin's safety, efficacy in diabetes.
• Could a medication make obesity healthier?

Timing of Food Consumption

• You Are When You Eat.
• Out of Sync: Why eating at the wrong times is tied to such profound and negative effects on our bodies.

Commentary

• Is Refined Carbohydrate Addictive?
• Skipping Breakfast: Evidence, Beliefs, and Bias.
• Obesity, Complexity, and the Role of the Health System.
• Obesity May Have More Causes Than Previously Thought, ABC News Report Says.
• Postindustrial Metabolism: Fat Knowledge.
• 'Take five long walks and call me next week'.
• “Let's Make our Day Harder”.
• The 6 Weight-Loss Tips That Science Actually Knows Work.
• China ‘Catastrophe’ Hits 114 Million as Diabetes Spreads.
• Does the public have the right to know how much Maria Sharapova weighs?
• Obesity: Media catnip.

Clinical

• RCT: Impact of biofeedback on self-efficacy and stress reduction in obesity.
• RCT: Parent Support for Weight Loss in Adolescents and Young Adults with Down Syndrome.
• RCT: Association of high body mass index with decreased treatment response to combination therapy in recent-onset rheumatoid arthritis patients.
• RCT: Effects of dietary weight loss and exercise on insulin-like growth factor-i and insulin-like growth factor-binding protein-3 in postmenopausal women.
• RCT: Promoting Health Among Teens program participants had significantly greater knowledge gains but modest behavior changes compared to control group participants.
• Systematic Review: Intensity of parental involvement and behaviour change techniques are important issues in the effectiveness of long-term childhood weight control interventions.
• Eosinophils in the Spotlight: Finding the link between obesity and asthma.
• Catching up on sleep on weekend may help cut diabetes risk.
• Effect of a High Protein Weight Loss Diet on Weight, High-Sensitivity C-Reactive Protein, and Cardiovascular Risk among Overweight and Obese Women: A Parallel Clinical Trial.
• A Daily Glass Of Milk During Pregnancy Makes Your Child Taller Well Into Adulthood, Cuts Risk Of Diabetes.
• Antenatal smoking among working class mothers is associated with rapid weight gain and obesity among toddlers.
• Does artificial nutrition improve outcome of critical illness? An alternative viewpoint.
• Hemoglobinopathies May Distort HbA1C – A Caution to Practitioners.

Chocolate

• Chocolate, gut microbiota, and human health.
• Habitual Chocolate Consumption Associated with Increased Body Weight in a Dose-Response Manner.

Caloric Restriction

• The use of calorie restriction mimetics to study aging.
• Inferring the Effective TOR-Dependent Network: A Computational Study in Yeast.

Basic Science

• Mechanical compressive force inhibits adipogenesis of adipose stem cells.
• Multiple Adipose Depots Increase Cardiovascular Risk via Local and Systemic Effects.
• Interruption of Ghrelin Signaling in the PVN Increases High-Fat Diet Intake and Body Weight in Stressed & Non-Stressed C57BL6J Male Mice.
• Gut Bacteria From Thin Humans Can Slim Mice Down.
• Regulation of alternative splicing in obesity and weight loss.

Air Quality

• Respiratory Disparity? Obese People May Not Benefit from Improved Air Quality.
• Traffic-Related Air Pollution Effect on Fast Glycemia of Aged Obese Type 2 Diabetes Mice.

General Science

• The 'U.S. Effect': Even In Science, Americans Skew Toward Hype.
• “Hardly worth the effort”? Medical journals’ policies and their editors’ and publishers’ views on trial registration and publication bias: quantitative and qualitative study.
• Simonsohn's methods show that when the raw data are available, statistical techniques can be used to determine whether the data are likely to have been fabricated.
• Brazilian citation scheme outed.
• Why I don’t believe in science…and students shouldn’t either.
• FISHY CURVES: A CASE OF BIAS AND CONFOUNDING?
• U-shaped relationship between job enrichment and abdominal obesity.
• Chronic stress exposure may affect the brain's response to high calorie food cues and predispose to obesogenic eating habits.

Announcements

• Tribute to leading medical professor, David Barker.
• NIDDK is searching for a program director with behavioral neuroscience expertise.
• OPEN: To Overcome failure to Publish nEgative fiNdings.
• New Course: Starting the Patient Dialogue by Dr. Arya Sharma.
• September 26th IOM and PCFSN Webinar on Physical Activity in Schools.

Featured

• Neighbors' foreclosures associated with weight gain.
• Diabetes-related impairment in bone strength is established early in the life course.

Findings Contrary to Hypotheses and Popular Ideas

• There is insufficient evidence that PE laws reduce student weight gain.
• RCT: No significant difference in weight loss between a new dietary strategy based on macronutrient composition and the American Heart Association guidelines.
• RCT: We found no evidence of an improvement in physical function following vitamin D3 supplementation for 1 year.
• Obesity, as determined by BMI, does not impact upon uterine natural killer cell density in the peri-implantation endometrium.
• No Evidence for a Role of Adipose Tissue-Derived Serum Amyloid A in the Development of Insulin Resistance or Obesity-Related Inflammation in hSAA1+/- Transgenic Mice.
• Serum leptin has no association with coronary collateral development in patients with non-ST- elevation acute coronary syndromes: an observational study.
• Chewing effort does not affect appetitive sensations or gut peptide secretion 

Psychology

• Desire lies in the eyes: Attention bias for chocolate is related to craving and self-endorsed eating permission.
• Shame and Pride in How to Look Good Naked
• Personality and Risk of Diabetes in Adults
• Underestimating calorie content when healthy foods are present may arise due to reference dependent anchoring

Surgery

• Does Caloric Restriction Alone Explain the Effects of Roux-en-Y Gastric Bypass on Glucose Metabolism? Not by a Long Limb.
• The effect of bariatric surgery on echocardiographic indices: a review of the literature.
• Effects of Bariatric Procedures versus Medical Therapy for Obese Patients with Type 2 Diabetes: Meta-Analysis of Randomized Controlled Trials
• Bariatric surgery reduces cancer risk and mortality in formerly obese patients

Sugar & Sugar Sweetened Beverages

• Sugar for the brain: the role of glucose in physiological and pathological brain function.
• Very High Fructose Intake Increases Serum LDL-Cholesterol and Total Cholesterol: A Meta-Analysis of Controlled Feeding Trials.
• Review and Commentary: The sugar-sweetened beverage wars: public health and the role of the beverage industry

Intergenerational Effects

• Intergenerational and socioeconomic gradients of child obesity.
• Maternal obesity during pregnancy and premature mortality from cardiovascular event in adult offspring: follow-up of 1 323 275 person years.

Epidemiology

• Economic conditions and health behaviours during the ‘Great Recession
• Systematic Review of School-based Obesity Interventions Targeting African American and Hispanic Children
• Gender-Specific Findings on the Relationship between Childhood Physical Abuse and Obesity in Adulthood
• Does Inflammation Determine Metabolic Health Status in Obese and Nonobese Adults?
• Differences in Trace Metal Concentrations in Whole Blood, Plasma, and Urine of Obese and Nonobese Children
• Endocrine-metabolic adjustments during Ramadan fasting in young athletes.
• Ethnic Background Differences in Children’s Body Composition Partially Mediated by Differences in Energy Balance-Related Behaviors

Policy Related

• Agricultural subsidies and the American obesity epidemic.
• Availability of and Ease of Access to Calorie Information on Restaurant Websites
• RCT: A Food Store-Based Environmental Intervention shows equivocal evidence (p=.06) of Effect on BMI in the Navajo Nation.
• Some school districts quit healthier lunch program.
• Alternative Models to Supplement Menu Labeling.

Methods

• Direct calorimetry identifies deficiencies in respirometry for the determination of resting metabolic rate in C57Bl/6 and FVB mice.
• Collection and Visualization of Dietary Behavior and Reasons for Eating Using Twitter
• Detection of rate changes in systematic oscillations of metabolic pathways by monitoring isotope ratios.
• Development and Validation of a New Self-Report Instrument for Measuring Sedentary Behaviors and Light-Intensity Physical Activity in Adults.
• Goto-kakizaki Rats: Its Suitability as Non-obese Diabetic Animal Model for Spontaneous Type 2 Diabetes Mellitus.
• Trustworthiness of inferential tests of the indirect effect in statistical mediation analysis
• Commonality versus specificity among adiposity traits in normal-weight and moderately overweight adults

Food

• RCT: Low-Fat Milk Ingestion Prevents Postprandial Hyperglycemia-Mediated Impairments in Vascular Endothelial Function in Obese Individuals with Metabolic Syndrome.
• Hydrolyzed Casein Reduces Diet-Induced Obesity in Male C57BL/6J Mice.
• N-3 polyunsaturated Fatty acids, body fat, and inflammation in a human population
• Normal Range of Human Dietary Sodium Intake: A Perspective Based on 24-Hour Urinary Sodium Excretion Worldwide

Exercise

• Greenway Siting and Design: Relationships With Physical Activity Behaviors and User Characteristics.
• UAB study finds exercising one day a week may be enough for older women.
• Effect of 'activity monitor-based' counseling on physical activity and health-related outcomes in patients with chronic diseases: A systematic review and meta-analysis.
• Activity energy expenditure is a major determinant of dietary fat oxidation and trafficking, but the deleterious effect of detraining is more marked than the beneficial effect of training at current recommendations.

Evolution, Energetics, & Ecology

• Reconstruction of Ancestral 16S rRNA Reveals Mutation Bias in the Evolution of Optimal Growth Temperature in the Thermotogae Phylum.
• As Humans Change Landscape, Brains of Some Animals Change, Too.
• High Repeatability of Anti-Predator Responses and Resting Metabolic Rate in a Beetle.
• Metabolic rate and body size are linked with perception of temporal information.
• Altered growth hormone/insulin-like growth factor 1 axis, which may be common to other long-lived bat species, together with adaptations such as hibernation and low reproductive rate, may contribute to the exceptional lifespan of the Brandt’s bat.
• The relationship between personality and basal metabolic rate in Red Junglefowl (Gallus gallus).

Drugs

• The effect of anti-obesity drugs on waist circumference: a mixed treatment comparison.
• New entrant in obesity drug race targets body, not the mind.

Clinical

• RCT: A 'maintain, don't gain' approach might be a useful alternative treatment for reducing obesity-associated disease risk among some black women
• Stand-biased desks: Evaluating a school based childhood obesity intervention for posture and comfort.
• Resistance Training Improves Indices of Muscle Insulin Sensitivity and ß-Cell Function, in Overweight/Obese, Sedentary Young Men
• RCT: Behavioral Weight Loss Intervention for Primary Prevention of Renal Decline in Type 2 Diabetics.
• RCT: Efficacy of a self-management intervention for weight control in overweight and obese adults
• RCT: No significant differences in weight change in overweight or obese patients in 25 and 30 kcal/kg groups after 12 months

Caloric Restriction

• Short-term caloric restriction, resveratrol, or combined treatment regimens initiated in late-life alter mitochondrial protein expression profiles in a fiber-type specific manner in aged animals.
• Long-term calorie restriction decreases metabolic cost of movement and prevents decrease of physical activity in the rhesus monkeys

Mortality

• The Impact of Obesity on US Mortality Levels: The Importance of Age and Cohort Factors in Population Estimates
• Combined effect of obesity and cardio-metabolic abnormality on the risk of cardiovascular disease: A meta-analysis of prospective cohort studies

Basic Science

• Nutrient-sensing mechanisms in the gut as therapeutic targets for diabetes.
• A single pair of interneurons commands the Drosophila feeding motor program.
• Anti-obesity Phenotypic Screening Looking to Increase OBR Cell Surface Expression.
• TDP-43, an ALS Linked Protein, Regulates Fat Deposition and Glucose Homeostasis
• Signaling mechanisms of glucose-induced F-actin remodeling in pancreatic islet ß cells (review)
• Thioredoxin-interacting protein regulates insulin transcription through microRNA-204
• The insulin sensitizing effect of topiramate involves KATP channel activation in the central nervous system

Gut-Microbiome

• Richness of human gut microbiome correlates with metabolic markers
• Dietary intervention impact on gut microbial gene richness

Aging

• Calf circumference, frailty and physical performance among older adults
• Prevalence of obesity in New York nursing homes: associations with facility characteristics

Genetics

• Genome-wide Association Analysis of Blood-Pressure Traits in African-Ancestry Individuals Reveals Common Associated Genes in African and Non-African Populations
• Sexual dimorphism in fat distribution and metabolic profile in mice offspring from diet-induced obese mothers
• Genome-Wide Association Study Reveals Genetic Architecture of Eating Behavior in Pigs and Its Implications for Humans Obesity by Comparative Mapping
• Association Between a Genetic Variant Related to Glutamic Acid Metabolism and Coronary Heart Disease in Individuals With Type 2 Diabetes

General Science

• Are Forensic Experts Biased by the Side That Retained Them?
• What Is the Enemy in CME, Conflicts of Interest or Bias?
• To Replicate or Not to Replicate: The Case of Pharmacogenetic Studies.
• The Evolution of Social Monogamy in Mammals.
• U.S. scientist operates colleague's brain from across campus.
• US studies may overestimate effect sizes in softer research
• Mini Human 'Brains' Grown in a Dish
• Bias and adverse effects of homeopathy: is scientific criticism in homeopathy a mission impossible?
• Single Gene Change Increases Mouse Lifespan by 20 percent
• A two-step manuscript submission process can reduce publication bias.
• Association of Coffee Consumption With All-Cause and Cardiovascular Disease Mortality
• Evidence for new periodic table element boosted
• Raphe GABAergic Neurons Mediate the Acquisition of Avoidance after Social Defeat
• Long-Term Artificial Sweetener Acesulfame Potassium Treatment Alters Neurometabolic Functions in C57BL/6J Mice

Commentary

• The Controversy Over Obesity as a Disease: What Psychiatrists Should Know.
• The Psychology of Distrusting G.M.O.s.
• Everything You Know about Calories is Wrong.
• A Top 10 List of Wishful Thinking in Obesity.
• What Makes You Fat: Too Many Calories, or the Wrong Carbohydrates?
• The Obesity Era.
• The Mystery Of Collective Obesity.
• Fixing Obesity, Between Little Rock and Hard Places
• Rigorously controlled studies may soon give us a definitive answer about what causes obesity—excessive calories or the wrong carbohydrates
• I Predict Gary Taubes' NuSi's First Experiment Will Show Dramatic Low-Carb Benefits.
• Michael Mosley: Eat, Fast and Live Longer.
• What’s Causing the Rise in Obesity? Everything.
• What the new obesity guidelines will tell us
• Diabetes, antihyperglycemic medications and cancer risk: smoke or fire?

Announcements

• UAB announces largest-ever fundraising campaign – Give Something; Change Everything.
• Two leadership positions available at New Balance Foundation Obesity Prevention Center, Boston Children's Hospital: Center Manager and Study Director.

Featured

• Dinosaur energetics: setting the bounds on feasible physiologies and ecologies.
• A Call for an End to the Diet Debates
• The Health Risk of Obesity: BMI may not be an accurate predictor of fitness, better metrics are imperative

Findings Contrary to Hypotheses or Popular Ideas

• RCT: Results suggest that intake of grapefruit twice daily for 6 wk does not significantly reduce inflammation and oxidative stress, although there is a suggestion of favorable modulation of oxidative stress in a subset.
• Diet Quality of UK Infants Not Associated with BMI Measured at 7-8 Years of Age.
• No compelling evidence that metabolic syndrome associates with long-term survival in patients with acute myocardial infarction after successful percutaneous coronary intervention with drug-eluting stents.
• RCT: No negative influence of saturated fats on blood vessel function or stiffness
• Rather than going down with income, UC Davis researchers find fast-food visits peak at $60,000 in income, before falling slightly

Methods

• An inducible CiliaGFP mouse model for in vivo visualization and analysis of cilia in live tissue.
• Self-Reported Versus Objectively Assessed Exercise Adherence.
• MetabolicMine: an integrated genomics, genetics and proteomics data warehouse for common metabolic disease research.
• Assessing body composition in taller or broader individuals using dual-energy X-ray absorptiometry: a systematic review.

Mathematical Models

• Models for the Study of Whole-Body Glucose Kinetics: A Mathematical Synthesis.
• A mathematical model for determining age-specific diabetes incidence and prevalence using BMI.
• The impact of mathematical modeling on the understanding of diabetes and related complications.
• Losing weight and elimination of weight cycling by the geometric approach to global-stability problem.
• Association of cardiovascular risk using non-linear heart rate variability measures with the Framingham risk score in a rural population.
• “To obtain insight into the network dynamics of fatty-acid ß-oxidation, we constructed a detailed computational model of the pathway and subjected it to a fat overload condition.”
• Periodic solutions of nonautonomous differential systems modeling obesity population.
• Simple Math Sheds New Light on a Long-Studied Biological Process.
• How A Model Figured Out Childhood Obesity

Food

• RCT: Effects of Wheat and Oat-Based Whole Grain Foods on Serum Lipoprotein Size and Distribution in Overweight Middle Aged People.
• RCT: Eicosapentaenoic acid improves insulin sensitivity and blood sugar in overweight type 2 diabetes mellitus patients.
• RCT: Acute effects of oral preloads with increasing energy density on gastric emptying, gut hormone release, thermogenesis and energy intake, in overweight and obese men.
• RCT: Low Fructose and Low Salt Diets Increase Mitochondrial DNA in White Blood Cells of Overweight Subjects.
• RCT: Soy fiber improves weight loss and lipid profile in overweight and obese adults.
• RCT: Effect of polydextrose and soluble maize fibre on energy metabolism, metabolic profile and appetite control in overweight men and women.
• Effect of resistant starch RS4 added to the high-fat diets on selected biochemical parameters in Wistar rats.
• Meta-analysis provides evidence of an association between increased intake of dairy products and a lowered risk of type 2 diabetes
• RCT: High-glycemic index foods appear to increase blood flow in portions of the brain that trigger food cravings, in men
• Variety is the spice of life-even for preschool children: Providing children with a variety of fruits or vegetables results in increased consumption-may help children reach their dietary goals for fruits and vegetables.
• Fruit and vegetable consumption is associated with progressively longer survival and lower mortality rates in a dose-response analysis

Chocolate

• Effects of chocolate supplementation on metabolic and cardiovascular parameters in ApoE3L mice fed a high-cholesterol atherogenic diet.
• Oxidative Stress during Development of Alcoholic Fatty Liver: Therapeutic Potential of Cacao Polyphenol.
• Pre-exposure to diet-congruent food reduces energy intake in restrained dieting women.
• Dark chocolate in a population of Normal Weight Obese women: a pilot study.

Exercise

• RCT: Can resistance training change the strength, body composition and self-concept of overweight and obese adolescent males?
• We find that to improve their lifestyles, overweight and obese people would be more likely to do more physical activity than to change their diets.
• The decrease in total physical activity during recessions is especially problematic for vulnerable populations concentrated in boom-and-bust industries, and may have longer-term effects on obesity and related health outcomes.
• Privileging physical activity over healthy eating: 'Time' to Choose?
• RCT: Facebook-based intervention approaches demonstrated potential for increasing physical activity in young adult cancer survivors.

Surgery

• Describing substantial racial disparities in bariatric surgery
• Longitudinal analysis: Bariatric surgery does not reduce overall health care costs in the long term

Pregnancy and Breastfeeding

• Women's Satisfaction with Body Image before Pregnancy and Body Mass Index 4 Years after Delivery in the Mothers of Generation XXI.
• Exclusive breastfeeding at 6 to 7 months of age was associated with decreased risk of overweight and obesity compared with formula feeding
• Male adiposity impairs clinical pregnancy rate by in vitro fertilization without affecting day 3 embryo quality
• Childbearing is associated with permanent weight gain in some women, but the relationship differs by maternal BMI in young adulthood, number of births, race-ethnicity, and length of follow-up
• Breast milk delivers beneficial bacteria from a mother's gut to her baby's digestive system

Epidemiology

• Internet addiction is related to obesity of Chinese middle school students.
• Participation in church activities was significantly associated with overweight/obesity.
• Gene × Physical Activity Interactions in Obesity: Combined Analysis of 111,421 Individuals of European Ancestry.
• Optimal scaling of weight and waist circumference to height for maximal association with DXA-measured total body fat mass by sex, age and race/ethnicity.
• The association between fracture site and obesity in men: A population-based cohort study
• Disadvantageous shift in energy balance is primarily expressed in high-quality sleepers after a decline in quality sleep because of disturbance
• Higher levels of urinary BPA are associated with a higher odds of obesity and abnormal waist circumference–to–height ratio in US children
• Studies of individuals dieting for weight loss or maintenance suggest a weight-reducing effect of increased water consumption, whereas studies in general mixed-weight populations yielded inconsistent results.

Mortality

• NHIS data provide evidence that 18% of US deaths after the age of 40 are from obesity-linked causes.
• Weighing the Evidence: Studies Collide over How Aging Impacts Obesity Risk.
• Obesity was not associated with increased morbidity and mortality after severe burn injury requiring at least one surgical intervention.

Genetics

• Evidence for novel genetic loci associated with metabolic traits in Yup'ik people.
• Medicinal Chemistry of the Epigenetic Diet and Caloric Restriction.

Evolution, Energetics, & Ecology

• Prenatal and postnatal energetic conditions and sex steroids levels across the first year of life.
• The Good, the Bad, and the Toxic: Approaching Hormesis in Daphnia magna Exposed to an Energetic Compound.
• Environmental Grain, Organism Fitness, and Type Fitness

Clinical

• Examining social influence on participation and outcomes among a network of behavioral weight-loss intervention enrollees.
• RCT: Front-loading caloric intake at breakfast aids the management of obesity and metabolic syndrome

Sugar-sweetened Beverages

• Consumption of sugar-sweetened soda and punch is associated with a higher risk of kidney stone formation, whereas consumption of coffee, tea, beer, wine, and orange juice is associated with a lower risk.
• Sugar beverage drinks but not 100% fruit juices and milk are associated with obesity.
• WHO Supports Special Tax on Soft Drinks in Mexico
• Sugar-sweetened beverages and weight gain in children and adults: a systematic review and meta-analysis.

Basic Science

• FOXO1 Competes with Carbohydrate Response Element-binding Protein (ChREBP) and Inhibits Thioredoxin-interacting Protein (TXNIP) Transcription in Pancreatic Beta Cells.
• Political systems with democratic qualities are associated with reduced under-weight but increased overweight/obesity, whereas effective political competition is associated with both reduced under-weight and obesity.
• The carbohydrate sensitive rat as a model of obesity.

Policy Related

• Money Motivates Employees to Lose Weight
• Removing Flavored Milk From Schools Can Have Negative Unintended Consequences on Children's Milk Consumption
• Legislation Would Use Tax Code to Stop Junk Food Ads Targeting Kids
• The Political Science of Diabetes and Obesity

Commentary

• The single most important intervention is to understand that there is no single most important intervention.
• Obesity May Be More Than One Disease
• Obesity Action Coalition: Understanding Food Addiction.
• Inclusive nutrition for children and adults with disabilities
• How Abysmal Scientific Research Is Used To Scare America's Parents
• Lost in Obesity Statistics and Quibbles
• Can McDonald's Reverse the Obesity Epidemic?
• 'Fat Letters' in Public Schools: Public Health Versus Pride
• Obesity And The Toxic-Sugar Wars

Video

• How is Sleep Related to Obesity?
• Obesity is a National Security Issue: Lieutenant General Mark Hertling.
• Microbiome and Obesity - Martin Blaser.
• Edmonton Obesity Staging System (EOSS) - Dr Arya Sharma.

General Science

• Populations and pigeons: Prosaic pluralism about evolutionary causes.
• Welcome to the Age of Denial.
• Declaration of transparency for each research article.
• Apolipoprotein E gene polymorphism influences aggressive behavior in prostate cancer cells by deregulating cholesterol homeostasis.
• A new role for sodium in the brain
• Double lunar eclipse seen by Mars rover
• Colony Collapse Disorder in bees tied to pesticides in pollen
• New oldest 'bog body' found in Ireland dates back 4,000 years
• Genome researchers have succeeded in sequencing the genome of the Chinese hamster
• 6000 years ago, neolithic chefs spiced their food

Announcements

• Expressions of interest sought for scholarships for Masters degree by research on obesity management & prevention in primary health care – various possible locations.
• UAB Investigators honored for creativity in obesity research.
• Metabolic Origins of Disease Symposium, March 3-5 2014 in Orlando, FL

Featured

• Perspective: Overweight, mortality and survival.
• Relative to participants in a disorderly room, participants in an orderly room chose healthier snacks.
• School lunch debit cards are associated with lower nutrition and higher calories.

Findings Contrary Hypotheses or Popular Ideas

• RCT: Altering GL of drinks by reducing carbohydrate and increasing protein did not affect appetite or cognition in children.
• Childbearing is not associated with young women's long-term obesity risk.
• Evidence for Fruit and Vegetable consumption replacing high-energy foods and thereby reducing BMI gain could not be substantiated in this study.
• RCT: In a 12-week, low-intensity behaviourally based online programme, addition of a fortified diet beverage had no additional impact.
• Excess Vitamin Intake before Starvation does not Affect Body Mass, Organ Mass, or Blood Variables but Affects Urinary Excretion of Riboflavin in Starving Rats.

Transgenerational Effects

• Obesity at Conception Programs the Opioid System in the Offspring Brain.
• Transgenerational Metabolic Determinants of Fetal Birth Weight.

Surgery

• Bariatric surgery influences the number and quality of oocytes in patients submitted to assisted reproduction techniques.
• RCT: Fasting and Meal-Suppressed Ghrelin Levels Before and After Intragastric Balloons and Balloon-Induced Weight Loss.
• RCT: Roux-en-Y gastric bypass vs sleeve gastrectomy for obese patients with type 2 diabetes.
• RCT: Intensive Medical Weight Loss or Laparoscopic Adjustable Gastric Banding in the Treatment of Mild to Moderate Obesity: Long-Term Follow-up.
• Obesity and trends in malpractice claims for physicians and surgeons.

Sugar

• Post-oral appetite stimulation by sugars and non-metabolizable sugar analogs in mice: Role of intestinal SGLT sugar sensors.
• Human-relevant levels of added sugar consumption increase female mortality and lower male fitness in mice.
• Commentary: Could three fizzy drinks a day damage your health?
• Commentary on study of effects of added sugar consumption on mortality and fitness in mice.
• RCT: Diet-induced changes in the Lean Brain: Hypercaloric High-Fat-High-Sugar Snacking decreases Serotonin Transporters the human hypothalamic region.

Psychology

• Vicarious defeats experienced by fans when their favorite football team loses lead them to consume less healthy food.
• Psychological benefits of weight loss: a systematic research review.

Policy Related

• RCT: Efficacy and Consumer Preferences for Different Approaches to Calorie Labeling on Menus.
• Would You Like Fries (380 Calories) With That? Menu Labeling Mitigates the Impact of Weight-Based Stereotype Threat on Food Choice.
• Limiting “Sugary Drinks” to Reduce Obesity — Who Decides?
• A response to "Limiting "Sugary Drinks" to Reduce Obesity - Who Decides?"
• Scalable, Evidence-Based Obesity Treatment

Mitochondria

• Mitochondrial energetics is impaired in vivo in aged skeletal muscle.
• Mitochondrial Cooperatives in Nematode Worms.
• Caloric Restriction Followed by High Fat Feeding Predisposes to Oxidative Stress in Skeletal Muscle Mitochondria.

Methods

• Body mass estimation in modern population using anthropometric measurements from computed tomography.
• IOM Report: Evaluating Progress of Obesity Prevention Efforts.
• Developing Parametric Human Finite Element Models for Injury Assessment Focusing on Various Vulnerable Populations.
• Reliability of non-lethal assessment methods of body composition and energetic status exemplified by applications to eel (Anguilla anguilla) and carp (Cyprinus carpio).
• See a Fish Think: Technique allows researchers to watch brain activity in a zebrafish as it pursues its prey.
• A Novel Mathematical Model Detecting Early Individual Changes of Insulin Resistance.
• Advances in the understanding of specific metabolic rates of major organs and tissues in humans.

General Science

• Assessment of risk of bias in translational science.
• Warnings of Adverse Side Effects Can Backfire Over Time.
• 6 Ways Numbers Can Lie To Us.
• Your uncertainty, your probability, your decision.
• Study Examines Which Faculty Members Retire—and Which Don’t.
• Potential Reporting Bias in fMRI Studies of the Brain.

Food

• RCT: Effects of milk and milk constituents on postprandial lipid and glucose metabolism in overweight and obese men.
• Food consumption, physical activity and socio-economic status related to BMI, waist circumference and waist-to-height ratio in adolescents.
• Major food sources of calories, added sugars, and saturated fat and their contribution to essential nutrient intakes in the U.S. diet: data from the national health and nutrition examination survey (2003--2006).
• Effect of glycemic index and glycemic load on energy intake in children.
• RCT: School snacks decrease morbidity in Kenyan schoolchildren.

Exercise

• Do mass media campaigns improve physical activity? a systematic review and meta-analysis.
• RCT: Does aerobic exercise intensity affect health-related parameters in overweight women?
• Kids may not compensate for physical activity at school later at home.

Epidemiology

• Overlapping decline in orbitofrontal gray matter volume related to cocaine use and body mass index.
• Preconception bariatric surgery does not seem to affect the risk for congenital malformations.
• Associations of Vitamin D Intake with 25-Hydroxyvitamin D in Overweight and Racially/Ethnically Diverse US Children.

Drugs

• Time series analyses of the effect of FDA communications on use of prescription weight loss medications.
• Olanzapine activates hepatic mTOR: new mechanistic insight into metabolic dysregulation with atypical antipsychotic drugs.

Clinical

• RCT: Impact of Biofeedback on Self-efficacy and Stress Reduction in Obesity.
• RCT: Two Diets with Different Hemoglobin A1c and Antiglycemic Medication Effects Despite Similar Weight Loss in Type 2 Diabetes
• RCT: Weight loss on a structured hypocaloric diet with or without exercise improves emotional distress and quality of life in overweight and obese patients with type 2 diabetes.
• Acne appears to represent a visible indicator disease of over-activated mTORC1 signalling, an unfavourable metabolic deviation on the road to serious common Western diseases of civilisation associated with increased BMI and insulin resistance.
• Certain Antibiotics Tied to Blood Sugar Swings in Diabetics.

Brown Fat

• Autophagy in Myf5+ progenitors regulates energy and glucose homeostasis through control of brown fat and skeletal muscle development.
• Obesity: Cold exposure increases brown adipose tissue in humans.
• Brown Adipose Tissue Thermogenesis in Humans.
• Ketone esters increase brown fat in mice and overcome insulin resistance in other tissues in the rat.

Bone

• Childhood obesity as a risk factor for bone fracture: A mechanistic study.
• Body Fat Mass is a Strong and Negative Predictor of Peak Stimulated Growth Hormone and Bone Mineral Density in Healthy Adolescents During Transition Period.

Basic Science

• Dolphins Shed Light on Diabetes Mechanism.
• Obesity Notches up fatty liver.
• Changes in circulating microRNAs are associated with childhood obesity.
• Structural modulation of gut microbiota in life-long calorie-restricted mice.
• Methionine restriction prevents hepatic steatosis in leptin-deficient mice.

Evolution, Energetics, and Ecology

• Energy requirements of Pacific white-sided dolphins (Lagenorhynchus obliquidens) as predicted by a bioenergetic model.
• The energetics of electric organ discharge generation in gymnotiform weakly electric fish.
• Haploinsufficiency of Akt1 Prolongs the Lifespan of Mice.
• When do we eat? Ingestive Behavior, Survival, and Reproductive Success.

Announcements

• Childhood Obesity in the Community: Turning Science Into Care, Oct 10-11, Boston.
• Selwyn Vickers, M.D., chosen to lead UAB School of Medicine.
• Evaluating Bioactive Food Components in Obesity and Cancer Prevention, September 27-29.
• The Science of Science Communication II, September 23-25, 2013 National Academy of Sciences Washington, DC.
• Ingestive Behavior Research Center (IBRC) Symposium on Eating Patterns, Diet Quality and Energy Balance September 24-26, 2013.