Males born to obese mothers more likely to suffer health issues as adults
Males born to obese women are more likely to be overweight at birth and develop metabolic complications in later life, including liver disease and diabetes. The way that male sex hormones activate pathways in the developing liver is partly to blame. That’s the finding from a new study led by University of South Australia (UniSA) […]
‘Overweight’ BMI Not Tied to Higher Risk of Death, U.S. Data Suggest
A body mass index (BMI) in the overweight — but not obese — range was not independently associated with an increased mortality risk, a retrospective study relying on two decades’ worth of National Health Interview Survey (NHIS) data found. Of roughly half a million U.S. adults captured in the 1999-2018 surveys, a slightly lower risk […]
Excess calories during development alters the brain and spurs adult overeating
People whose mothers are overweight during pregnancy and nursing may become obese as adults because early overnutrition rewires developing brains to crave unhealthy food, according to a Rutgers study in Molecular Metabolism. Rutgers researchers traced this link from mother to child in mice with an experiment that began by letting some mice get obese on […]
Rhythmic eating pattern preserves fruit fly muscle function under obese conditions
Obese fruit flies are the experimental subjects in a Nature Communications study of the causes of muscle function decline due to obesity. In humans, skeletal muscle plays a crucial role in metabolism, and muscle dysfunction due to human obesity can lead to insulin resistance and reduced energy levels. Interestingly, studies in various animal models have […]
How better planning, behavior regulation may lead to eating less fat: Study in pregnant women shows stress affects thinking, dietary patterns
New research suggests coaching overweight or obese pregnant women to improve their ability to plan and make progress toward goals may be key to helping them lower the amount of fat in their diet. Maternal diet quality affects prenatal development and long-term child health outcomes, but the stress that typically increases during pregnancy — often […]
Mom’s dietary fat rewires male and female brains differently: Excess fat triggers immune cells to overeat serotonin in the brain of developing male mice, leading to depression-like behavior
More than half of all women in the United States are overweight or obese when they become pregnant. While being or becoming overweight during pregnancy can have potential health risks for moms, there are also hints that it may tip the scales for their kids to develop psychiatric disorders like autism or depression, which often […]
What’s the skinny on those pandemic pounds? New study sheds light on weight gain during the COVID-19 quarantine
More Americans weighed in as obese during the first year of the COVID-19 pandemic than in the previous year. Anew study in the American Journal of Preventive Medicine, published by Elsevier, presents evidence from a large, nationally representative survey that documents this trend and helps to explain behavior changes that led to widespread weight gain […]
Can weekly prednisone treat obesity? Obese mice gain muscle mass and lose fat with once weekly prednisone
Obese mice that were fed a high-fat diet and that received prednisone one time per week had improved exercise endurance, got stronger, increased their lean body mass and lost weight, reports a new Northwestern Medicine study. The mice also had increased muscle metabolism. The once-weekly prednisone promoted nutrient uptake into the muscles. Investigators also found […]
Overweight children are developing heart complications: Youth with high BMI showed signs of artery stiffness, a risk factor for cardiovascular disease
The percentage of obese children and teens jumped from 19% pre-pandemic to 22%, according to a study from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. And the rate at which body mass index (BMI) increased doubled. New research from the University of Georgia suggests that could spell bad news for children’s cardiovascular systems both now […]
Mice treated with this cytokine lose weight by ‘sweating’ fat
Treating obese mice with the cytokine known as TSLP led to significant abdominal fat and weight loss compared to controls, according to new research published Thursday in Science from researchers in the Perelman School of Medicine at the University of Pennsylvania. Unexpectedly, the fat loss was notassociated with decreased food intake or faster metabolism. Instead, […]