Not enough sleep? Why you may be getting fatter and sicker
Studies have shown that people who don’t get enough sleep consume extra calories, often in the form of unhealthy snacks, says Arya Sharma
Early Bird Registration Opens for the Canadian Obesity Summit, Vancouver, May 1-4, 2013
Yesterday, the Canadian Obesity Network began accepting advance registrations and hotel bookings for the Canadian Obesity Summit in Vancouver next year. For anyone, who has been at the past Canadian Obesity Summits (Kananaskis, Montreal), this event is probably already number one on your list for next year. For anyone, who has not been to a previous Canadian Obesity Summit, you are in for a treat. And not just for the chance to hear the latest in obesity research from across Canada (and beyond) and the opportunity to attend countless accompanying symposia on everything from maternal-fetal development and neuroscience to population health and clinical management. No, the biggest treat is the chance to connect with Canadian researchers, health professional and policy makers across disciplines and areas of interest in the amiable and engaging spirit of the Network. This will be your chance to meet everybody who is anybody in Canada’s obesity research, practice, and policy community. Incidentally, the Summit ends on the day preceding the Vancouver Marathon – so you may just consider booking an extra day at the hotel – whether you intend to run or just stay to watch the fun. See you in Vancouver! AMS Edmonton, AB
More of the Same Leads to More of the Same
An editorial by Nikhil Dhurandar from the Pennington Biomedical Research Centre, Baton Rouge, LA, published in this month’s issue of the International Journal of Obesity, boldly suggests that it is time to move beyond conventional approaches to obesity prevention and management. He notes that “in 1958, Albert Stunkard stated, that ‘Most obese persons will not stay in treatment for obesity. Of those who stay in treatment most will not lose weight and of those who do lose weight, most will regain it’. In 2012, 54-years and numerous studies later, we seem to be at the same point”. Yet, we continue investing (both research and healthcare dollars) into ever repeating cycles of ‘lifestyle’ or ‘behavioural’ interventions, with almost nothing to show for in terms of population impact. This, according to Dhurandar, is simply due to the fact that too many folks working in the obesity field (not to mention those, who have no expertise in this area at all), continue to believe that long-term weight management is something that any reasonably motivated individual should be able to do. (which is also why we blame anyone, who is obese, for simply not trying hard enough – the key underlying assumption at the root of weight-bias and discrimination). Many working in the obesity field continue to believe that the reason all previous attempts at lifestyle interventions for obesity have essentially failed, is simply because we have not (yet?) tried hard enough. Dhurandhar (and I) are not talking about the occasional successful cases, who do mange to do so. The very fact that we find it remarkable that someone can actually lose and sustain significant weight simply by changing their behaviour, is because it is indeed ‘remarkable’. If this were easy and the norm – no one would even take notice. To paraphrase Dhurandhar, proclaiming the overriding role of the ‘obesogenic’ environment (at the macro level) and the importance of individual volitional behaviour (at the micro level), largely ignores the overwhelming evidence regarding the important role that human psychology and physiology plays in undermining efforts to change both our environments and behavours. Thus, for e.g. while we may wish to believe that presenting consumers with more information about caloric content of foods will make them eat fewer calories, this idea is simply not borne out by the research on this issue. Dhurandhar clearly believes that more of the same will yield more of the… Read More »
Does Short-Term Overeating Make You Hungrier?
Hunger and satiety are regulated by the hoemostatic system – in the same manner that eating fewer calories than you need results in hunger, overeating should result in long-lasting fullness or satiety. Thus, one would expect that overeating would suppress your natural hunger hormone ghrelin. Now as study by Danny Wadden, Farrell Cahill, Peyvand Amini (all three of who are Canadian Obesity Network 2012 Bootcampers) and colleagues from Memorial University, St John’s, Newfoundland, published in PLOS One, suggests that the opposite may be true. In this study, 68 healthy young men were overfed 70% more calories than required for 1-week, which, contrary to expectations, lead to a significant increase in serum levels of acylated ghrelin. Although there were no significant differences in fasting acylated ghrelin between normal weight, overweight, and obese men at baseline, there was a negative correlation between acylated ghrelin and changes in weight and BMI in overweight men but a positive correlation between these parameters in the obese group. While these are interesting and unexpected observations, their physiological significance is not clear. Perhaps, as the authors speculate, the increased ghrelin levels are merely a compensatory response to increases in insulin resistance seen with overfeeding – this would mean that the increased ghrelin levels do not necessarily translate into greater hunger or more food intake (unfortunately, measures of hunger or satiety were not reported in this paper). Nevertheless, given the seemingly disparate relationships between ghrelin levels and changes in body weight, further experiments that take a closer look at some of the determinants of this relationship certainly appear warranted. AMS Indianapolis, Indiana Wadden D, Cahill F, Amini P, Randell E, Vasdev S, Yi Y, Zhang W, & Sun G (2012). Serum acylated ghrelin concentrations in response to short-term overfeeding in normal weight, overweight, and obese men. PloS one, 7 (9) PMID: 23029221 .
Weekend Roundup, October 12, 2012
As not everyone may have a chance during the week to read every post, here’s a roundup of last week’s posts: A Light-Hearted Look at Obesity Social Networks Do Not Explain Physical Activity Levels and Obesity in Younger Adults Chewing Gum For Weight Loss? Happy (Canadian) Thanksgiving Everyone! Have a great Sunday! (or what is left of it) AMS Cincinnati, OH
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