Always Hungry? Blame It On Food Porn
There is no doubt that living in a society in which we are constantly surrounded by highly palatable foods makes not overeating a challenge for most of us. Now, an interesting paper by Charles Spence and colleagues from Oxford University, published in Brain and Cognition, makes a strong case for how exposure to images of desirable foods (which they label ‘food porn’, or ‘gastroporn’) via digital interfaces might be inadvertently exacerbating our desire for food (what they call ‘visual hunger’). In their paper, the authors review the growing body of cognitive neuroscience research demonstrating the profound effect that viewing such images can have on neural activity, physiological and psychological responses, and visual attention, especially in the ‘hungry’ brain. Beginning with a brief discussion of evolutionary aspects of vision and food, the authors remind us that, “Foraging – the search for nutritious foods – is one of the brain’s most important functions. In humans, this activity relies primarily on vision, especially when it comes to finding those foods that we are already familiar with. In fact, it has been suggested that trichromatic colour vision may originally have developed in primates as an adaptation that facilitated the selection of more energy-rich (and likely red) fruits from in-amongst the dark green forest canopy.” “The brain is the body’s most energy-consuming organ, accounting for somewhere in the region of 25% of blood flow, or rather, 25% of the available consumed energy. Note that this figure is even higher in the newborn human, where the brain absorbs up to two thirds of the energy that is consumed by the developing organism. As Brown notes: “In embryos, the first part of the neocortex to develop is the part which will represent the mouth and tongue…” As the brain grew in size over the course of human evolution, the demands on the visual system to efficiently locate nutrients in the environment would likely also have increased.” This notion is not trivial given our current environmental exposure to a multitude of food images: “Our brains learnt to enjoy seeing food, since it would likely precede consumption. The automatic reward associated with the sight of food likely meant another day of sufficient nutrients for survival, and at the same time, the physiological responses would prepare our bodies to receive that food. Our suggestion here is that the regular exposure to virtual foods nowadays, and the array of neural, physiological,… Read More »
Do Bariatric Chairs Send The Wrong Message?
Accommodation has to do with inclusion – we live in a society where we often go to great lengths to accommodate anyone with special needs – be it a physical disability or a dietary whim. In the context of severe obesity, this includes providing access to care in a setting that accommodates bariatric patients – larger blood pressure cuffs, larger gowns, larger scales and larger furniture. But how is this viewed by the very people that these measures are meant to accommodate? This is the topic of a thoughtful opinion piece by CON bootcamper Nicole Glenn and Marianne Clark, published in JAMA. The paper describes comments of patients with severe obesity interviewed in a bariatric centre that tries its best to accommodate: “Incredibly considerate and incredibly insulting at the same time.” This is how a woman describes the expanded chairs in the waiting room of the bariatric clinic….This woman is not describing the hospital administrators who purchased the chairs nor the designers from whose imaginations they sprung. Instead, she refers to the chairs directly, as if it were they doling out insults and praises in turn. That these chairs were designed for the unique needs of these patients is obvious: they offer comfort and accommodation by way of sturdy metal arms and extended seats and backs. Nevertheless, these chairs are experienced in multiple ways; not all patients who encounter them find their welcome welcoming. A woman waiting for her appointment at the bariatric clinic explains, “This giant chair makes me feel so very fat, and so very skinny at the same time…‘You are not normal,’ it seems to say to me.” As the authors note, By considering the experience of such ordinary things as enlarged chairs in the bariatric clinic waiting room, we must acknowledge how extraordinary these things actually are: how they have meaning and shape and are shaped by people’s lives. Listening to patients’ experiences allows us to see the world, if only momentarily, from their perspective, enabling deeper understanding of their lives, and ultimately leaving us better equipped to address their needs as they seek treatment and care. At least it may be useful to consider that objects may be have unintended meanings and consequences: Rather than finding chairs that accommodate larger bodies, these patients often seek a body that accommodates the world, one that slips easily and unthinkingly into “regular” chairs. Instead of providing rest and reprieve, the temporary… Read More »
CON Co-Hosts the International Congress on Obesity in Vancouver
As Canada’s national representative in the World Obesity Federation (formerly IASO), the Canadian Obesity Network is proud to co-host the 13th International Congress on Obesity in Vancouver, 1-4 May 2016. The comprehensive scientific program will span 6 topic areas: Track 1: From genes to cells For example: genetics, metagenomics, epigenetics, regulation of mRNA and non–coding RNA, inflammation, lipids, mitochondria and cellular organelles, stem cells, signal transduction, white, brite and brown adipocytes Track 2: From cells to integrative biology For example: neurobiology, appetite and feeding, energy balance, thermogenesis, inflammation and immunity, adipokines, hormones, circadian rhythms, crosstalk, nutrient sensing, signal transduction, tissue plasticity, fetal programming, metabolism, gut microbiome Track 3: Determinants, assessments and consequences For example: assessment and measurement issues, nutrition, physical activity, modifiable risk behaviours, sleep, DoHAD, gut microbiome, Healthy obese, gender differences, biomarkers, body composition, fat distribution, diabetes, cancer, NAFLD, OSA, cardiovascular disease, osteoarthritis, mental health, stigma Track 4: Clinical management For example: diet, exercise, behaviour therapies, psychology, sleep, VLEDs, pharmacotherapy, multidisciplinary therapy, bariatric surgery, new devices, e-technology, biomarkers, cost effectiveness, health services delivery, equity, personalised medicine Track 5: Populations and population health For example: equity, pre natal and early nutrition, epidemiology, inequalities, marketing, workplace, school, role of industry, social determinants, population assessments, regional and ethnic differences, built environment, food environment, economics Track 6: Actions, interventions and policies For example: health promotion, primary prevention, interventions in different settings, health systems and services, e-technology, marketing, economics (pricing, taxation, distribution, subsidy), environmental issues, government actions, stakeholder and industry issues, ethical issues Early-bird registration is now open – click here Abstract submission deadline is November 30, 2015 – click here For more information including sponsorship and exhibiting at ICO 2016 – click here I look forward to welcoming you to Vancouver next year. @DrSharma Toronto, ON
Information On The Genetic Nature of Obesity Can Reduce Perceived Weight Discrimination and Increase Willingness to Eat Healthier
Continuing the theme of harmful effects of weight bias, a paper by Janine Beekman and colleagues published in Psychology & Health, suggests that providing patients information on the strong genetic nature of obesity may not only reduce perceived weight bias but also increase willingness to eat a healthier diet. In this study 201 women with overweight or obesity aged 20-50 were allowed to interact with a virtual physician in a simulated clinical primary care environment, which included physician-delivered information that emphasized either genomic or behavioral underpinnings of weight and weight loss. This research builds on previous evidence that provision of genomic information in a primary care context can reduce patients’ perceived stigma because they feel less blamed for their weight. As the authors note, “This relates to attribution theory, which posits that causal attributions play an important role in determining reactions to stigmatizing information. The more overweight is attributed to controllable causes (like diet and exercise), the more negative one’s reactions are to it.” All aspects of the virtual encounter were identical except for the type of information given: Participants who received genomic information were told that body weight has a sizeable heritable component, and this may be relevant to their personal situation. Participants who received behavioral information were given a parallel message that it may be harder for those who are already overweight to lose weight (but with no mention of the role of genomics). Both groups were reminded of the importance of health-promoting behaviours related to physical activity and nutrition. After controlling for BMI and race, participants who received genomic information stated that they perceived less blame from the doctor than participants who received behavioral information. In a serial multiple mediation model, reduced perceived blame was significantly associated with less perceived discrimination, and in turn, lower willingness to eat unhealthy foods. Thus, “Providing patients with information about genomics and weight management reduced the extent to which they felt blamed for their weight, when compared to more traditional behavior-based information. Women who felt less blamed for their weight also felt less discriminated against based on their weight, and this reduced perceived discrimination was related to healthier eating and drinking cognitions” These findings may not just have implications for clinical practice but also for public health messages about obesity: “The proliferation of the “war on obesity” and social messages targeted at combating obesity are an attempt to tackle a public health problem… Read More »
The Social Function Of Fat Talk
Comments about body shape, size or weight are so common that we often don’t pay attention to them. However, even a simple comment about someone’s weight or appearance, as in, “You look great – have you lost weight?”, has been shown to have significant negative consequences for the folks involved, as it endorses a thin-ideal. Often fat talk is presented as a self-degrading comment, as in, “I feel fat” or “My thighs look too big” – not seldom from people with perfectly “normal” weight, which again endorses the negative connotations associated with fatness. Now a study by Tegan Cruwys and colleagues published in Eating Disorders purports to demonstrate a causal link between fat talk and the correlates of disordered eating (thin-ideal internalization, body dissatisfaction, negative affect, and dieting intentions) by experimentally manipulating fat talk in existing friendship groups and measuring naturalistic expression of fat talk and its effects. The study involved 85 women aged 17–25 who participated in friendship pairs that were randomly assigned to a condition in which their friend expressed fat talk, positive body talk, or neutral talk. Here is how the researchers describe the experiment: “Participants in all conditions viewed the same 20 images of female celebrities, which were diverse in terms of age, race, body shape and size. Each comment that participants read from “Friend A” was generated from a predetermined script. In the neutral talk condition, none of the 20 comments were about appearance, for example, “Such a great actress”. Eight of the neutral comments were retained in the other conditions, with the remaining 12 comments referencing appearance. In the fat talk condition, these comments explicitly valued thinness, and/or expressed body dissatisfaction. For example, “She looks great after losing all that weight” and “I should really watch what I eat more”. In the positive body talk condition, the comments emphasized body acceptance and satisfaction. For example, “It’s so great to see that she doesn’t care about her photo being taken right after having a baby”, and “Love that skirt, would look amazing on me!”. The simulated “conversation” ran for ∼10 min, following which participants immediately completed a computer-based questionnaire.” The broad range of outcome measures included the Body Image States Scale, the Positive and Negative Affect Scale (PANAS), the Internalization-General subscale (nine items) of the Sociocultural Attitudes Towards Appearance Scale-3 (SATAQ-3), the Dieting Intentions Scale (DIS) and a five-item questionnaire that assessed how participants felt… Read More »
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