2005 Annual Report 1.What major problem or issue is being resolved and how are you resolving it (summarize project aims and objectives)? How serious is the problem? What does it matter? The most recent National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey (NHANES 1999-2000) indicated that approximately 64% of adults 20 years of age or older are considered overweight. The prevalence of overweight individuals increased from 56% in NHANES III (1988-94) and 47% in NHANES II (1976-80). Approximately 300,000 deaths occur yearly due to obesity-related causes, and the economic cost to the United States is approximately $70 billion per year. A sedentary lifestyle, and the abundance and diversity of food in western societies have been identified as principal factors contributing to an increase in excess body fat of the American population. Regardless of the causative factor, or factors, the fundamental defect is the inability of the individual to match energy intake with energy expenditure over the long-term. Both alterations in macronutrient intake and regular exercise have been identified as ways for individuals to achieve a healthy weight. The debate over how diet composition and physical activity impact voluntary food intake and calorie balance has been a focus of the USDA (such as the Great Diet Debate in March 2000), the public, and the scientific community. Popular publications such as "Sugar Busters," "r. Atkins Diet Revolution,” and “Eat More Weigh Less" have provided conflicting recommendations, and resulted in public confusion. This project addresses one of the central tenants of recent public health recommendations, that increasing daily physical activity will help individuals maintain healthy weight. However, there is little supporting data for this tenant beyond that extrapolated from epidemiological and cross-sectional studies. This work will provide unambiguous data collected under controlled conditions regarding the effect of increasing daily activity on food intake and long-term weight maintenance. The results of this work are intended to reduce public confusion regarding the conflicting diet and lifestyle recommendations for the maintenance of a healthy weight. This work is consistent with the ARS Human Nutrition Action Plan 107 and addresses three components "Diet, Genetics, Lifestyle, and the Prevention of Obesity and Disease (3.1.1.1)," "Nutrition Monitoring (3.1.2.1)," "Health Promoting Intervention Strategies for Targeted Populations (3.1.1.2)." 2.List the milestones (indicators of progress) from your Project Plan. FY 2005 Completion of design and construction of Energy Metabolism Laboratory Building 307C. This includes construction of calorimeters, exercise training and testing equipment and physical activity monitoring systems. FY 2006 Plan and conduct Pilot Study with 20 subjects FY 2007 Plan and conduct first cohort from main study FY 2008 Conduct second cohort of study FY 2009 Conduct third cohort of study, summarize and publish results 4a.What was the single most significant accomplishment this past year? Completion of Energy Metabolism Laboratory as part of Comprehensive Diet and Health Studies Facility: The obesity epidemic in the U.S. is a consequence of an energy imbalance (i.e., more calories consumed than expended). In order to understand the causes and develop recommendations for prevention of the obesity problem, analytical systems are required which can measure the extent of the imbalance. Completion of the setup of the energy metabolism laboratory, after the move to new facilities, re-establishes Diet and Human Performance Lab (DHPL) as one of a few laboratories in the world which can collect energy metabolism data in concert with both free living and controlled diet studies. In addition, the addition of a new physical activity and exercise energy metabolism measurement system allows investigation into the interaction of physical activity, diet and health. 4b.List other significant accomplishments, if any. Critical Evaluation of Dietary Recall Data Collected Using USDA's Diet Survey Tool. The USDA diet survey tool, referred to as Automated Multiple Pass Method (AMPM) is the most widely used method for collection of the dietary habits of Americans. In cooperation with the Food Survey Research Group, measured food intake under controlled conditions was combined with data collected using AMPM which allowed comparison to other free living survey tools as well as a comprehensive error analysis of AMPM. This analysis clearly demonstrated the superiority of the AMPM tool when compared to other methodologies and provided insight into the sources of variability which impact the accuracy and precision of the methodology. This work contributes to a better understanding of the dietary habits of Americans as well as the methodologies to accurately assess these habits. Comprehensive Evaluation of Activity Monitoring Data Collection. Free living activity patterns are considered to be one of the most important factors contributing to the obesity epidemic. Prior to the publication of this work no comprehensive evaluation of the principle methodology of collecting activity data was possible due to the small numbers of individuals studied at one time. In cooperation with the Food Survey Research Group, data collected on over 600 subjects our Laboratory was used to develop methodology for evaluating this data. This work should provide a basis for evaluating data collected across studies as well as between different institutions 4c.List any significant activities that support special target populations. None. 5.Describe the major accomplishments over the life of the project, including their predicted or actual impact. This is the first complete year of the project. Therefore, the significant accomplishments are the same as in 4 a-c. 6.What science and/or technologies have been transferred and to whom? When is the science and/or technology likely to become available to the end-user (industry, farmer, other scientists)? What are the constraints, if known, to the adoption and durability of the technology products? None. 7.List your most important publications in the popular press and presentations to organizations and articles written about your work. (NOTE: List your peer reviewed publications below). None. Review Publications Paul, D.R., Kramer, M.H., Rhodes, D.G., Rumpler, W.V. 2005. Preprandial ghrelin is not affected by macronutrient intake, energy intake or energy expenditure. Experimental Biology. 4(1):2.