IN
THIS ISSUE
High
Glycemic
Index Foods and Overeating in
Obese Individuals
Newly
Discovered Mouse Gene May Provide Clues
About Human Obesity
Waist
Circumference Measurement in Children Predicts Lipid Risk Factors
Weight-loss
Providers Agree to Help Consumers Make Better Choices
New
Food Guide Pyramids Developed for Children and
the Elderly
Highlights
of CNRU & ONRC Research Available
Cyber
Notes
Sisters
Together Program Guide Now Available
Materials
From Other
Organizations
Meeting
Notes
WIN
NIDDK
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Newly
Discovered Mouse Gene May Provide Clues About Human Obesity
The
obese mouse on the left lacks the mahogany gene, which appears
to affect metabolism and appetite.
The discovery
of a gene in mice that affects eating behavior and physical activity
may have valuable implications for human obesity research. The
mahogany gene, so called because of the mutation in coat color
that it produces in mice, was identified by researchers at Stanford
and Harvard medical schools.
Mice without the mahogany gene both eat more and exercise
more than those with the gene, according to investigator
Gregory Barsh, M.D., Ph.D., whose study was funded by the National
Institute of Diabetes and Digestive and Kidney Diseases and published
in the March 11 issue of the journal Nature. Barsh, an
associate professor of pediatrics and genetics at Howard Hughes
Medical Institute, Stanford University School of Medicine, says
it is unclear whether the increased activity causes overeating
or whether excessive eating causes the overactivityor whether
the two are causally related at allbut the gene does appear
to affect both metabolism and appetite.
The protein
that the mahogany gene produces in mice is identical to a form
of the human protein attractin. Further study of the mahogany
gene will deepen our understanding of its role in weight regulation,
and may prove helpful in obesity treatment in humans.
Waist
Circumference Measurement in Children Predicts Lipid Risk Factors
Waist circumference
in children, even after adjustment for weight, is more strongly
related to lipid risk factors than either triceps or subscapular
skinfold thickness, according to a study led by David S. Freedman,
M.D., an epidemiologist in the Division of Nutrition and Physical
Activity, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Freedman
et al. say that the ratio of waist circumference to hip circumference
has been used to predict risk factors in adults, but few studies
have been conducted to determine the importance of these characteristics
in children.
Waist
circumference measures the general level of overweight and adverse
fat patterning, and is very easy to measure says Freedman.
Triceps and subscapular skinfold thickness, which involve
pinching the skin and using a caliper, are more difficult to measure
and are more prone to inaccuracy. The hip circumference does not
provide information on risk factor levels in children and adolescents.
Freedmans
results are based on studying levels of low-density lipoprotein
and high-density lipoprotein cholesterol, insulin, and blood pressure
among 3,000 children and adolescents aged 5-17 years examined
from 1992 to 1994 in the Bogalusa Heart Study.
Freedmans
study, which was published in the February 1999 issue of the American
Journal of Clinical Nutrition, is available through the
American Society for Clinical Nutrition at 9650 Rockville Pike,
Bethesda, MD 20814-3998; phone: (301) 530-7038; and can be found
on the Web at http://www.ajcn.org.
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