Unit on Growth and Obesity

Head: Jack A. Yanovski

The prevalence of overweight and obesity in children and adults has tripled during the past 30 years. The alarming rise in body weight has likely occurred because the current environment affords easy access to calorie-dense foods and requires relatively less voluntary energy expenditure. However, this environment leads to obesity only in those individuals whose systems of body weight regulation are not able to control body adiposity with sufficient precision in our high-calorie/low-activity environment, thus suggesting that some subgroups in the United States have a uniquely high susceptibility to weight gain under prevailing environmental conditions. Our research is primarily directed at increasing our understanding of the metabolic and behavioral factors involved in determining body weight regulation and body composition during childhood, with a special emphasis on minority populations. Our ongoing research program prospectively evaluates risk factors for the development of obesity and its complications in children, studies the effects of medications on body weight and obesity-related comorbid conditions in children, examines potential methods for modulating thermogenesis in children and adults, and seeks to identify the genetic and environmental factors important for the markedly greater incidence of obesity and its comorbid conditions in some U.S. minority populations.

Resources

• Employee Listing
• E-Mail the Lab: yanovskj@mail.nih.gov
• UGO Home Page