The timing of the rise in U.S. obesity varies with measure of fatness

There are several ways to measure fatness and obesity, each with its own strengths and weaknesses. The primary measure for tracking the prevalence of obesity has historically been body mass index (BMI). This paper compares long-run trends in the prevalence of obesity when obesity is defined using skinfold thickness instead of BMI, using data from the full series of U.S. National Health Examination Surveys. The results indicate that when one uses skinfold thickness rather than BMI to define obesity, the rise in the prevalence of obesity is detectable 10-20 years earlier. This underscores the importance of examining multiple measures of fatness when monitoring or otherwise studying obesity.     

The effect of fast-food availability on fast-food consumption and obesity among rural residents: An analysis by race/ethnicity

Rural areas of the United States tend to have higher obesity rates than urban areas, particularly in regions with high proportions of non-white residents. This paper analyzes the effect of fast-food availability on the level of fast-food consumption and obesity risk among both white and non-white residents of central Texas. Potential endogeneity of fast-food availability is addressed through instrumental variables regression using distance to the nearest major highway as an instrument. We find that non-whites tend to exhibit higher obesity rates, greater access to fast-food establishments and higher consumption of fast-food meals compared to their white counterparts. In addition, we found that whites and non-whites respond differently to the availability of fast-food in rural environments. Greater availability is not associated with either greater consumption of fast-food meals or a higher obesity risk among the sample of whites. In contrast, greater availability of fast-food is positively associated with both the number of meals consumed for non-white rural residents and their obesity. While our results are robust to specification, the effect of availability on weight outcomes is notably weaker when indirectly calculated from the implied relationship between consumption and caloric intake. This highlights the importance of directly examining the proposed mechanism through which an environmental factor influences weight outcomes.     

Micronutrient deficiency and the prevalence of mothers' overweight/obesity in Egypt.

I examine the relationship between micronutrient deficiency and the prevalence of mothers' overweight/obesity in Egypt using the 1997 Egyptian Integrated Household Survey. The ordered logit results show an overlap between micronutrient deficiency and the prevalence of mothers' overweight/obesity in Egypt. The odds of being overweight/obese are 80.8% higher for micronutrient deficient mothers than for non-deficient mothers, keeping all other variables constant. These results have at least two interesting policy implications. First, as the potential impact of the interaction between micronutrient deficiency and chronic diseases is not well known, the coexistence of micronutrient deficient and overweight/obese women can raise new and serious public health problems in the country. Second, the Egyptian food subsidy program, which lowers the relative prices of energy-dense, nutrient-poor food items, can be one of the major factors for the emergence of overweight/obese and micronutrient deficient mothers in the country. Changing the orientation of the food subsidy program may help to simultaneously address this double burden of mothers' malnutrition.     

The intergenerational transmission of health in early childhood—Evidence from the German Socio-Economic Panel Study

Children's physical health problems have clear and lasting impacts on a variety of later life outcomes, as a growing body of research has shown. Furthermore, problems such as obesity, motor impairment, and chronic diseases entail high social costs, particularly when childhood health problems carry over into adulthood. This study examines intergenerational relationships between parent and child health based on data from the German Socio-Economic Panel (SOEP), in particular the recently introduced Mother and Child Questionnaires. Using various health measures, including anthropometric measures, information on health disorders, and “self-rated” health measures, we find significant relationships between parental and child health during the first three years of life. Overall, our results suggest that when controlling for parental income, education, and family composition, parents with poor health are more likely to have children with poor health. However, there are significant differences between health measures and age groups. For some health measures, our results suggest an increasing health gradient by age.     

Growth reference charts and the nutritional status of Indian children

We evaluate the growth performance of Indian children of age 0-3 using data from the 1998-1999 National Family and Health Survey, making use of the new child growth standards developed by the World Health Organization’ Multicentre Growth Reference Study. We find that the new charts lead to an increase of 4.2 million in the estimated number of stunted children, and an increase of 2.3 million in the estimated number of wasted children. The estimated number of underweight children decreases instead by 2.1 million. We also use data on ethnic Indians living in the United Kingdom to provide evidence on the height genetic potential of Indians. We find that children of Indian ethnicity who live in the UK have anthropometric outcomes comparable to those in commonly used growth standards and that the height of ethnic South Asian in the sample is negatively related with the amount of time spent outside the United Kingdom.     

Data: archival information on the physical stature and weight of American men during World War I and World War II.

Millions of observations are available on the height of men who participated in the so-called "Forth Registration" of the United States Selective Service Administration in World war II. The men were born between April 28, 1877 and February 16, 1897.     

Plant growth and climate change

‘Climate change’ is an all-embracing subject: increasingcarbon dioxide concentration in the atmosphere, due to the insatiableappetite of our burgeoning Homo sapiens (or perhaps better H.carbonovorum) populations for energy from fossil carbon reserves,is the main driver. The consequent global warming may lead tovery complex     

For better or worse: Relationship status and body mass index

Recent increases in the incidence of obesity and declines in marriage have prompted policymakers to implement policies to mitigate these trends. This paper examines the link between these two outcomes. There are four hypotheses (selection, protection, social obligation and marriage market) that might explain the relationship between marital status transitions and changes in Body Mass Index (BMI). The selection hypothesis suggests that those with a lower BMI are more likely to be selected into marriage. The protection hypothesis states that married adults will have better physical health as a result of the increased social support and reduced incidence of risky behavior among married individuals. The social obligation hypothesis states that those in relationships may eat more regular meals and/or richer and denser foods due to social obligations which may arise because of marriage. Finally, the marriage market hypothesis indicates that when adults are no longer in the marriage market they may not maintain a healthy BMI because doing so is costly and they are in a stable union—or on the other hand, adults may enhance their prospects in the marriage market by losing weight. Taking advantage of longitudinal data and complete marriage histories in the National Longitudinal Survey of Youth 1979, we estimate individual fixed effects models to examine associations between the change in log BMI and the incidence of overweight and obesity, and changes in relationship status controlling for the effects of aging and other respondent characteristics. We find no support for the marriage protection hypothesis. Rather we find evidence supporting the social obligation and marriage market hypotheses—BMI increases for both men and women during marriage and in the course of a cohabiting relationship. Separate analyses by race and ethnicity reveal substantial differences in the response of BMI to relationship status across these groups.     

Incorporation of exogenous glycosphingolipids in plasma membranes of cultured hamster cells and concurrent change of growth behavior

Globoside added to culture medium was taken up by NIL cells and accumulated as a component of plasma membrane. This was evidenced by the recovery of ³H-labelled globoside from plasma membrane fractions and by the higher chemical quantity of globoside found in NIL cells cultured in medium containing globoside. Concomitantly the following changes in growth behavior were manifested: a reduction in growth rate due to an extended prereplicative phase and a reduced saturation density which may result from changed adhesive properties of cells.     

Angiopoietin-related growth factor antagonizes obesity and insulin resistance

Angiopoietin-related growth factor (AGF), a member of the angiopoietin-like protein (Angptl) family, is secreted predominantly from the liver into the systemic circulation. Here, we show that most (>80%) of the AGF-deficient mice die at about embryonic day 13, whereas the surviving AGF-deficient mice develop marked obesity, lipid accumulation in skeletal muscle and liver, and insulin resistance accompanied by reduced energy expenditure relative to controls. In parallel, mice with targeted activation of AGF show leanness and increased insulin sensitivity resulting from increased energy expenditure. They are also protected from high-fat diet-induced obesity, insulin resistance and nonadipose tissue steatosis. Hepatic overexpression of AGF by adenoviral transduction, which leads to an approximately 2.5-fold increase in serum AGF concentrations, results in a significant (P < 0.01) body weight loss and increases insulin sensitivity in mice fed a high-fat diet. This study establishes AGF as a new hepatocyte-derived circulating factor that counteracts obesity and related insulin resistance.     

The growth of children in relation to the timing of obesity development

Objective: To examine whether there is an association between the timing of the development of obesity and children's growth. Research Methods and Procedures: This study investigated 141 prepubertal obese children (76 girls) and 72 healthy non‐obese children (39 girls). The target height standard deviation score (SDS), the percentage weight for height, and the height SDS (H‐SDS) at presentation and at the age of 2 years were calculated. Patients were classified, according to whether obesity developed before or after the age of 3 years, as presenting with early‐onset or late‐onset obesity, respectively. Results: Mean age (±SD) at presentation was 9.4 (2.1) years. At the age of 2 years, the H‐SDS of the children with early‐onset obesity was 1.3 (1.0) vs. 0.9 (1.3) for the late‐onset obese (p > 0.5) and 0.4 (1.0) for controls (p < 0.001), and the children with late‐onset obesity were also significantly taller than controls (p < 0.005). At presentation, children with early‐onset obesity were significantly taller than children with late‐onset obesity [1.1 (0.8) vs. 0.6 (1.0); p < 0.001] and controls [0.2 (0.8); p < 0.001]. There was no increase in H‐SDS after the age of 2 years in the late‐onset obese children (p > 0.05). H‐SDS values were below average in 21% of the children with late‐onset obesity and in only 4% of the children with early‐onset obesity. Discussion: These findings indicate that late development of obesity is not associated with increased stature in prepubertal children; however, it may be preceded by growth acceleration in the early years of life. Growth acceleration in early life may be a predictor for future obesity.     

Changes in BMI and the prevalence of overweight and obesity in children and adolescents in Cracow, Poland, 1971-2000.

The aim of this study is to examine changes in prevalence of overweight and obesity, using International Obesity Task Force criteria, in three cohorts of children and youth living in Cracow, Poland, in 1971, 1983 and 2000. Rates of overweight and obesity doubled among boys and girls, from 7.5% and 6.5% in 1971, to 15.2% and 11.8% in the year 2000. The greatest increases in prevalence occurred in the youngest age groups (7-12 years for boys and 7-10 years for girls), increases being less extensive among adolescents, and lowest of all in the oldest age groups (16-18 years in boys and 14-18 years in girls). The absence of a positive secular trend in BMI among adolescent females relative to males may be due to sociocultural pressures associated with transition to a free market economy in Poland. The extent to which girls attempt to achieve the ideal body, as portrayed by media and society more generally, increases across adolescence.     

Does smoking affect body weight and obesity in China?

An inverse relationship between smoking and body weight has been documented in the medical literature, but the effect of cigarette smoking on obesity remains inconclusive. In addition, the evidence is mixed on whether rising obesity rates are an unintended consequence of successful anti-smoking policies. This study re-examines these relationships using data from China, the largest consumer and manufacturer of tobacco in the world that is also experiencing a steady rise in obesity rates. We focus on the impact of the total number of cigarettes smoked per day on individuals’ body mass index (BMI) and on the likelihood of being overweight and obese. Instrumental variables estimation is used to correct for the endogeneity of cigarette smoking. We find a moderate negative and significant relationship between cigarette smoking and BMI. Smoking is also negatively related to being overweight and obese, but the marginal effects are small and statistically insignificant for being obese. Quantile regression analyses reveal that the association between smoking and BMI is quite weak among subjects whose BMIs are at the high end of the distribution but are considerably stronger among subjects in the healthy weight range. Ordered probit regression analyses also confirm these findings. Our results thus reconcile an inverse average effect of smoking on body weight with the absence of any significant effect on obesity. From a policy perspective these findings suggest that, while smoking cessation may lead to moderate weight gain among subjects of healthy weight, the effects on obese subjects are modest and should not be expected to lead to a large increase in obesity prevalence rates.     

Xenotransplantation,risk, regulation and surveillance: social and technological dimensions of change

Abstract

This paper examines xenotransplantation as one specific technique associated with the ‘new genetics’. The development of this particular technique is set within the context of emergent regulatory practices that simultaneously confront the national and global dimensions of the technique whilst balancing collective and individual risks and benefits. The adoption of an incremental, and arguably ad hoc, regulatory approach within the UK is assessed in relation to demands for active widespread social participation in the framing and assessment of risks. It is argued that there needs to be a full examination of the risks associated with the technique across a range of time frames before it can be adopted as part of the repertoire of modemmedicine. Moreover, the fullest possible mapping of the risk domains to be regulated and managed requires the active involvement of a diverse range of publics. By adopting an extended time-frame approach, it is argued that the claims-making of developers can be set within a more socially grounded context. Such a context requires the inclusion of situated publics, something currently lacking within the UK's approach to regulation.     

Long non-coding RNA UCA1 promotes breast tumor growth by suppression of p27 (Kip1)

Functional genomics studies have led to the discovery of a large amount of non-coding RNAs from the human genome; among them are long non-coding RNAs (lncRNAs). Emerging evidence indicates that lncRNAs could have a critical role in the regulation of cellular processes such as cell growth and apoptosis as well as cancer progression and metastasis. As master gene regulators, lncRNAs are capable of forming lncRNA–protein (ribonucleoprotein) complexes to regulate a large number of genes. For example, lincRNA-RoR suppresses p53 in response to DNA damage through interaction with heterogeneous nuclear ribonucleoprotein I (hnRNP I). The present study demonstrates that hnRNP I can also form a functional ribonucleoprotein complex with lncRNA urothelial carcinoma-associated 1 (UCA1) and increase the UCA1 stability. Of interest, the phosphorylated form of hnRNP I, predominantly in the cytoplasm, is responsible for the interaction with UCA1. Moreover, although hnRNP I enhances the translation of p27 (Kip1) through interaction with the 5′-untranslated region (5′-UTR) of p27 mRNAs, the interaction of UCA1 with hnRNP I suppresses the p27 protein level by competitive inhibition. In support of this finding, UCA1 has an oncogenic role in breast cancer both in vitro and in vivo. Finally, we show a negative correlation between p27 and UCA in the breast tumor cancer tissue microarray. Together, our results suggest an important role of UCA1 in breast cancer.