The structure of meals in humans: eating and drinking patterns in lean and obese subjects.
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Adult↗
Biomedical subjects
F Bellisle
Publications and source records attributed to F Bellisle.
Schedule control of behavior reinforced by electrical stimulation of the brain.
Electrical stimulation of the brain was used to train rats to respond on random interval schedules. Stimulation was either delayed for 0.5 second and preceded by a brief signal, delayed and unsignaled, or presented contiguously with the response. In every case, responding was maintained on schedules and showed resistance to extinction typical of food-reinforced responding. Priming was never necessary. These data cast doubt on the generality of beliefs about the behavioral effects of brain stimulation reinforcement.
Animals↗
Palatability and intake relationships in free-living humans. characterization and independence of influence in North Americans.
In order to investigate palatability influences on the ad lib eating behavior of free-living humans, 564 participants were paid to maintain food intake diaries for 7 days. They recorded their intake along with a global rating of the palatability of the entire meal on a seven-point scale. It was found that most meals that are self-selected are palatable and that only 9.3% are rated as unpalatable. Meals that were highest in palatability were 44% larger than meals that were low in palatability, but palatability only accounted for around 4% of the variance in meal sizes. Multiple regression demonstrated that palatability appears to act on intake independent of the levels of other influential factors. These results were very similar to those observed for the French and suggest that palatability operates similarly on intake regardless of culture. Palatability appears to be an influence on the amounts ingested by free-living humans in their natural environments but appears to be only one of many influential factors and accounts for only a small proportion of the variance in intake.
Adolescent↗
Nutrient balance and body composition.
The prevalence of obesity in industrialized countries is increasing in spite of decreased energy and fat intakes. This trend might be mainly a consequence of a decline in energy expenditure. It is suggested here that it might also be accounted for by the increasing proportion of protein in the diet, affecting the hormonal status. The nutrient imbalance is particularly apparent in early childhood, when a low fat and high protein diet is not justified because of high energy needs for growth and because it is the period of high rate of myelinization of the nervous system. At later ages, the proportion of fat exceeds the recommended level, and the protein intake remains high. A diet containing less animal and more vegetable products would reduce both protein and saturated fat excesses and could help decrease metabolic risk factors.
Age Factors↗
Adiposity in Czech children followed from 1 month of age to adulthood: analysis of individual BMI patterns.
In Czechoslovakia, overweight and nutrition-associated pathologies are frequent. The body mass index (BMI) is often used in the clinical assessment of adiposity in children and adults. Its variations during growth are well documented. A cohort of 300 newborns were selected at random in Prague between 1956 and 1960. Weight and height were collected in these subjects at the ages of 3, 6, 9, and 12 months and twice a year from 1 to 20 years. Charts of longitudinal variations of the BMI were drawn for males and females. The three expected phases of BMI development were observed: initial rise until 12 months, subsequent decrease, and second augmentation (the 'adiposity rebound', 'AR') between 4 and 8 years of age. The inverse relationship between age at AR and the BMI in adulthood was confirmed: in the leanest adults, AR had happened by age 7.6 years, in the heaviest adults, age at AR was around 5 years. Many lean (44%) and fat (58%) infants developed into average-size adults. The risk of becoming a heavy adult was increased in fat infants (31%) as opposed to non-fat (22%) ones. The relative risk of fat infants to become obese adults as compared to non-fat infants is 31/22 = 1.8. Individual growth curves of children with very high or very low adult BMI values illustrate the relationships between BMI at 12 months, age at AR and adult BMI. The Czech BMI distribution was higher than a comparable French one at all percentiles after age 7 years.(ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 250 WORDS)
Adolescent↗
Anxiety and food intake in men.
The effects of acute anxiety on food intake and preferences were investigated in 12 men awaiting surgery for hernia. Their lunch intake was measured on the day prior to surgery and again after recovery, one month later. Their anxiety was rated on both test days as well as the palatability of the foods they selected and ingested ad libitum. Anxiety was significantly higher on the day before surgery than on control day. However, no hyperphagia appeared and food selection was not systematically disturbed. Protein, lipid, and carbohydrate ratios in the test meals were not affected by the level of stress. The present results are at variance with some, but not all, studies of food intake under stress in animals and humans. Among other factors (nature of stressor, intensity of anxiety, sex of the subjects), culturally determined eating habits could contribute to the discrepancies observed.
Adult↗