Developmental origins of obesity: Programming of food intake or physical activity?

Gardner, David S.; Rhodes, Phillip

Abstract

Mans ability to capture, harness and store energy most efficiently as fat in adipose tissue has been an evolutionary success story for the majority of human existence. Only over the last 30-40 years has our remarkable metabolic efficiency been revealed as our energy balance increasingly favours storage without regular periods of depletion. Historical records show us that while the composition of our diet has changed markedly over this time, our overall energy intake has significantly reduced. The inevitable conclusion therefore is that habitual physical activity and thus energy expenditure has reduced by a greater extent. Recent studies have illustrated how the finely tuned long-term control of energy intake and of energy expenditure are both developmentally plastic and susceptible to environmentally-induced change that may persist with that individual throughout their adult life, invariably rendering them more susceptible to greater adipose tissue deposition. The central role that lean body mass has upon the 'gating' of energy sensing and the importance of regular physical activity for its potential to reduce the burden of a 'thrifty phenotype' will be briefly discussed in the present review. © Springer Science + Business Media B.V. 2009.

Citation

Gardner, D. S., & Rhodes, P. (2008, August). Developmental origins of obesity: Programming of food intake or physical activity?. Presented at Advances Exp Biol and Med, Ghent

• Presentation Conference Type: Conference Paper (published)
• Conference Name: Advances Exp Biol and Med
• Start Date: Aug 1, 2008
• Publication Date: Dec 1, 2009
• Deposit Date: Mar 5, 2025
• Journal: Advances in Experimental Medicine and Biology
• Electronic ISSN: 0065-2598
• Publisher: Springer Verlag
• Peer Reviewed: Peer Reviewed
• Volume: 646
• Pages: 83-93
• Book Title: Early nutrition programming and health outcomes in later life: Obesity and beyond
• DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4020-9173-5_9
• Public URL: https://nottingham-repository.worktribe.com/output/3084879
• Publisher URL: https://link.springer.com/chapter/10.1007/978-1-4020-9173-5_9