Oral Processing, Satiation and Obesity: Overview and Hypotheses.

Increasing the speed of eating or decreasing the amount of chewing of a test meal significantly decreases its satiation, increases concomitant caloric intake, and influences entero-endocrine secretion. Speed of eating is a strong risk factor for obesity and longitudinal studies suggest an etiological relationship. Individuals with obesity have an increase in bite size, less chewing per bite, decreased satiation, and greater food intake.

A Questionnaire-Based Assessment of Hunger, Speed of Eating and Food Intake in Children with Obesity.

Purpose: The aim of this study was to investigate the hypothesis that obesity in Israeli children is associated with chronically increased hunger and to examine for persistent abnormalities of satiation and between-meal satiety in these children.

Subjects/methods: The parents of 200 children with obesity and 100 normal-weight children completed a questionnaire together with their child that rated hunger, food intake at main meal, and speed of eating. Time to hunger from the main meal was also recorded.

A paradigm shift for the prevention and treatment of individual and global obesity.

The prevalence of obesity and overweight has plateaued in developed countries, although at high levels, but in most parts of the world, it continues to increase. Current recommendations for preventing and treating obesity are based mainly on the notion that overeating results from hedonic eating as a result of unlimited access to palatable foods, particularly those high in sugar and fat, and that hedonic centers are able to "override" the body's homeostatic mechanisms. This article proposes that the homeostatic mechanisms affecting appetite and satiety are more important in chronic overeating, and that sufficient evidence exists for adopting a new paradigm for controlling individual and global obesity based on controlling energy homeostasis via the enteroendocrine and gut microbiota systems.

Fatty liver disease, glucose tolerance and insulin resistance in obese adolescents.

Background/objectives: Adult studies suggest that intra-hepatic fat predicts 2-h blood glucose levels and type 2 diabetes, and may have a role in the development of insulin resistance. Our study objective was to explore relationships between intra-hepatic fat and (i) blood glucose levels and (ii) insulin resistance determined by homeostasis model assessment (HOMA) in a group of obese adolescents.

Methods: Subjects were 61 obese non-diabetic male and female volunteers aged 12-18 years inclusive with a body mass index >95th percentile for age and 2-h blood glucose <200 mg dL(-1) .

Acanthosis nigricans, vitamin D, and insulin resistance in obese children and adolescents.

Objectives: The aim of this study is to identify factors accounting for the variation in 25-hydroxyvitamin D levels in a pediatric obese population.

Patients And Methods: One hundred and forty-nine obese children and adolescents (BMI ≥95th percentile) were evaluated in a pediatric endocrine office. Acanthosis nigricans (AN) skin lesions were rated on a 4-point scale.