A psychobioecological model to understand the income-food insecurity-obesity relationship.

Food insecurity, defined by unpredictable access to food that may not meet a person's nutritional needs, is associated with higher BMI (kg/m) and obesity. People with food insecurity often have less access to food, miss meals and go hungry, which can lead to psychological and metabolic changes that favor energy conservation and weight gain. We describe a conceptual model that includes psychological (food reinforcement and delay discounting) and physiological (thermic effect of food and substrate oxidation) factors to understand how resource scarcity associated with food insecurity evolves into the food insecurity-obesity paradox.

Glucose response to sugar challenge moderates the effect of insulin resistance on reinforcing value of sugar-sweetened yogurt.

We have shown insulin resistance is associated with the choice of sugar-sweetened over monk fruit sweetened yogurt. This study extends this research by assessing the association between insulin resistance and reinforcing value for sugar versus monk fruit-sweetened yogurt, and testing the hypothesis that this effect is moderated by greater blood glucose response in people with insulin resistance. Eighteen people with overweight/obesity (BMI = 35.

Delay Discounting and the Income-Food Insecurity-Obesity Paradox in Mothers.

Food insecurity, defined as unpredictable access to food that may not meet a person's nutritional needs, is paradoxically associated with higher BMI (kg/m) and obesity. Research has shown delay discounting, a behavioral economic measure of the preference for immediate rather than delayed rewards, is related to higher BMI, and moderates the relationship between income and food insecurity. Based on this research, we used regression models to test whether delay discounting, consideration of future consequences, and perceived stress were atemporal mediators of the food insecurity-BMI relation in 313 mothers, controlling for demographic variables.

Insulin Resistance and Glycated Hemoglobin in Obesity Are Associated With Preference for Sugar-Sweetened Yogurt: A Pilot Study.

Objective: Insulin resistance is associated with elevated activation of food reward, which should be associated with an increased reinforcing value of food. Research has also shown that sugar is a macronutrient strongly associated with reward and reinforcing value of food. This research is designed to assess whether insulin resistance is associated with a stronger preference for sugar-sweetened, thus elevating blood glucose responses in obese people with varying degrees of insulin resistance.

Social network analysis of psychological morbidity in an urban slum of Bangladesh: a cross-sectional study based on a community census.

Objectives: To test whether social ties play any roles in mitigating depression and anxiety, as well as in fostering mental health among young men living in a poor urban community.

Setting: A cohort of all young men living in an urban slum in Dhaka, the capital of Bangladesh.

Participants: All men aged 18-29 years (n=824) living in a low-income urban community at the time of the survey.