Solid and liquid obesogenic diets induce obesity and counter-regulatory changes in hypothalamic gene expression in juvenile Sprague-Dawley rats.

Contemporary foods and beverages that constitute the diets of adults and children almost certainly contribute to the obesity problem. To develop a model of childhood obesity, we examined the effects of feeding juvenile rats 2 solid diets, either alone or in combination [nonpurified control diet (C), high-energy (HE), or C+HE] with or without the liquid supplement Ensure (EN). Rats were fed C until 4 wk of age and then were assigned to 1 of 6 weight-matched groups that were fed C, HE, C+HE, C+EN, HE+EN, or C+HE+EN for 5 wk.