WeightControl.com Interview with: Lars T. Fadnes Professor & research group leader Department of Global Public Health and Primary Care & Bergen Addiction Research Department of Addiction Medicine University of Bergen & Haukeland University Hospital
Prof. Fadnes
WeightControl.com: What is the background for this study?
Response: Food is fundamental for health, and globally dietary risk factors are estimated to cause 11 million deaths and 255 million disability-adjusted life years annually. The Global Burden of Diseases, Injuries, and Risk Factors study provides summary measures of population health that are relevant when comparing health systems but does not estimate the impact of alterations in food group composition and respective health benefits. The EAT–Lancet commission did present a planetary diet, but it gives limited information on the health impact of other diets, and few people are able to adhere to strict health maximization approaches.
WeightControl.com Interview with: Esra Tasali, MD Associate Professor of Medicine Director, Sleep Research Center Department of Medicine The University of Chicago Chicago, IL 60637
WeightControl.com: What is the background for this study? What are the main findings?
Response: We knew from prior research that sleep deprivation can stimulate appetite and cravings for junk food, and increases weight gain. What we did not know is whether we can do something about it in real-life?
Our randomized controlled trial on sleep extension in real-life setting found that getting sufficient sleep reduces caloric intake by on average 270kcal per day.
Our research suggests that restaurants are bringing lower-calorie options to their menus now that they are required to display calorie labels on their menus.
WeightControl.com Interview with: Anna H. GrummonPhD , Postdoctoral Fellow Department of Nutrition Harvard TH Chan School of Public Health
Dr. Grummon
WeightControl.com: What is the background for this study? What are the main findings?
Response:As of 2018, large chain restaurants in the US are required by law to display calorie information on their menus. A number of researchers have looked at how consumers respond to the new calorie labels. What was not yet known was how the industry responded to the calorie labeling law. Our study is the first to investigate whether nationwide rollout of the calorie labeling law spurred restaurants to change the types of foods they offer. We found that the rollout of the calorie labels appeared to prompt restaurants to introduce lower-calorie items to their menus, but did not spur changes to existing menu items.
WeightControl.com: What should readers take away from your report?
Response:Our research suggests that restaurants are bringing lower-calorie options to their menus now that they are required to display calorie labels on their menus. These new options could help Americans find foods that meet their health goals when they get take-out or dine at restaurants.
At the same time, existing menu items did not change after the labels were rolled out. This suggests that additional policy changes might be needed to nudge restaurants to make these existing items healthier. The calorie labeling law is important in providing consumers with information about menu items that was hard to find previously. Future policies can build on this success.
WeightControl.com: What recommendations do you have for future research as a result of this work?
Response:Our study examined restaurant menus, not what consumers buy or eat. So we don’t yet know how these changes to menus will affect what consumers eat and drink at restaurants, or ultimately how this policy will affect health outcomes. Future studies can examine how consumers respond to both calorie labels and to changes in the types of items sold by restaurants.
WeightControl.com: Is there anything else you would like to add?
Response: Mandatory labelling may have spurred restaurants to introduce new, lower calorie items to their menus. These calorie labels also allow consumers to easily view the calorie count of their meal, information which was difficult to find before the law.
No disclosures.
Citation:
Grummon AH, Petimar J, Soto MJ, et al. Changes in Calorie Content of Menu Items at Large Chain Restaurants After Implementation of Calorie Labels. JAMA Netw Open. 2021;4(12):e2141353. doi:10.1001/jamanetworkopen.2021.41353
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We found that first-year college students’ BMI increased, with an average weight gain being a little over three pounds across the first semester.
WeightControl.com Interview with:
Yangyang Deng Ph.D. Student | Sport Pedagogy Graduate Teaching Assistant Children’s Physical Activity, Fitness lab University of Georgia
WeightControl.com: What is the background for this study?
Response: The idea for this study was to test whether freshman 15 is really a myth or is there some truth to it. Maybe more importantly, we wanted to test what are the main factors that may impact unwanted weight gain. Of course, we also wanted to help college students to improve their health. Previous research has shown that freshman students are especially vulnerable due to the transition to a new environment, and they are more likely to adopt negative health behaviors, e.g., sedentary habits and unhealthy diet. Previous data has shown that less than 50% of college students engage in the recommended minimum of 150 weekly minutes of moderate-to-vigorous intensity physical activity (MVPA). Moreover, first-year college students’ dietary behaviors are getting unhealthier, students are eating excessive amounts of trans fats/fast food and not consuming the recommended amounts of fruits and vegetables, and consuming too much sugar-sweetened beverages.
Placement of these items may drive impulse buys, and because these stores sold products for children, parents and caregivers should be aware of these practices at the outset.
WeightControl.com Interview with: Corey Hannah Basch, Ed.D., M.P.H., CHES Professor and Department Chair Public Health William Paterson University
Dr. Basch
WeightControl.com: What is the background for this study? What are the main findings?
Response: There are many factors that influence food choices, which are not limited simply to access and availability. This study focused on exposure to opportunities for unplanned food and beverage purchases, specifically candy, snack foods, and sugary beverages are available in checkout lines in a convenience sample retail chain stores in New York City that sell products for children.
The main findings are that most of the stores in the sample sold at least one form of convenience foods at the checkout. In addition, “corral-style” checkout lines had a more diverse sample of snack foods available throughout the line.
we are interested in scaling this work so it can reach more US adults and help them improve their diet quality and diet-related health.
WeightControl.com Interview with: Maya Vadiveloo, PhD, RD Assistant Professor Nutrition and Food Sciences University of Rhode Island
Dr. Vadiveloo
WeightControl.com: What is the background for this study? What are the main findings?
Response:We conducted this study with the goal of helping people make healthier dietary choices while at the grocery store. We know that food companies use personalized messages and discounts that prompt people to buy unhealthy foods. We tested whether similar approaches could be used to encourage people to buy healthier foods by sending people 2 personalized, healthy food coupons each week to make these foods more affordable. We also wanted our recommendations to reflect people’s dietary preferences, so we only sent people coupons that aligned with preferences they told us at the beginning of the study .
The coupons were directly linked to people’s loyalty cards and they also received a brief nutrition message and recipe via email every week.
Overall, we found that people liked the personalized healthy food incentives, that it prompted them to purchase more healthy foods, and improved the overall diet quality of their grocery purchases.
Our research suggests that we have to look beyond the direct effect of COVID-19 and mortality, and need to consider the medium- and long-term effects on non-COVID diseases such as diabetes.
WeightControl.com Interview with: Dr Amitava Banerjee MA MPH DPhil FHEA FAHA FESC FRCP FRCP (Ed) FFCI Associate Professor in Clinical Data Science and Honorary Consultant Cardiologist Institute of Health Informatics, University College London Adjunct Associate Professor in Public Health Amrita Institute of Medical Sciences, Kochi, India
WeightControl.com: What is the background for this study?
Response: Severe obesity was on the UK government’s list of moderate risk conditions for severe COVID-19 on 16 March 2020(1), with increased importance for social distancing and other measures. Obesity is in itself a risk factor for chronic diseases, including diabetes and cardiovascular disease, which themselves increase the risk of severe COVID-19. We aimed to project the number of excess deaths in severely obese individuals. In addition, the lockdown can lead to prolonged periods of inactivity and weight gain, which could lead to increased burden of chronic diseases, particularly diabetes and cardiovascular diseases. To provide these projections, we used national electronic health records representative of the UK population.
Primary healthcare, even in under-resources rural settings, has the capacity to offer effective weight loss counseling through different types of patient visits
WeightControl.com Interview with: Christie A. Befort, Ph.D., Professor Associate Director, Cancer Prevention and Control Co-Leader, Cancer Control and Population Health Program KU Cancer Center
WeightControl.com: What is the background for this study?
Response: Primary care clinics are an important place for patients to get help with weight loss, especially for those who are at risk from obesity-related health complications or who have other medical conditions that may make weight loss more difficult. This is especially true in remote rural areas where obesity prevalence is higher and there is less access to effective programs.
WeightControl.com: What are the main findings?
Response: Rural primary care clinics are able to offer weight loss counseling to their patients with clinically meaningful long-term weight loss after 2 years for approximately 2 out of 5 patients. In-clinic group visits have a small advantage over in-clinic individual visits for weight loss outcomes.
Even small amounts of weight loss, even 3%-5% of body weight, can provide significant health benefits to individuals with overweight and obesity.
WeightControl.com Interview with: Dr. Louis Aronne, MD, FACP Chief Medical Officer, Intellihealth Medical Director, Comprehensive Weight Control Center, Weill Cornell Medicine
Dr. Louis Aronne
WeightControl.com: What is the background for the study “Effect of an Online Weight Management Program Integrated With Population Health Management on Weight Change: A Randomized Clinical Trial”?
Response: More than 70% of U.S. adults have overweight or obesity. Online programs promoting lifestyle change have had some success in helping people achieve and maintain weight loss, but study results have been variable, and these programs have not been widely implemented in primary care. We studied the effectiveness of an online program we have developed (Intellihealth, formerly known as BMIQ) in routine primary care practices, both alone and integrated with population health management (with participants receiving additional support and outreach from nonclinical staff). The study’s objective was to determine whether a combined intervention integrating online weight management with population health management would increase weight loss at 12 months among primary care patients compared with the online program only and usual care.
The study, funded through an award from the Patient-Centered Outcomes Research Institute (PCORI), was carried out as a cluster randomized trial with 840 patients within the Brigham and Women’s Hospital Primary Care Center of Excellence, a group of 15 primary care practices, between 2016 and 2019. Eligible participants had a scheduled primary care visit and were aged 20 to 70 years, had a body mass index between 27 and less than 40, and had a diagnosis of hypertension or type 2 diabetes.
No clinical trial has been conducted to prove this concept in humans just yet, current fluoroquinolones are not to be used for weight control at this point.
WeightControl.com Interview with: Dr. Marcelo Alves da Silva Mori PhD Professor,University of Campinas
WeightControl.com: What is the background for this study? What are the main findings?
Response: microRNAs are small non-coding RNAs that play important roles in gene expression regulation. Aging and obesity leads to dysfunction of microRNA processing in adipose tissue, which in turn impairs the thermogenic capacity of brown fat and results in insulin resistance. Enoxacin is a small molecule fluoroquinolone that promotes microRNA biogenesis.
In our most recent paper, we used enoxacin as proof of principle to demonstrate in mice and human cells that drugs targeting the microRNA processing pathway can be used to enhance oxidative metabolism and promote thermogenesis, thus mitigating obesity.
