The burden of obesity threatens the health and quality of life of an increasing number of Europeans. For this reason national governments and the European Commission have allocated substantial resources to find out how to reverse this trend. Although we now know a great deal about body weight control systems and that these are influenced by genetic traits, the current increase in obesity in Europe is greatly influenced by lifestyle, diet and physical activity. There is a need for more information on the precise factors that promote obesity and this will in turn provide the basis for preventive public health measures. Here is an overview of some of the current EU funded research projects in this area referred to by their acronyms.
Early nutrition
It is believed that nutrition in the womb and in infancy influences the later health and development of the child. Three projects are examining maternal and infant nutrition to find out how early diet influences later risk of obesity and/or developing life limiting conditions such as diabetes, cardiovascular disease, cancer and mental illness. The EARNEST project is examining the mechanism behind the early programming of adult health and if such programming can be altered or even reversed. The NUTRIX project has examined how foetal growth in adverse prenatal and postnatal conditions (related to nutrition) lead to the programming of obesity in adulthood, and the EU Childhood Obesity Group is looking at how the protein content of infant diets might be linked to early determinants of obesity.
Adolescence
The teenage years are a time of change and many life-long habits, both healthy and unhealthy, develop at this time. This is why adolescence is an important time to develop and support positive health behaviour and healthy lifestyles. Project HELENA is a three year study designed to understand and enhance the nutritional and lifestyle habits of European adolescents. Increased knowledge about physical activity patterns, food choices and food preferences will enable the development of computer-based more effective education tools for this population.
Diet composition
The macronutrient composition of the diet, its impact on weight control and the interaction with our genes, continues to be a hot topic. A number of projects are currently underway in this area. For example DIOGENES is investigating the role of carbohydrate, especially the glycaemic index and protein in the prevention of weight gain and regain after dieting. The glycaemic index is a measure of the rise in blood glucose following intake of a given food, as compared to a standard food and which gives an indication of the rate at which carbohydrates are digested and absorbed into the bloodstream. LIPGENE is concerned with discovering if the composition of dietary fat influences one of the main adverse effects of obesity, namely insulin resistance and if this process is affected by genetic variation.
Behaviour
Many of the studies have included psychological and/or behavioural aspects to help identify those at particular risk of weight gain but the Factors in Healthy Eating study is devoted to understanding the social, psychological and genetic characteristics that predispose an individual towards eating disorders. The project has already identified risk and protective factors in individuals and families, factors relevant to weight loss in young obese patients and candidates for genes that make an individual susceptible to eating disorders.
Future policy
Future public health measures will be influenced by the outcome of these studies. The research outcome will:
- Help us understand how best to feed mothers and infants so that children do not develop phenotypes that predispose them towards overeating and obesity.
- Help us know more about the best balance of energy intake and physical activity and conditions for preventing weight gain and other chronic diseases.
- Allow us to identify those at high risk of eating disorders and know how to help them.
- Give us a better insight into how to motivate adolescents to make healthy lifestyle choices.
For details of individual projects and to check on progress, visit the specified website.
For more information
FOOD TODAY 06/2006
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