Food intake in nonpurging obese women who binge eat before and after a behavioral weight loss program

Little is known about the impact of behavioral programs to decrease binge eating in obese persons who do not purge. This study was conducted to compare the amount of change in the reduction of binge days and selected nutrients in women who had joined a behavioral weight loss program. Forty-six women in the behavioral self management (BSM) group and thirty-six women in the Wait List Control (WLC) groups completed seven day food records at baseline and six months. These records were analyzed for calories, percentage of calories from protein, carbohydrate, fat and dietary fiber/ 1000 calories and were marked as "binge" or "nonbinge" days. Foods were also divided into 12 food groups but only six contributing to fat intake were chosen for analysis: dairy; fat; grains and starchy vegetables; meat, fish, and poultry; meat, fish, and poultry combinations; snacks and desserts. At six months, there was no difference in the amount of change in any of the selected nutrients between the BSM and WLC groups or in the amount of change within each food group except in the meat, fish, and poultry combination and in the snacks and desserts groups because both groups experienced similar changes at six months. Binge and nonbinge day nutrient analysis by BSM and WLC showed that at baseline and six months within the BSM group, calories increased significantly on binge days. Within the WLC group at six months, percentage of calories from protein was significantly decreased on binge days.^ The significant finding of this study was the reduction in the amount of change in the number of binge days at six months between the BSM and WLC groups ($-$2.2 versus $-$1.1 respectively). These data suggest that behavioral programs can successful reduce binge days, but that significant change in food intake may require more intensive treatment. ^

The heart challenge: The effect of regular aerobic exercise on body fat distribution in third and fourth grade school children: A randomized clinical trial

The pattern of body fat distribution known as "centralized", and characterized by a predominance of subcutaneous fat on the trunk and a "pot belly", has been associated with an increased risk of chronic disease. These patterns of fat distribution, as well as the lifestyle habit variables associated with adult fatness and chronic morbidity clearly begin to develop during childhood, indicating the need for intervention and primary prevention of obesity, particularly the centralized form, during childhood or adolescence. The purpose of this study was to determine whether regular aerobic exercise could beneficially alter the distribution of body fat in 8 and 9 year old children. One hundred and eighty-eight participants were randomized into either a regular aerobic exercise treatment group or a standard physical education program control group. A variety of aerobic activities was used for intervention 5 days per week during physical education class for a period of 12 weeks. Fat distribution was measured by a number of the most commonly used indices, including ratios of body circumferences and skinfolds and indices derived from a principal components analysis. Change over time in average pulse rate was used to determine if intervention actually occurred. Approximately 10% of the students were remeasured, allowing the calculation of intra- and interexaminer measurement reliability estimates for all indices.^ This study group was comparable to the U.S. population, though the study children were slightly larger for certain measures. No effect of the exercise intervention was found. The most likely explanation for this was inadequacy of the intervention, as indicated by the lack of any change in average pulse rate with treatment. The results of the measurement reliability analysis are reported and indicate that body circumference ratios are more precise than skinfold ratios, particularly when multiple observers are used. Reliability estimates for the principal component indices were also high.^ It remains unclear whether the distribution of body fat can be altered with exercise. It is likely that this issue will remain undecided until one highly reliable, valid, and sensitive measure of fat distribution can be found. ^

Acceleration of the PanIN Development in Mice Expressing Oncogenic K-Ras Due to a High Fat Diet

Obesity is postulated to be one of the major risk factors for pancreatic cancer, and recently it was indicated that an elevated body mass index (BMI correlates strongly with a decrease in patient survival. Despite the evident relationship, the molecular mechanisms involved are unclear. Oncogenic mutation of K-Ras is found early and is universal in pancreatic cancer. Extensive evidence indicates oncogenic K-Ras is not entirely active and it requires a triggering event to surpass the activity of Ras beyond the threshold necessary for a Ras-inflammation feed-forward loop. We hypothesize that high fat intake induces a persistent low level inflammatory response triggering increased K-Ras activity and that Cox-2 is essential for this inflammatory reaction. To determine this, LSL-K-Ras mice were crossed with Ela-CreER (Acinar-specific) or Pdx-1-Cre (Pancreas-specific) to “knock-in” oncogenic K-Ras. Additionally, these animals were crossed with Cox-2 conditional knockout mice to access the importance of Cox-2 in the inflammatory loop present. The mice were fed isocaloric diets containing 60% energy or 10% energy from fat. We found that a high fat diet increased K-Ras activity, PanIN formation, and fibrotic stroma significantly compared to a control diet. Genetic deletion of Cox-2 prevented high fat diet induced fibrosis and PanIN formation in oncogenic K-Ras expressing mice. Additionally, long term consumption of high fat diet, increased the progression of PanIN lesions leading to invasive cancer and decreased overall survival rate. These findings indicate that a high fat diet can stimulate the activation of oncogenic K-Ras and initiate an inflammatory feed forward loop requiring Cox-2 leading to inflammation, fibrosis, and PanINs. This mechanism could explain the relationship between a high fat diet and elevated risk for pancreatic cancer.

The development of poultry farms risk assessment tool for avian influenza in Imo State, Nigeria

Background: Nigeria was one of the 13 countries where avian influenza outbreak in poultry farms was reported during the 2006 avian influenza pandemic threat and was also the first country in Africa to report the presence of H5N1influenza among its poultry population. There are multiple hypotheses on how the avian influenza outbreak of 2006 was introduced to Nigeria, but the consensus is that once introduced, poultry farms and their workers were responsible for 70% of the spread of avian influenza virus to other poultry farms and the population. ^ The spread of avian influenza has been attributed to lack of compliance by poultry farms and their workers with poultry farm biosecurity measures. When poultry farms fail to adhere to biosecurity measures and there is an outbreak of infectious diseases like in 2006, epidemiological investigations usually assess poultry farm biosecurity—often with the aid of a questionnaire. Despite the importance of questionnaires in determining farm compliance with biosecurity measures, there have been few efforts to determine the validity of questionnaires designed to assess poultry farms risk factors. Hence, this study developed and validated a tool (questionnaire) that can be used for poultry farm risk stratification in Imo State, Nigeria. ^ Methods: Risk domains were generated using literature and recommendations from agricultural organizations and the Nigeria government for poultry farms. The risk domains were then used to develop a questionnaire. Both the risk domain and questionnaire were verified and modified by a group of five experts with a research interest in Nigeria's poultry industry and/or avian influenza prevention. Once a consensus was reached by the experts, the questionnaire was distributed to 30 selected poultry farms in Imo State, Nigeria that participated in this study. Survey responses were received for all the 30 poultry farms that were selected. The same poultry farms were visited one week after they completed the questionnaires for on-site observation. Agreement among survey and observation results were analyzed using a kappa test and rated as poor, fair, moderate, substantial, or nearly perfect; and internal consistency of the survey was also computed. ^ Result: Out of the 43 items on the questionnaire, 32 items were validated by this study. The agreement between the survey result and onsite observation was analyzed using kappa test and ranged from poor to nearly perfect. Most poultry farms had their best agreements in the contact section of the survey. The least agreement was noted in the farm management section of the survey. Thirty-two questions on the survey had a coefficient alpha > 0.70, which is a robust internal consistency for the survey. ^ Conclusion: This study developed 14 risk domains for poultry farms in Nigeria and validated 32 items from the original questionnaire that contained 43 items. The validated items can be used to determine the risk of introduction and spread of avian influenza virus in poultry farms in Imo State, Nigeria. After further validations in other states, regions and poultry farm sectors in Nigeria; this risk assessment tool can then be used to determine the risk profile of poultry farms across Nigeria.^