Dissertations / Theses: 'Obesity'

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Bawaked, Rowaedh Ahmed 1985. "Childhood obesity : interrelation amoong diet quality, lifestyle factors, and obesity." Doctoral thesis, Universitat Pompeu Fabra, 2018. http://hdl.handle.net/10803/665009.

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La obesidad infantil sigue siendo una importante carga para la salud pública. Comprender e identificar la compleja relación entre la calidad de la dieta y los factores del estilo de vida es importante para el control de peso en los niños y las estrategias de prevención de la obesidad infantil. Esta tesis se basa en datos de tres estudios: i) Enkid, un estudio nacional representativo de la población española de 2 a 24 años, n = 3534; ii) POIBC, un programa de obesidad infantil basado en la comunidad, que incluye niños de 8 a 10 años, n = 2250. El estudio se llevó a cabo durante dos años escolares, desde 2012 a 2014, con un seguimiento promedio de 15 meses; iii) INMA, cohorte de nacimiento de base poblacional con niños de 4 años i un seguimiento promedio de 3 años, n = 1.480. Encontramos que la ingesta total de flavonoides, la frecuencia de las comidas y la actividad física se asociaron positivamente con la adherencia a la dieta mediterránea, mientras que el tiempo de pantalla y la alimentación externa se asociaron con una mala adherencia. Un alto nivel de educación materna fue asociado a una más alta adherencia a la dieta mediterránea en los niños. Usamos el índice inflamatorio de la dieta para explorar la asociación entre el potencial inflamatorio de la dieta y su calidad. Concluimos que una dieta saludable, caracterizada por una alta adherencia a la dieta mediterránea, una alta capacidad antioxidante, o una baja densidad energética, estaba relacionada con un mayor potencial antiinflamatorio de la dieta. Finalmente, en dos estudios, evaluamos el impacto de los comportamientos obesogénicos en el estilo de vida sobre la obesidad infantil y la obesidad abdominal. En el primer estudio (artículo IV), definimos cuatro comportamientos obesogénicos como: <1 hora de actividad física/día; ≥2 horas/día de tiempo de pantalla; saltarse el desayuno; y tener menos de 3 comidas/día. Encontramos que la concurrencia de conductas obesogénicas (tiempo de pantalla alto, saltarse el desayuno, o baja actividad física y frecuencia de comidas) aumentaba el riesgo de tener un z-score de IMC más alto, un mayor relación cintura-altura y mayores probabilidades de sobrepeso y obesidad abdominal. Además, un alto nivel de educación materna y parental se asoció con la disminución de la presencia de comportamientos obesogénicos. En el segundo estudio (artículo V), construimos un score de estilo de vida saludable infantil (CHLS, por sus siglas en inglés) que comprendía cinco comportamientos de estilo de vida de interés que eran favorables (actividad física extracurricular, tiempo de sueño, consumo de alimentos basados en plantas) o desfavorables (tiempo de televisión y consumo de alimentos ultraprocesados). Encontramos que el CHLS a los 4 años de edad se asoció negativamente con el IMC, z-score de cintura, y mayores probabilidades de sobrepeso y obesidad a los 7 años. In Conclusión, Esta investigación de doctorado demuestra un aumento en el IMC entre los niños españoles con baja actividad física, frecuencia de comidas y tiempo de sueño, y un alto tiempo de TV y consumo de alimentos ultraprocesados. Los hallazgos también resaltan una relación inversa entre la circunferencia de la cintura y la actividad física i el tiempo de sueño. En contraste con esto, observamos lo opuesto a saltarse el desayuno y el tiempo de televisión. El nivel educativo materno está asociado con la calidad de la dieta de los niños y la presencia de factores de estilo de vida obesos. Nuestros resultados destaca varios comportamientos modificables clave que pueden ser objeto de políticas e intervenciones para mejorar la calidad de la dieta, con el objetivo de abordar el problema de la obesidad infantil en España.
Childhood obesity remains a major public health burden. Understanding and identifying the complex relationship between diet quality and lifestyle factors is important for pediatric weight control and obesity prevention strategies. The main scope of the present thesis was to determine the complex correlation between obesogenic behaviors, diet quality and overweight and obesity in Spanish youth. This thesis is based on data from three studies: i) Enkid, a representative national study of the Spanish population aged 2 to 24 years, n=3534; ii) POIBC, a community based childhood obesity program, including children aged 8 to 10 years, n = 2250. The study was carried out during two school years, 2012 to 2014, with an average follow-up of 15 months; iii) INMA, population-based birth cohort, including children aged 4 years with an average follow-up of 3 years, n= 1480. We found that total flavonoids intake (paper I), meal frequency and physical activity were positively associated with adherence to the Mediterranean diet (paper III), while screen time and external eating were associated with poor adherence (paper III). A high maternal level of education increased the odds of a child adhering to the Mediterranean diet (paper III).We used the diet inflammatory index to explore the association between the inflammatory potential of diet and diet quality (paper II). We concluded that a healthy diet, characterized by high adherence to the Mediterranean diet, high total dietary antioxidant capacity, or low energy density, was linked to greater anti-inflammatory potential of the diet. Finally, in two studies we evaluated the impact of lifestyle obesogenic behaviors on childhood obesity and abdominal obesity. In the first study (paper IV), we defined four obesogenic behaviors as: <1 hour physical activity/day; ≥2 hour/day of screen time; skipping breakfast; and having fewer than 3 meals/day. We found that the concurrence of obesogenic behaviors (high screen time, skipping breakfast, and low physical activity and meal frequency) increased risk of higher Body mass index (BMI) z-scores, higher waist-to-height ratio (WHtR) and higher odds of overweight and abdominal obesity. In addition, high maternal and parental education was associated with decreasing presence of obesogenic behaviors. In the second study (paper V), we constructed a child healthy lifestyle score (CHLS) comprising five target lifestyle behaviors that were either favorable (extracurricular physical activity, sleep time, plantbased food consumption) or unfavorable (television time and consumption of ultra-processed foods).We found that CHLS at age 4 years was negatively associated with BMI, waist circumference (WC) z-scores and higher odds of overweight and obesity at age 7 years. This PhD research shows an increase in BMI among Spanish children with low physical activity, meal frequency, and sleep time, and high TV time and ultra-processed food intake. The findings also highlight an inverse relationship between waist circumference and physical activity, sleep time, whereas skipping breakfast, and TV time were positively associated with WC z-score and increased the odds of abdominal obesity. Maternal educational level determines children’s diet quality, and the presence of obesity lifestyle factors. Our finding highlights several key modifiable behaviors that can be targeted by policies and interventions to improve diet quality and to tackle the childhood obesity problem in Spain.

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Tucakovic, Lada. "Role of anthocyanins in attenuating obesity and obesity-induced inflammation." Thesis, Griffith University, 2018. http://hdl.handle.net/10072/381005.

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The incidence of obesity and its related metabolic diseases, such as diabetes, cardiovascular disease and hypertension, has escalated dramatically over the past decades worldwide, so much so that it has reached epidemic proportions. It has become a significant public health issue and a massive burden to the health-care system in developed and developing countries. Obesity is the fifth leading risk for human mortality around the globe, resulting in 2.8 million adult deaths each year. Another alarming fact is that childhood obesity has increased dramatically since 1990. Childhood obesity is one of the serious public health challenges of the 21st century, with there expected to be about 60 million obese children by 2020 globally. Obesity is connected with chronic low-grade inflammation manifested by increased circulatory levels of several cytokines and acute phase proteins associated with inflammation. While many are secreted by adipocytes, it is believed that increased adipose tissue mass is either directly or indirectly associated with the increased production of inflammation-related factors. Several therapeutic options have been used for short-term treatment of obesity, however many of these cause unpleasant side-effects, including dizziness, headache, anxiety, elevated heart rate and gastro-intestinal issues. There is strong evidence supporting the therapeutic use of polyphenols such as stilbenes, flavonoids and curcuminoids, given that they show potential in the prevention and/or treatment of obesity and its metabolic complications. They are widely accepted in health promotion due to their antioxidant, anti-inflammatory, anti-carcinogenic, anti-obesity, anti-diabetic, and anti-ageing properties. The actions of their effect are thought to be through the suppression of adipocyte differentiation and proliferation, inhibition of fat absorption from the gut, inhibition of lipogenesis, stimulation of β-oxidation, inhibition of production of proinflammatory adipokines, and the stimulation of adiponectin secretion. Polyphenols, specifically anthocyanins, present in a novel plum variety, Queen-Garnet plums (QGP), have been studied in the first clinical trial. It was hypothesised that anthocyanin-rich QGP juice could be effective in reducing body weight and production of adipose tissue hormones (Chapter 4). It was observed that QGPJ significantly reduced body weight in humans after 4 weeks of supplementation. Furthermore, anthocyanins had significant effects on secretion of adiponectin as well as effects on the production of leptin. Anti-inflammatory actions of anthocyanins extracted from bilberries (Vaccinium myrtillus) and blackcurrant (Ribes nigrum) and their effect on pro-inflammatory markers were studied in the second clinical trial. It was hypothesised that high-dose anthocynin supplementation, in the form of MEDOX® capsules, would downregulate inflammatory adipocytokines in overweight and obese individuals (Chapter 5). Results illustrated the significant effect of anthocynins on secretion of MCP1/CCL2 and IL-6 in overweight and obese populations, as well as an effect on TNF-α production in obese individuals. The anti-obesity effect of anthocynin supplementation on body weight and production of adipose tissue hormones was also evaluated in the second clinical trial. It was hypothesised that high-dose anthocyanins would regulate the secretion of hormones as well as decrease the body weight in overweight and obese populations after 4 weeks of supplementation (Chapter 6). It was demonstrated that supplementation with anthocyanins resulted in significant increases in adiponectin secretion as well as significant decreases in leptin production in overweight and obese individuals. Due to the showed beneficial effects of polyphenols on anti and pro inflammatory adipocytokine secretion, the influence of anthocyanins present in QGPJ and MEDOX® supplements on the gene expression of these markers was investigated (Chapters 4, 5 and 6). Interestingly, it was observed that polyphenols did not have a significant effect on the modulation of anti and pro-inflammatory markers’ gene expression. From the observed effects of polyphenols, specifically anthocyanins, on secretion and production of anti and pro-inflammatory markers as well as hormones, further studies with a larger number of volunteers and for a longer time are needed. Investigation of other anti and pro-inflammatory markers, as well as comparison of anthocyanins supplements to current anti-inflammatory and anti-obesity therapies and treatments, could also be beneficial.
Thesis (PhD Doctorate)
Doctor of Philosophy (PhD)
School of Medical Science
Griffith Health
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Siddiq, Afshan. "Genetics of obesity." Thesis, Imperial College London, 2007. http://ethos.bl.uk/OrderDetails.do?uin=uk.bl.ethos.479492.

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Benzinou, Michael. "Genetics of obesity." Thesis, Imperial College London, 2008. http://ethos.bl.uk/OrderDetails.do?uin=uk.bl.ethos.498647.

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Lee, Hyon (Hyon I. ). "Mobile obesity study." Thesis, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, 2009. http://hdl.handle.net/1721.1/61305.

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Thesis (M. Eng.)--Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Dept. of Electrical Engineering and Computer Science, 2009.
Cataloged from PDF version of thesis.
Includes bibliographical references (p. 63-65).
The prevalence of overweight and obesity has steadily increased over the years among all genders, ages, racial and ethnic groups, educational levels, and smoking levels [15]. From 1960 to 2004, the prevalence of overweight increased from 44.8 to 66 percent in U.S. adults age 20 to 74 [14]. The prevalence of obesity during this same time period more than doubled among adults age 20 to 74 from 13.3 to 32.1 percent, with most of this rise occurring since 1980 [14]. As these numbers increase, more people are prone to diabetes and increased risk for congestive heart disease, high blood pressure, osteoarthritis, dyslipoproteinemia, various cancers, and all-cause mortality [5]. With two thirds of American adults of age 20 or older being overweight or obese [13], it is imperative to prevent these numbers from rising any further; and, one way is to increase the level of general physical activity [5]. The main idea of the study is to use a mobile device (in our case, a mobile phone) to automatically and continuously monitor physical activity and then to reinforce increases in physical activity using positive reinforcement and operant conditioning learning theory. Prior work in behavioral science suggests that well-timed, positive, and tailored messages can influence behavior. This will be the first study to investigate the potential of using automatic activity recognition using sensors to apply this theory and to measure the impact consistent application of the theory might have on motivating behavior changes. Although we will study physical activity, the same strategies could be used to encourage other desired behavior changes.
by Hyon Lee.
M.Eng.

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Thomas, Patricia Ann. "Rehabilitation of obesity." CSUSB ScholarWorks, 1998. https://scholarworks.lib.csusb.edu/etd-project/1454.

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This project investigates the many influences throughout the life span that interact to cause obesity. Heredity factors, overfeeding in infancy and childhood, repeated dieting, inactivity, lifestyle and psychosocial conditions all contribute to the incidence of obesity.

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Melton, Bridget Frugoli. "The culture of obesity." Click here to access dissertation, 2005. http://www.georgiasouthern.edu/etd/archive/fall2005/bmelton/Melton%5FBridget%5FF%5F200508%5Fedd.pdf.

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Thesis (Ed.D.)--Georgia Southern University, 2005.
"A dissertation submitted to the Graduate Faculty of Georgia Southern University in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree Doctor of Education" ETD. Includes bibliographical references (p. 172-187) and appendices.

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Johnson, Brad. "The oppression of obesity." Click here to access dissertation, 2008. http://www.georgiasouthern.edu/etd/archive/summer2008/brad_johnson/johnson_brad_l_200805_edd.pdf.

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Thesis (Ed.D.)--Georgia Southern University, 2008.
"A dissertation submitted to the Graduate Faculty of Georgia Southern University in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree Doctor of Education." Under the direction of Rosemarie Stallworth-Clark and William Reynolds. ETD. Electronic version approved: July 2008. Includes bibliographical references (p. 192-206) and appendices.

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Okwuosa, Veronica A. "Obesity among Latino children." Thesis, California State University, Long Beach, 2013. http://pqdtopen.proquest.com/#viewpdf?dispub=1522591.

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Obesity is described as a chronic disease affecting adults, children, and adolescents. It has become a significant burden for the healthcare system and is considered one of the top health problems contributing to severe complications from childhood through adulthood. Obesity represents one of the most worrisome health problems in the United States, because it directly affects the health of individuals.

The research objective was to educate parents and grandparents of Latino children under age 17 regarding the importance of healthy food choices and physical activity. The aim was to empower parents and grandparents to practice health promotion and disease prevention. A descriptive design with pretest and posttest was utilized to indicate the knowledge gained by participants after the instructional phase. The result of the data analysis indicated an increase for the majority of participants regarding their level of understanding about healthy eating and the importance of physical activity.

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Taylor, Moira Ann. "Meal pattern and obesity." Thesis, Queen Mary, University of London, 1996. http://ethos.bl.uk/OrderDetails.do?uin=uk.bl.ethos.309303.

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Robinson, Monique Renee. "Cardiac pathophysiology of obesity." Thesis, University of Oxford, 2005. http://ethos.bl.uk/OrderDetails.do?uin=uk.bl.ethos.414224.

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Handrigan, Grant A. "Obesity and Balance Control." Thesis, Université Laval, 2013. http://www.theses.ulaval.ca/2013/29568/29568.pdf.

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L'obésité affecte le contrôle de l'équilibre. Deux facteurs, biomécanique et sensoriel, contribuent à le réduire. Une masse augmentée, située au niveau de l'abdomen, provoque une augmentation du moment de force gravitationnel à la cheville. Une plus grande force musculaire est alors nécessaire, introduisant plus de variabilité dans le contrôle moteur, ce qui mène à des oscillations du corps plus importante. La deuxième composante qui n’a pas encore été vérifiée, suggère qu’elle soit la résultante des effets de l'augmentation de la masse corporelle sur les mécanorécepteurs plantaires. Ces mécanorécepteurs fournissent de l’information liée à la position du centre de pression. La surcharge pondérale pourrait augmenter le seuil de sensibilité des mécanorécepteurs et ainsi réduire la qualité des rétroactions sensorielles. Cela causerait des oscillations du corps de plus grande amplitude. Cette thèse explore ces hypothèses. Afin d'évaluer si la force musculaire permet un meilleur contrôle de l’équilibre, deux projets distincts ont été effectués. Le premier projet évaluait la manière dont la force musculaire et le contrôle de l’équilibre étaient affectés par la perte de poids. Le deuxième projet consistait à mesurer le contrôle de l'équilibre dans un groupe d'individus athlétiques bien entrainés avec un indice de masse corporel (IMC) semblable aux personnes obèses. Les deux projets ont démontré que le contrôle de l’équilibre n'était pas affecté par la force de contraction maximale des quadriceps dans la population obèse. Dans un troisième projet, nous avons évalué et constaté que l'obésité contribuait à réduire l'équilibre chez les personnes âgées. Deux autres projets ont été réalisés afin d’étudier la contribution des afférences provenant de la voûte plantaire sur le contrôle de l'équilibre. Le premier impliquait un refroidissement de la voûte plantaire et mesurait son effet sur le contrôle de l'équilibre. À court terme, un effet sur la réduction du contrôle de l’équilibre a été observé. Le projet final de cette thèse portait sur l’effet à court terme d’une masse ajoutée au corps, pour simuler l’impact de l’obésité, sur la sensibilité plantaire. Dans des conditions où la voûte plantaire subissait une pression accrue, nous avons trouvé une sensibilité plantaire réduite. Ces résultats supportent l’hypothèse sensorielle, sans toutefois écarter l’hypothèse mécanique, pour expliquer l’association entre une réduction du contrôle de l’équilibre et l'obésité.
Obesity affects balance control. There are two possible contributing factors to this reduced balance control: biomechanical and sensory. The increased mass, that is centrally located on the abdomen, causes an increased gravitational torque about the ankle joint. This increased ankle torque requires greater muscular strength and this introduces greater variability into the control system and results in larger body oscillations. The second component that has not yet been identified is suggested to result from the effects that an increased in body mass has on the plantar sole mechanoreceptors. These mechanoreceptors participate in body sway awareness and it is thought that the additional mass of the body may alter the sensitivity of these mechanoreceptors and reduce the quality of the feedback afferent signal and this may then lead to larger body sway. This thesis explores both of these hypotheses. In order to observe how muscular strength affects the mechanical contributions towards quiet standing we performed two separate projects. The first project evaluated how weight loss affected muscular strength and standing balance control. The second project involved measuring balance control in a group of athletic individuals who were well trained but had a body mass index (BMI) similar to obese individuals. Together, both projects demonstrated that balance control is not significantly associated by quadriceps maximal voluntary contraction strength in the obese population during normal quiet standing. In a third project, we evaluated whether obesity affects balance control in elderly females. To single out the role of obesity, balance control of normal weight elderly women was compared to that of obese elderly women. We found that obesity contributes to reduced balance control in elderly individuals. This has important implications as a falls risk factor in this population. We also performed two projects investigating the sensory contributions to reduced balance control. The first project involved cooling the plantar sole and measuring balance control. A short term effect of reduced balance control was found. This demonstrates that reducing the sensation of the plantar sole affects standing balance control. The final project in this thesis measured the effects of two things on plantar sole sensitivity; the effects of adding a short term mass to the body and the position of the center of pressure relative to a point of stimulation. In conditions with increased pressure on the plantar sole we found reduced sensitivity in the plantar sole. This has implications for explaining the reduced balance control in obesity. In conclusion, this thesis explores biomechanical and sensory contributions to standing balance control.

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Glenn, Danylle R. "Treating obesity through exercise." Honors in the Major Thesis, University of Central Florida, 1998. http://digital.library.ucf.edu/cdm/ref/collection/ETH/id/34.

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This item is only available in print in the UCF Libraries. If this is your Honors Thesis, you can help us make it available online for use by researchers around the world by following the instructions on the distribution consent form at http://library.ucf.edu/Systems/DigitalInitiatives/DigitalCollections/InternetDistributionConsentAgreementForm.pdf You may also contact the project coordinator, Kerri Bottorff, at kerri.bottorff@ucf.edu for more information.
Bachelors
Education
Exceptional and Physical Education

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Motlagh, Ahmad Reza Dorosty. "Epidemiology of childhood obesity." Thesis, University of Glasgow, 2001. http://theses.gla.ac.uk/1932/.

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In recent years awareness of childhood obesity as a clinical and public health problem has increased. However, a number of important issues related to childhood obesity were unclear when this thesis began. The aims of this thesis were as follows: 1. To estimate the prevalence of obesity in British and Iranian children. 2. To assess the strengths and weaknesses of the body mass index (BMI) as a way of identifying obese children/estimating obesity prevalence. 3. To investigate the factors associated with early 'adiposity rebound'. 4. To identify risk factors for obesity in British children. This thesis showed that prevalence of childhood obesity in British and Iranian children was significantly higher than expected and that obesity prevalence in children increased during the 1990s. These results are consistent with reports of increased childhood obesity in the USA, Europe, and some other countries. Using BMI 95th centile as the definition of childhood obesity has moderately high sensitivity and high specificity, though a definition of BMI 92nd centile was shown in this thesis to be optimum. This thesis indicated that the typical age of AR in British children must be sometime between 5-7 years. Further research on the factors associated with timing of AR is recommended. A number of independent risk factors for childhood obesity are identified. Parental obesity, birth weight, fizzy drink consumption, and time spent in the car had the strongest association.

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Higgins, Vanessa. "Ethnic differences in obesity." Thesis, University of Manchester, 2017. https://www.research.manchester.ac.uk/portal/en/theses/ethnic-differences-in-obesity(0a7714ea-c08e-46d0-b3b9-4064f3a109b6).html.

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Previous research has identified ethnic differences in adult obesity but has not fully explored the pathways that explain the ethnic differences, which may relate to both individual and area-level characteristics. This thesis identifies ethnic differences in obesity for eight key ethnic groups in England, before and after accounting for a range of individual-level and area-level factors. In addition, the thesis explores ethno-religious differences in obesity. Four key pathways to obesity are explored: social and structural inequality, migration-related, culture and health behaviour. Area-level factors examined are area deprivation, co-ethnic density and ethnic area type. As a basis for this comparative analysis, the thesis also examines approaches to the measurement of obesity and is the first study to use weight and waist as obesity outcomes in a study of ethnic differences in obesity (with height and hip respectively as explanatory variables). Data come from four years of the Health Survey for England (1998, 1999, 2003 and 2004) and linked area-level data from the 2001 Census. Multi-level modelling methods are used to account for individual-level and area-level factors. For waist, before adjusting for explanatory factors, Indian, Pakistani, Bangladeshi and Irish men and all seven of the women's ethnic minority groups have larger waists than the White group. After adjusting for individual and area-level factors, only the Indian and Pakistani men and Bangladeshi, Pakistani and Chinese women have statistically significantly larger waists than the White group. For weight, before adjusting for explanatory factors, Black Caribbean, Black African and Pakistani women are heavier than White women. However, in the adjusted models, the Pakistani women are no longer heavier than the White women. Both the unadjusted and adjusted models reveal that Black African Muslim women are lighter in weight than Black African non-Muslim women. Indian Sikh men and women have the largest waists of the Indian ethno-religious groups. The study finds that the pathway to ethnic and ethno-religious differences in obesity is multi-dimensional; a combined effect of social and structural inequality, migration, culture, and health behaviour for most ethnic groups. Waist circumference - individual level pathways: After adjusting for explanatory factors, the largest decrease to the waist circumference of men and women, relative to White women, is due to entering the migration-related variables into the models. This is consistent for men and women in all ethnic minority and all ethno-religious groups. In addition, entering the socio-economic position variables into the models substantially decreases the waist of Pakistani, Bangladeshi and Black African women, relative to White women - this is due to the low socio-economic position of these ethnic groups. Entering the socio-economic position variables into the models also decreases the waist of the Black African and Indian Muslim women to a greater extent than the non-Muslim Black African and Indian women. When the health behaviour variables are entered into the models, there is a large decrease in waist for Pakistani and Bangladeshi men relative to White men - this is due the low levels of physical activity among these ethnic groups compared to the White group. Entering health status into the models also results in a decrease to Bangladeshi men and women, Pakistani women, Indian women and Black Caribbean women's waist, relative to White women - this is due to the poorer health status of these groups. Weight - individual level pathways: After adjusting for explanatory factors, the largest decrease in women's weight, for all ethnic and ethno-religious groups relative to White women, is due to the migration-related variables and the health behaviour variables. For most groups the migration-related variables have the largest effect but for Pakistani and Bangladeshi women the health behaviour variables have the largest effect - this is due to the low levels of physical activity among Pakistani and Bangladeshi women. Entering the socio-economic position variables into the models also decreases the weight of the Black African and Indian Muslim women but increases (or makes little difference to) the weight of non-Muslim Black African and Indian women. In contrast, men's weight increases for all ethnic groups, relative to White men, after adjusting for all the explanatory factors - for all groups this effect is mainly due to the socio-economic position variables and, for the Indian and Pakistani men, the migration-related variables. Area-level pathways: Area-level pathways contribute to ethnic/ethno-religious differences in obesity but to a lesser extent than individual-level pathways. Predicted values from interaction models suggest that the effect of area deprivation on weight/waist is different for different ethnic groups. For example, White men and women's weight and waist increases, on average, as area deprivation increases but Indian men's waist and weight and Indian women's waist decreases as area deprivation increases. Interaction models also suggest that co-ethnic density may work differently for different ethnic groups - for example an increase in co-ethnic density results in a decrease to the weight or waist of the Indian, Chinese and Pakistani groups but an increase to the waist of Black Caribbean women. The ethnic area type research needs further study but the results suggest that Indian and Pakistani area types may have a protective effect upon both men's waist and weight.

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McHardy, Karina Mariya. "Obesity monitoring in schools." Thesis, University of Oxford, 2012. http://ora.ox.ac.uk/objects/uuid:3934cc2c-efcb-4d10-a64c-aa4d657f6719.

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Background: Population level child measurement is an established international practice. However, there is limited clarity around the protocol and roles of school-based child measurement programmes (CMPs). Furthermore, questions remain about the positive and adverse outcomes associated with CMPs, as well as their longer-term sustainability. This research contributes new information by addressing these key unanswered questions. Methods: This thesis describes a three-part, mixed methods research project incorporating: a systematic literature review of existing CMPs; an in-depth case study of England’s National Child Measurement Programme; and the development, pilot implementation and evaluation of a CMP in Guernsey. This research was conducted sequentially; individual components informed and guided subsequent work. Results: Routine child measurement is a popular, complex and adaptive practice and offers significant epidemiological value. The principal roles of CMPs are delivery of local prevalence data and assessment of longitudinal trends. However, CMPs are often tasked with additional, diverse and changing roles that do not translate to acknowledged outcomes. Specifically, feedback of individual results represents an unproven programme element. Programme roles can evolve according to political, logistical, or other influences, without consideration of available evidence or wider-reaching implications. There is no evidence of short-term harm from CMPs. Evaluation of the pilot CMP in Guernsey demonstrated that these programmes are perceived to be feasible, acceptable and sustainable. Conclusions: To maximise the broader utility of CMPs, there should be clarity and consistency around their aims, roles and outcomes. Overall, surveillance reflects the preferred programme type. All CMPs should incorporate a standardised, rigorously applied protocol and routine evaluation. These features are essential to ensure the accuracy and comparability of resultant data, as well as programme credibility. Population level CMPs should not function in isolation; instead, they should be integrated into comprehensive strategies for obesity management. This research has important implications for CMP stakeholders and the wider public health arena.

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Rönn, Monika. "Environmental Contaminants and Obesity." Doctoral thesis, Uppsala universitet, Arbets- och miljömedicin, 2013. http://urn.kb.se/resolve?urn=urn:nbn:se:uu:diva-209807.

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Obesity is a worldwide problem affecting both children and adults. Genetic, physiological, environmental, psychological, social and economic factors interact in varying degrees, influencing body weight and fat distribution and the progress of obesity. Moreover, some anthropogenic chemicals have proven to be endocrine disrupting chemicals (EDCs) with the potential to interfere with different actions of hormones in the body. EDCs may thereby disrupt homeostasis, modifying developmental, behavioral and immune functions in humans and animals, and also promoting adiposity. Because hormones generally act at low concentrations, small changes in the endocrine system may lead to extensive effects. Based on data from experimental and epidemiological studies this thesis elucidates the relationship between a large number of environmental contaminants and obesity. The experimental studies demonstrated that fructose supplementation in the drinking water resulted in unfavorable metabolic alterations such as a higher liver somatic index (LSI), an increase in plasma triglycerides and increased plasma levels of apo A-I. Fructose in combination with exposure to bisphenol A (BPA) increased liver fat content and plasma levels of apo A-I in juvenile female Fischer 344 rats. The experimental studies also showed that the retro-peritoneal fat, which in rats is a distinct fat depot easy to distinguish and dissect, correlated well with the measurements of total fat mass analyzed with MRI, and could therefore be used as a substitute for total fat mass in rats. The epidemiological studies showed that circulating levels of persistent organic pollutants (POPs) were related to fat mass measured by DXA. OCDD, HCB, TNC, DDE and the less chlorinated PCBs were positively related to fat mass, while the more highly chlorinated PCBs showed a negative association. Further, circulating levels of BPA were positively associated with levels of the hormones adiponectin and leptin, but negatively related with ghrelin, hormones which are involved in the regulation of hunger and satiety. However, serum BPA levels were not related to measures of fat mass in the elderly individuals in the PIVUS cohort. This thesis concludes that environmental contaminants such as BPA and POPs most likely are contributors, along with genetic, social and behavioral factors, to the development of obesity.

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Suvan, J. E. "Overweight/obesity and periodontitis." Thesis, University College London (University of London), 2014. http://discovery.ucl.ac.uk/1420934/.

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Obesity and Periodontitis are two common chronic inflammatory diseases. Based upon the hypothesis that obesity associated systemic inflammation may affect susceptibility to chronic infectious diseases like periodontitis, the aim of this PhD programme was to investigate the association between overweight/obesity and periodontitis. Five studies were conducted: 1) a systematic review to summarise the current evidence on the association including a quantitative meta-analysis of odds ratios (ORs) for having periodontitis in overweight or obese individuals 2) a secondary analysis of individual patient data (n=333) ascertaining the association between overweight/obesity and the extent/severity and treatment response (2 months) of individuals with severe periodontitis 3) a case control analysis of 286 age-matched individuals to assess the odds of periodontitis diagnosis based on overweight or obese status, 4) a prospective cohort study (n=115) investigating the relationship between obesity and periodontal treatment clinical response, 5) a mechanistic study of twenty gingival specimens assessed for differential miRNAs expression between obese and normal weight individuals. Study 1 demonstrated a statistically significant association between overweight and obesity with diagnosis of periodontitis (ORs range= 1.8-2.3). In Study 2, obesity and overweight were statistically significant predictors of clinical periodontal response at 2 months (p<0.05) independently of dental plaque levels. Results from the Study 3 confirmed increased odds of diagnosis of periodontitis in overweight (OR=2.56) and obesity (OR=3.11) after adjusting for known confounders. Study 4 demonstrated that measures of body composition were predictors of poorer non-surgical periodontal treatment response (p<0.05). Study 5 confirmed statistically significant different miRNA signature profiles of gingival tissues between normal weight and obese individuals. In conclusion, this PhD programme provides evidence of a robust association between overweight/obesity and periodontitis prevalence, extent and severity, and treatment response. The results of this thesis support the classification of obesity as a risk indicator for periodontitis.

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19

David, Constança Youd. "Obesity and socioeconomic gradient." Master's thesis, NSBE, 2013. http://hdl.handle.net/10362/9765.

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A Work Project, presented as part of the requirements for the Award of a Masters Degree in Economics from the NOVA – School of Business and Economics
This work project studies the determinants of body weight for Portuguese population with special incidence in the socioeconomic dimension through a comparison between 2006 and 2012. More specifically how is body weight influenced by a set of socioeconomic variables that may vary throughout the years. In other words, we set out to understand if socioeconomic status (SES) is a real contributor regarding weight. This study entails a thorough analysis of these variables with the intention of understand which of them remain significant and have real impact on the weight of a human body. Literature points to a confirmation of this real impact of SES status in the body weight and, according to our results, income represents the strongest variable to explain changes in human body weight, coinciding with previous findings. In quantitative terms, an increase of 250€ in the household net income for 2012 is translated into an increase of 0.272 in the BMI. Data used was provided by National Health Institute (INSA) along with National Institute of Statistics (INE) and also collected through a survey.

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20

Lourenço, Sandra Cristina de Loureiro. "Alcohol consumption and obesity." Master's thesis, Porto : edição de autor, 2009. http://hdl.handle.net/10216/62567.

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Dissertação de Mestrado em Nutrição Clínica apresentada à Faculdade de Ciências da Nutrição e Alimentação da Universidade do Porto
Resumo da tese: Enquadramento: O facto de o álcool ser o segundo componente alimentar com maior densidade energética sustenta a ideia de que consumos elevados ou mesmo moderados, a longo prazo, possam contribuir para o aumento da ingestão energética, e consequentemente conduzir a um aumento do índice de massa corporal dos indivíduos. A variabilidade da ingestão de álcool existente na população Portuguesa permite observar amplitudes de exposição suficientes para melhor estudar esta relação. Objectivo: Quantificação da associação entre a prevalência de obesidade e a ingestão de etanol, numa amostra urbana de adultos portugueses. Métodos: A amostra seleccionada aleatoriamente, era constituída por 2372 indivíduos adultos (mulheres e homens), na avaliação de obesidade total e por 2383 (mulheres e homens), na avaliação de obesidade central. Estes indivíduos faziam parte da coorte do estudo EPIPorto. Inquiridores treinados procederam à aplicação de um questionário estruturado e avaliação de parâmetros sócio-demográficos e antropométricos. Foi definida obesidade total como o Indice de massa corporal (IMC) peso (kg) /altura (m)2) igual ou superior a 30 kg.m2 e central valores de perímetro da cintura (PC) superior a 88 cm ou 102 cm, para mulheres e homens, respectivamente. A ingestão de etanol foi estimada através de um questionário semi-quantitativo de frequência de alimentos, previamente validado, referente ao ano anterior à entrevista, e ao longo da vida. Os indivíduos foram classificados em 4 classes de ingestão de etanol (g/dia): 0; 0, 1-15,0; 15,0; 30,0 nas mulheres e 0; 0,1-30,0; 30,1-60,0; 60,0 nos homens.
Thesis abstract: Background: The high alcohol consumption in Portugal, and the high energy content of alcoholic beverages, makes alcohol a potential contributor to the obesity. Objective: To evaluate the association between ethanol consumption and overall and central obesity in adults of an urban Portuguese population. Methods: This cross-sectional analysis included 2372 for evaluate overall obesity and 2383 for central obesity. The participants were randomly selected from Porto in-habitants (age: 18 years) enrolled in EPIPorto Study (1999-2003). Trained interviewers applied a questionnaire comprising information on social, demographic, behavioural characteristics, and anthropometrical measures were recorded. Data on ethanol intake were obtained by using a validated semi- quantitative food frequency questionnaire. Subjects were classified in to 4 classes of ethanol intake (g/day):0; 0.1-15.0; 15.1-30.0 ;: 30.0 in women and 0; 0.1-30.0; 30.1-60.0 ;: 60.0 in men. Overall obesity was considered when the body mass index (BMI) was: 30.0 kg/m2 , central obesity, if Waist Circumference (WC) was higher than 88 cm or 102 cm, for women and men respectively. Odds ratios (OR) and 95% confidence intervals (CI) were calculated using unconditional logistic regression with separate models fitted for sex. Results: Prevalence of ethanol intake higher than 30g/day for women and 60g/day for men, was 5.3% in obese women vs. 3.3% in non obese, and 28.4% in obese men vs. 15.8% in non obese. After adjustment for age, education, BMI, smoking, energy intake and sports practice, men who consumed more than 60g/day were more frequently obese (overall) comparing with non drinkers (OR=1.64, 95% CI: 1.33-5.22).

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Handrigan, Grant. "Obesity and Balance Control." Doctoral thesis, Université Laval, 2013. http://hdl.handle.net/20.500.11794/24901.

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L'obésité affecte le contrôle de l'équilibre. Deux facteurs, biomécanique et sensoriel, contribuent à le réduire. Une masse augmentée, située au niveau de l'abdomen, provoque une augmentation du moment de force gravitationnel à la cheville. Une plus grande force musculaire est alors nécessaire, introduisant plus de variabilité dans le contrôle moteur, ce qui mène à des oscillations du corps plus importante. La deuxième composante qui n’a pas encore été vérifiée, suggère qu’elle soit la résultante des effets de l'augmentation de la masse corporelle sur les mécanorécepteurs plantaires. Ces mécanorécepteurs fournissent de l’information liée à la position du centre de pression. La surcharge pondérale pourrait augmenter le seuil de sensibilité des mécanorécepteurs et ainsi réduire la qualité des rétroactions sensorielles. Cela causerait des oscillations du corps de plus grande amplitude. Cette thèse explore ces hypothèses. Afin d'évaluer si la force musculaire permet un meilleur contrôle de l’équilibre, deux projets distincts ont été effectués. Le premier projet évaluait la manière dont la force musculaire et le contrôle de l’équilibre étaient affectés par la perte de poids. Le deuxième projet consistait à mesurer le contrôle de l'équilibre dans un groupe d'individus athlétiques bien entrainés avec un indice de masse corporel (IMC) semblable aux personnes obèses. Les deux projets ont démontré que le contrôle de l’équilibre n'était pas affecté par la force de contraction maximale des quadriceps dans la population obèse. Dans un troisième projet, nous avons évalué et constaté que l'obésité contribuait à réduire l'équilibre chez les personnes âgées. Deux autres projets ont été réalisés afin d’étudier la contribution des afférences provenant de la voûte plantaire sur le contrôle de l'équilibre. Le premier impliquait un refroidissement de la voûte plantaire et mesurait son effet sur le contrôle de l'équilibre. À court terme, un effet sur la réduction du contrôle de l’équilibre a été observé. Le projet final de cette thèse portait sur l’effet à court terme d’une masse ajoutée au corps, pour simuler l’impact de l’obésité, sur la sensibilité plantaire. Dans des conditions où la voûte plantaire subissait une pression accrue, nous avons trouvé une sensibilité plantaire réduite. Ces résultats supportent l’hypothèse sensorielle, sans toutefois écarter l’hypothèse mécanique, pour expliquer l’association entre une réduction du contrôle de l’équilibre et l'obésité.
Obesity affects balance control. There are two possible contributing factors to this reduced balance control: biomechanical and sensory. The increased mass, that is centrally located on the abdomen, causes an increased gravitational torque about the ankle joint. This increased ankle torque requires greater muscular strength and this introduces greater variability into the control system and results in larger body oscillations. The second component that has not yet been identified is suggested to result from the effects that an increased in body mass has on the plantar sole mechanoreceptors. These mechanoreceptors participate in body sway awareness and it is thought that the additional mass of the body may alter the sensitivity of these mechanoreceptors and reduce the quality of the feedback afferent signal and this may then lead to larger body sway. This thesis explores both of these hypotheses. In order to observe how muscular strength affects the mechanical contributions towards quiet standing we performed two separate projects. The first project evaluated how weight loss affected muscular strength and standing balance control. The second project involved measuring balance control in a group of athletic individuals who were well trained but had a body mass index (BMI) similar to obese individuals. Together, both projects demonstrated that balance control is not significantly associated by quadriceps maximal voluntary contraction strength in the obese population during normal quiet standing. In a third project, we evaluated whether obesity affects balance control in elderly females. To single out the role of obesity, balance control of normal weight elderly women was compared to that of obese elderly women. We found that obesity contributes to reduced balance control in elderly individuals. This has important implications as a falls risk factor in this population. We also performed two projects investigating the sensory contributions to reduced balance control. The first project involved cooling the plantar sole and measuring balance control. A short term effect of reduced balance control was found. This demonstrates that reducing the sensation of the plantar sole affects standing balance control. The final project in this thesis measured the effects of two things on plantar sole sensitivity; the effects of adding a short term mass to the body and the position of the center of pressure relative to a point of stimulation. In conditions with increased pressure on the plantar sole we found reduced sensitivity in the plantar sole. This has implications for explaining the reduced balance control in obesity. In conclusion, this thesis explores biomechanical and sensory contributions to standing balance control.

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22

Caravati, Paula Ciavarella. "Obesity Relapse in Women." Diss., Virginia Tech, 2001. http://hdl.handle.net/10919/26817.

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Obesity and relapse after dieting pose a significant threat to an increasing number of adults in this country. Resistance to treatment and high relapse rates make this problem frustrating for patients and practitioners. There is limited research on relapse causation; research on social and life circumstance factors is uncommon. Given the limitations of existing research, the purpose of this study was to investigate the natural course of obesity relapse. A purposive sample of eight obese women, ages 31-57, was selected. All of the women relapsed at least one or more times throughout their lives. A qualitative study design was used to examine and integrate their attributions for relapse. The qualitative paradigm was selected because it allowed for an inclusive study of relapse without confining the investigation to a predetermined set of responses. Information was gathered on contributory factors: physical, social and psychological, but not limited to these areas. These factors were reported in a case study format. Verbatim quotes were used to provide descriptive information and insight into individual cases. Cases were analyzed for main attributions; key words and phrases were used to develop categories. Common themes were derived from these categories and examined across the cases. Conventional wisdom about the factors, which contribute to obesity relapse, was challenged by this research study. Excess calories and decreased physical activity were not the only conditions that were contributory to the respondentsâ relapses. Diverse social and psychological issues often combined with physical factors to dominate the respondentsâ attributions. The relapse attribution themes commonly represented in the case studies included: the impact of food restriction, the impact of having personal choice taken away, negative emotions, physiological factors, lifestyle demands and the return to familiar food habits. Based on this study, it is recommended that obesity practitioners consider assessment and treatment modalities that are holistic. A paradigm shift away from traditional approaches may be a necessary step in providing more effective treatment. Additional research, which focuses on life circumstances and obesity relapse, is needed.
Ph. D.

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23

Ford, Mauntell. "Obesity Induced Colorectal Cancer." The Ohio State University, 2013. http://rave.ohiolink.edu/etdc/view?acc_num=osu1365865780.

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24

Schwartz, Heidi C. "Patterns in childhood obesity." The Ohio State University, 1995. http://rave.ohiolink.edu/etdc/view?acc_num=osu1392714183.

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25

Livingstone, Dawn E. W. "Glucocorticoid metabolism in obesity." Thesis, University of Edinburgh, 2000. http://hdl.handle.net/1842/22417.

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Primary increased secretion of glucocorticoids causes obesity, and increased cortisol secretion has been noted in subjects with idiopathic obesity, especially if of central distribution. Observations in obese men suggest that peripheral glucocorticoid metabolism may be altered. The Zucker rat model of obesity has been utilised in this thesis to assess glucocorticoid metabolism in vitro and in vivo, and to study the mechanisms of its dysregulation. Of particular interest was activity of 11b-hydroxysteroid dehydrogenase type 1, which reactivates glucocorticoids and thus increases local glucocorticoid receptor activation eg in liver and adipose tissue. Obese animals had elevated plasma corticosterone (B), higher urinary B metabolites and heavier adrenal glands when compared with lean rats. They also had increased activity of hepatic 5a-reductase, decreased hepatic 11b-HSD1 and increased renal 11b-HSD2 activity. By contrast, 11b-HSD1 activity was not different in skeletal muscle or subcutaneous fat, and was higher in omental fat of obese animals. Urinary glucocorticoid metabolite profiles, assessed by GCMS, confirmed that metabolism of B by 5a-reductase is increased in obese animals and showed the balance of 11b-HSDs lies in favour of inactive 11-dehydrocorticosterone. Greater inactivation of B by 5a-reductase in liver and 11b-HSD2 in kidney, combined with impaired reactivation by 11b-HSD1 in liver, may decrease local B concentrations in these sites, and increase metabolic clearance rate of glucocorticoids, thus increasing drive to the hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenal axis (HPA). By contrast, increased 11b-HSD1 activity in omental adipose tissue may increase local glucocorticoid receptor activation and promote obesity. In conclusion, 11b-HSD1 activity, and therefore local glucocorticoid concentration, is altered in obesity. Manipulation of this enzyme, particularly in a tissue specific manner, may prove to be a useful therapeutic target in obesity and insulin resistance.

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26

Horton, Leslie Nicole. "Childhood obesity and depression." [Huntington, WV : Marshall University Libraries], 2008. http://www.marshall.edu/etd/descript.asp?ref=863.

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Ne, Jia Yi Anna. "Obesity and Vascular Health." Thesis, The University of Sydney, 2016. http://hdl.handle.net/2123/16000.

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Background: Obesity is an established risk factor for cardiovascular disease. The mechanisms by which obesity confers increased cardiovascular risk have not been fully elucidated but may involve arterial endothelial dysfunction and atherosclerosis among others. Studies examining the association of obesity with markers of atherosclerotic vascular disease have had mixed findings. Accordingly, we undertook two comprehensive systematic reviews of the published literature on obesity and vascular health, specifically one on obesity, brachial flow-mediated dilatation (FMD) and fingertip plethysmography using the EndoPAT device and one on obesity and carotid intima-media thickness (IMT). For vascular measures with sufficient studies (flow-mediated dilatation and carotid intima-media thickness), meta-analysis was undertaken to determine whether these two measures of vascular health differ between obese and healthy weight adults, and the estimated magnitude of the association. Methods: Electronic searches for “Obesity and flow-mediated dilatation”, “Obesity and intima-media thickness” and “Obesity and fingertip plethysmography” were performed using Ovid Medline and Embase databases. Meta-analysis was undertaken for brachial flow-mediated dilatation and carotid intima-media thickness to obtain pooled estimates for the obese and healthy weight adults. Results: Of the 4990 articles (1700 for FMD, 3122 for IMT and 168 for EndoPAT) retrieved, we identified 19 studies that met the study inclusion criteria for flow-mediated dilatation, 19 studies for intima-media thickness and 2 studies for EndoPAT. Meta-analysis demonstrated that obesity was associated with lower flow-mediated dilatation (-1.92 % [95% CI -2.92, -0.92], = 0.0002), and greater carotid intima-media thickness (0.07 mm [95% CI 0.05, 0.08], < 0.00001). Conclusion: Obesity is associated with significant differences in both functional and structural measures of vascular health, suggesting a likely mechanistic pathway through which obesity affects risk of clinical cardiovascular disease.

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Evans, Amy L. "Obesity and bone metabolism." Thesis, University of Sheffield, 2014. http://etheses.whiterose.ac.uk/7523/.

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Obese adults have a lower risk of hip and vertebral fracture, but a greater risk of lower limb and proximal humerus fracture, compared to adults with a normal body mass index (BMI). Differences in fracture risk by skeletal site in obesity might be attributed to differences in bone mineral density (BMD), bone microstructure and bone strength between obese and normal BMI individuals and/or differences in physical function, possibly related to fall frequency and/or direction. The role of vitamin D in bone metabolism and physical function in obesity is unclear. The effect of obesity on bone microstructure and strength in young and older, men and women, has not been investigated in a matched case control design. BMD, microstructure and strength were determined using novel imaging technologies. The roles of various adipose compartments and biochemical factors on BMD and microarchitecture were investigated. Physical function and vitamin D metabolism of obese and normal BMI individuals was compared. Younger and older obese adults have higher BMD, favourable microstructure and greater bone strength, but there is a greater difference in BMD and microstructure between obese and normal BMI in older adults than in younger adults. Obese adults have greater bone strength than normal BMI adults, regardless of age. Higher BMD in obesity is associated with lower resorption, possibly mediated by circulating leptin and oestradiol which were, in turn, associated with subcutaneous abdominal adiposity. Obese adults have greater muscle mass but poorer physical performance than normal BMI adults. This might be associated with greater fall frequency and affect fall direction. Obese adults have lower total and free 25OHD and 1,25(OH)2D than normal BMI adults, likely due to greater volumetric dilution. Low 25OHD in obesity does not appear to affect BMD, microstructure or strength, or physical performance. Despite greater BMD and bone strength, obese individuals are at greater risk of some fractures. This might be due to the effect of poor physical function on fall characteristics in obesity.

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Lourenço, Sandra Cristina de Loureiro. "Alcohol consumption and obesity." Dissertação, Porto : edição de autor, 2009. http://catalogo.up.pt/F?func=find-b&find_code=SYS&request=000133186.

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Dissertação de Mestrado em Nutrição Clínica apresentada à Faculdade de Ciências da Nutrição e Alimentação da Universidade do Porto
Resumo da tese: Enquadramento: O facto de o álcool ser o segundo componente alimentar com maior densidade energética sustenta a ideia de que consumos elevados ou mesmo moderados, a longo prazo, possam contribuir para o aumento da ingestão energética, e consequentemente conduzir a um aumento do índice de massa corporal dos indivíduos. A variabilidade da ingestão de álcool existente na população Portuguesa permite observar amplitudes de exposição suficientes para melhor estudar esta relação. Objectivo: Quantificação da associação entre a prevalência de obesidade e a ingestão de etanol, numa amostra urbana de adultos portugueses. Métodos: A amostra seleccionada aleatoriamente, era constituída por 2372 indivíduos adultos (mulheres e homens), na avaliação de obesidade total e por 2383 (mulheres e homens), na avaliação de obesidade central. Estes indivíduos faziam parte da coorte do estudo EPIPorto. Inquiridores treinados procederam à aplicação de um questionário estruturado e avaliação de parâmetros sócio-demográficos e antropométricos. Foi definida obesidade total como o Indice de massa corporal (IMC) peso (kg) /altura (m)2) igual ou superior a 30 kg.m2 e central valores de perímetro da cintura (PC) superior a 88 cm ou 102 cm, para mulheres e homens, respectivamente. A ingestão de etanol foi estimada através de um questionário semi-quantitativo de frequência de alimentos, previamente validado, referente ao ano anterior à entrevista, e ao longo da vida. Os indivíduos foram classificados em 4 classes de ingestão de etanol (g/dia): 0; 0, 1-15,0; 15,0; 30,0 nas mulheres e 0; 0,1-30,0; 30,1-60,0; 60,0 nos homens.
Thesis abstract: Background: The high alcohol consumption in Portugal, and the high energy content of alcoholic beverages, makes alcohol a potential contributor to the obesity. Objective: To evaluate the association between ethanol consumption and overall and central obesity in adults of an urban Portuguese population. Methods: This cross-sectional analysis included 2372 for evaluate overall obesity and 2383 for central obesity. The participants were randomly selected from Porto in-habitants (age: 18 years) enrolled in EPIPorto Study (1999-2003). Trained interviewers applied a questionnaire comprising information on social, demographic, behavioural characteristics, and anthropometrical measures were recorded. Data on ethanol intake were obtained by using a validated semi- quantitative food frequency questionnaire. Subjects were classified in to 4 classes of ethanol intake (g/day):0; 0.1-15.0; 15.1-30.0 ;: 30.0 in women and 0; 0.1-30.0; 30.1-60.0 ;: 60.0 in men. Overall obesity was considered when the body mass index (BMI) was: 30.0 kg/m2 , central obesity, if Waist Circumference (WC) was higher than 88 cm or 102 cm, for women and men respectively. Odds ratios (OR) and 95% confidence intervals (CI) were calculated using unconditional logistic regression with separate models fitted for sex. Results: Prevalence of ethanol intake higher than 30g/day for women and 60g/day for men, was 5.3% in obese women vs. 3.3% in non obese, and 28.4% in obese men vs. 15.8% in non obese. After adjustment for age, education, BMI, smoking, energy intake and sports practice, men who consumed more than 60g/day were more frequently obese (overall) comparing with non drinkers (OR=1.64, 95% CI: 1.33-5.22).

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Hofer, Ryan Paul. "Metaphorical Framing of Obesity." PDXScholar, 2015. https://pdxscholar.library.pdx.edu/open_access_etds/2538.

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The study of metaphor has moved from abstraction and poetics into the realms of cognitive science and cultural studies. Rather than being seen as purely figurative and secondary to literal meaning, investigation of metaphors reveals a close relationship to our processes of reasoning, a capacity to both reveal and cover, and a plasticity that forms within surrounding cultural values. I reviewed current metaphor theory, including its concerns and justifications, and designed a simple survey experiment through the Qualtrix webpage. The survey was distributed via the Amazon Mechanical TURK system. The experiment, in two different versions, briefly described obesity and then asked participants to describe their attitudes toward, and preferred solutions for, this emerging public health issue. The paragraphs differed only in the metaphor used to describe obesity. Based upon a metaphorical framing hypothesis, it was predicted that obesity as an "infectious epidemic" would bias readers towards societal causes and a preference for public policy changes, while obesity as "simple calorie math" would bias readers towards individualized causes, and less support for public policy changes. The hypotheses of the study were not supported; there was no significant difference in participant responses between frame conditions. Possible reasons for non-significant results include the survey format, unique aspects of obesity as a public health problem, and participants' level of media exposure to obesity. However, this study could be easily altered into various iterations to confirm or deny many aspects of brief metaphorical framing.

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31

Garcia, Jessica. "Obesity Surveillance in Childhood." ScholarWorks, 2015. https://scholarworks.waldenu.edu/dissertations/887.

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Current practice behaviors for obesity management have remained refractory. Research has shown that lack of time and poor training/skills by primary care providers has led to poor or absent obesity counseling in practice. The purpose of this intervention was to facilitate obesity counseling in a pediatric office by using an evidence-based model called the 5As model of behavioral change. Lewin's change theory was the framework for this project to help clinicians transition their practice to include the 5As model in practice. The project consisted of a 30-minute power point presentation that included 2 case samples demonstrating how the 5As would be applied to each scenario. A physician and two family nurse practitioners evaluated the program via an open-ended survey on their obesity approach and thoughts on the 5As model. The results showed 100% support for the 5As model. All 3 participants stated they would implement the 5As model into practice and had positive remarks on the simplicity of its application. To help prevent clinical inertia and combat childhood obesity providers' must be made aware of the latest evidence and recommendations available to them. Project such as this one serve to merge research into clinical practice. The long-term social implications of getting the 5As into practice can help the United States meet Healthy People 2020 objectives and promote preventive care.

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32

Tagini, Sofia. "Body Representations in Obesity." Doctoral thesis, Università degli studi di Trento, 2019. http://hdl.handle.net/11572/246059.

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Body representation disorders have a key role in the characterization of obesity. So far, the literature consistently pointed to a negative attitudinal body image. Conversely, after reviewing the pertinent literature, it emerges that more incoherent results have been reported for the self-perceived body size. Chapter 2 tries to clarify this issue by adopting a more innovative theoretical framework (i.e., the implicit/explicit model; Longo, 2015). For the first time, we probed the implicit representation underlying position sense in obesity, reporting a similar representation to healthy weight participants. Importantly, this result shows that not all components of body representation are affected by obesity. Chapter 3 addresses another aspect of body representation that has been neglected in obesity, namely bodily self-consciousness. The Rubber Hand Illusion has been traditionally used to investigate the mechanisms underlying body awareness. Our results show that individuals with obesity have comparable subjective experience of the illusion, while the effect of the illusion on self-location is reduced. This dissociation can be interpreted as the result of a preserved visuo-tactile integration and an altered visuo-proprioceptive integration in obesity. However, in Chapter 4 we reported that individuals with obesity have a reduced temporal resolution of visuo-tactile integration, meaning that they integrated stimuli over an extended range of asynchronies than healthy weight participants. In fact, this evidence predicts that in the RHI individuals with obesity might perceive more synchronously the asynchronous stimulation, showing a greater effect of the illusion also in this condition. Nevertheless, we failed to show this pattern of results in our study with an interval of asynchronous stimulation of 1000 ms (usually adopted in the RHI paradigm). We hypothesized that smaller time-lags, which are inside the temporal binding window of individuals with obesity and outside the temporal binding widow of healthy weight participants, might not be perceived by individuals with obesity but detected by healthy weight individuals. Accordingly, a dissimilar susceptibility to the illusion should be observed. Chapter 5 investigates this issue by adopting a modified version of the RHI that enables a parametrical modulation of the timing of the stimulation. However, we could not replicate the RHI even in healthy weight participants. The possible methodological reasons for this failure are discussed. Overall, this work tries to fill some gaps in the previous literature about body representation in obesity. Moreover, our findings provide an important clue about the possible cognitive mechanisms involved in body representation disorders in obesity. However, many questions still need an answer: due to the complexity of the domain a comprehensive knowledge of the topic might be challenging. A deep understanding of obesity is fundamental to develop multidisciplinary and efficacious rehabilitative protocols. Indeed, better treatments would significantly ameliorate individuals’ well-being but also contribute to reduce the huge health costs related to obesity comorbidities.

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33

Tagini, Sofia. "Body Representations in Obesity." Doctoral thesis, Università degli studi di Trento, 2019. http://hdl.handle.net/11572/246059.

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Body representation disorders have a key role in the characterization of obesity. So far, the literature consistently pointed to a negative attitudinal body image. Conversely, after reviewing the pertinent literature, it emerges that more incoherent results have been reported for the self-perceived body size. Chapter 2 tries to clarify this issue by adopting a more innovative theoretical framework (i.e., the implicit/explicit model; Longo, 2015). For the first time, we probed the implicit representation underlying position sense in obesity, reporting a similar representation to healthy weight participants. Importantly, this result shows that not all components of body representation are affected by obesity. Chapter 3 addresses another aspect of body representation that has been neglected in obesity, namely bodily self-consciousness. The Rubber Hand Illusion has been traditionally used to investigate the mechanisms underlying body awareness. Our results show that individuals with obesity have comparable subjective experience of the illusion, while the effect of the illusion on self-location is reduced. This dissociation can be interpreted as the result of a preserved visuo-tactile integration and an altered visuo-proprioceptive integration in obesity. However, in Chapter 4 we reported that individuals with obesity have a reduced temporal resolution of visuo-tactile integration, meaning that they integrated stimuli over an extended range of asynchronies than healthy weight participants. In fact, this evidence predicts that in the RHI individuals with obesity might perceive more synchronously the asynchronous stimulation, showing a greater effect of the illusion also in this condition. Nevertheless, we failed to show this pattern of results in our study with an interval of asynchronous stimulation of 1000 ms (usually adopted in the RHI paradigm). We hypothesized that smaller time-lags, which are inside the temporal binding window of individuals with obesity and outside the temporal binding widow of healthy weight participants, might not be perceived by individuals with obesity but detected by healthy weight individuals. Accordingly, a dissimilar susceptibility to the illusion should be observed. Chapter 5 investigates this issue by adopting a modified version of the RHI that enables a parametrical modulation of the timing of the stimulation. However, we could not replicate the RHI even in healthy weight participants. The possible methodological reasons for this failure are discussed. Overall, this work tries to fill some gaps in the previous literature about body representation in obesity. Moreover, our findings provide an important clue about the possible cognitive mechanisms involved in body representation disorders in obesity. However, many questions still need an answer: due to the complexity of the domain a comprehensive knowledge of the topic might be challenging. A deep understanding of obesity is fundamental to develop multidisciplinary and efficacious rehabilitative protocols. Indeed, better treatments would significantly ameliorate individuals’ well-being but also contribute to reduce the huge health costs related to obesity comorbidities.

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Forrest, Mia. "Swedish Obesity Specialists : Obesity and its Treatment at a Specialist Clinic in Stockholm." Thesis, Stockholm University, Department of Social Anthropology, 2009. http://urn.kb.se/resolve?urn=urn:nbn:se:su:diva-31035.

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Swedish Obesity Specialists examines how obesity is conceptualized as a medical condition by the staff working at an obesity clinic in Stockholm Sweden. Through eight weeks of participant observations and eight semi-structured interviews this thesis answers the question of how specialist working in the field of obesity construct obesity as a medical site. The thesis aims at understanding how obesity is becoming an issue for medicine, further how obesity’s entry into medicine creates new understandings of the body and medical treatments. Through the theoretical concepts of global assemblages and bio-power I argue that obesity as a disease is defined through seemingly objective criteria aimed at defining a population of sufferers, simultaneously for obesity to be viewed as disease scientifically valid treatments on an individual level must be put into place. By viewing obesity’s entry into medicine as a process of shared consensus, this thesis examines the relationship between global levels of knowledge production and their application and negotiation at one clinic treating obesity. Here expert knowledge and governance are integrated to create both treatment and an idea of what obesity as a medical condition is. In this thesis I argue that the application of expert knowledge and global criteria leads to unexpected views on what can be conceived as medical treatment. Further the thesis discusses how the body of the patient becomes reinterpreted once obesity becomes a medical condition.

Key words: Obesity, medical expertise, global assemblages, governance, lifestyle alteration

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Yang, Chunxue. "Pathological effects of persistent organic pollutants on obesity and obesity-related liver diseases." HKBU Institutional Repository, 2019. https://repository.hkbu.edu.hk/etd_oa/645.

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The worldwide prevalence of obesity and obesity-associated liver diseases have attracted great attention in the past decades. Obesity is an increasing health problem, which can induce a series of metabolic syndrome associated diseases, such as fatty liver disease, type 2 diabetes. The conventional causes for obesity, such as over-eating, sedentary life-style, and genetic factors, cannot fully explain the global rapid increase of obese population in the last few decades. It was found that the production of persistent organic pollutants (POPs) in the industry was closely correlated with the prevalence of obesity. POPs are organic chemicals that are resisted to degrade by various processes and widely applied in daily products to improve the quality of our life. 2,2',4,4'-tetrabromodiphenyl ether (BDE-47) is the most abundant and toxic congener in the family of polybrominated diphenyl ethers (PBDEs), which are the commonly used flame retardants and listed as POPs in 2009. High concentration of BDE-47 has been found in indoor dust and marine fish in Hong Kong. Owing to their high lipophilic and persistent characters, BDE-47 is mainly accumulated in adipose tissue. Epidemiological data indicates that exposure to BDE-47 is associated with obesity and obesity-associated liver diseases. Therefore, based on published research, we hypothesize that BDE-47 exposure may increase the occurrence of obesity and aggravate the progression of obesity-associated fatty liver disease through promoting adipocyte differentiation and impairing lipid metabolism. To verify this hypothesis, mouse preadipocytes (3T3-L1 cells) were exposed to BDE-47 and differentiated into adipocytes. Excitedly, with BDE-47 exposure, more lipid droplets were formed and accumulated in the treated cells than that in untreated adipocytes (without BDE-47 exposure). Along with the increased content of triglyceride accumulation, augmented gene and protein levels of transcription factors (PPARγ and PGC-1α), and related genes (FABP4 and C/EBPα) were also detected in BDE-47 treated cells. In addition, the total production of reactive oxygen species (ROS), contents of lipid peroxidation and DNA oxidation were obviously increased in adipocytes treated with BDE-47 (10 μM). To explore how BDE-47 regulated the oxidative stress signal pathways, antioxidants of ROS sources were employed with BDE-47 exposure during adipocyte differentiation. Notably, mitochondrial respiration, xanthine oxidase and NADPH pathway were significantly influenced by BDE-47 exposure to generate ROS in the treated adipocytes. The effects of BDE-47 on mitochondrial respiration were also determined for further exploring the relationship between mitochondrial ROS and adipocyte differentiation. Significant elevation of mitochondrial ROS was detected in adipocytes exposed with BDE-47 (10 μM). Furthermore, to support the energy requirements for the growth of adipocytes during differentiation process, BDE-47 improved the mitochondrial metabolism for ATP production via increasing the spare mitochondrial respiration capacity. Inhibiting the mitochondrial ROS generation in BDE-47-treated adipocytes with antioxidant attenuated the generation of ROS and reduced the accumulation of lipid droplets as well. This phenomenon indicated that the ROS-induced by BDE-47 through mitochondrial chain was critical for adipocyte differentiation. Global metabolomic profiling based on high-performance liquid chromatography coupled with tandem mass spectrometry (HPLC-MS/MS) was performed on differentiated 3T3-L1 cells to reveal the metabolic changes induced by BDE-47. Twenty three significantly changed metabolites were identified in the adipocytes after BDE-47 exposure. The results of pathway analysis showed that purine and glutathione metabolism were the main impacted pathways and upregulated by BDE-47 treatment. In purine metabolism, increasing levels of adenosine monophosphate (AMP) and guanosine monophosphate (GMP) induced by BDE-47 led to the increment of inosine 5'-monophosphate (IMP) in adipocytes. These increases forwarded the pathway and caused high production of uric acid along with hydrogen peroxide, which contributed to the elevation of ROS after exposure to BDE-47. Inhibiting the synthesis of uric acid with antioxidant could significantly decrease the production of ROS, the levels of adipogenesis-related genes, and the accumulation of lipid droplets in BDE-47 exposed adipocytes. These results further demonstrated that exposure to BDE-47 promoted adipocyte differentiation via causing oxidative stress, upregulating purine metabolism, and increasing production of uric acid. Subsequently, C57BL/6J mouse model with diet interaction was employed to explore the obesogenic effects of BDE-47. Male C57BL/6J mice were fed with either a low-fat diet (LFD, 10% fat) or high-fat diet (HFD, 60% fat) for 15 weeks and subcutaneously injected with BDE-47 (7mg/kg [Low dose, L] or 70mg/kg [High dose, H]) or the vehicle weekly. It was found that exposure to BDE-47 (H) significantly led to the elevation of body weight and serum triglyceride content in HFD fed mice. Besides, the combination of BDE-47 and HFD also significantly increased the weight of white adipose tissue (WAT) and augmented the size of adipocytes in WAT. These have confirmed the obesogenic effects of BDE-47 in vivo. Additionally, BDE-47 (H) exposure significantly increased the accumulation of hepatic triglyceride content and lipid droplets accompanying with elevated inflammation in HFD fed mice, indicating the deterioration of hepatic steatosis in BDE-47 treated mice. Moreover, the integration analysis of lipidomic and gene expression revealed that BDE-47 up-regulated triglyceride synthesis but suppressed lipid exportation and β oxidation to impair the lipid metabolism and worsen the accumulation of hepatic lipid in HFD fed mice. In addition, the increase of liver fibrosis scars (the protein level of αSMA and collagens), serum transaminase levels, as well as lipid peroxidation have been detected in the mice with co-treatment of BDE-47 and HFD. BDE-47 exposure also increased the production of ROS and the levels of fibrotic genes in hepatocytes. However, in LFD with BDE-47 exposed mouse liver, we cannot observe such changes compared with the control (LFD-DMSO). Interestingly, the application of antioxidants reversed the BDE-47-induced fibrotic responses (the expression of αSMA and col3) in hepatocytes, which indicated that the increase of liver fibrosis scars was tightly associated with the level of oxidative stress. In conclusion, these results offered a new insight of lipid toxicities and underlying mechanism of BDE-47 induced obesity-related liver fibrosis. As far as we know, this is the first systematic study of the obesogenic effects and underlying mechanisms of BDE-47 in diet-induced mouse model. These results have showed the pathological roles of BDE-47 in the development of obesity and related liver diseases by an integration analysis of omics study and biological analysis in vivo and in vitro. Meanwhile, inhibitors were applied to investigate the mechanism of BDE-47-induced toxicity. Taken together, our results indicated that BDE-47 exposure could accelerate the development of obesity and aggravate the progression of fatty liver in obese mice via causing oxidative stress. This study may shed a light for an explanation for the worldwide prevalence of obesity and related liver diseases. Furthermore, this work reflects the potential of omics study and biological methods for toxicity assessment of environmental pollutants on human health. It would be helpful for the clinical diagnose and treatment.

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Ricotti, Roberta. "Linking obesity, obesity-related diseases, Mediterranean style-diet and gut microbiota in pediatrics." Doctoral thesis, Università del Piemonte Orientale, 2021. http://hdl.handle.net/11579/128408.

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The worldwide prevalence of overweight and obesity among children and adolescents has risen dramatically. Obesity is a complex and multifactorial condition associated with an increased risk of multiple comorbidities, like diabetes, arterial hypertension, dyslipidemia, cardiovascular diseases and cancer. Most of them have been already described since pediatric age. However, precocious biomarkers for identifying "high risk" subjects to an unhealthy metabolic profile are lacking, especially in pediatrics. Thus, one of the aims of this Ph.D. project was to investigate the development of obesity-related diseases in obese children and adolescents, identifying precocious biomarkers that could allow early detection and promote prevention strategies. Besides, we reported that insulin resistance, metabolic syndrome, and hyperuricemia correlated with cardiovascular dysfunction in pediatric obesity, Furthermore, we identified novel metabolic risk factors, in particular high-normal estimated glomerular filtration rate and haptoglobin phenotypes. The fundamental cause of overweight and obesity is an energy imbalance between calories consumed and calories expended. Certainly, the diet plays a key role and is a crucial variable for a healthy life. A rapidly growing number of studies, in recent years, support the hypothesis that the Mediterranean style-diet has beneficial effect. However, the urbanization of people living in the Mediterranean area modified lifestyle choices deviating to a "Western diet" richer in saturated fat, refined grains, simple carbohydrates and processed foods. Thus, we also almed to describe the adherence to the Mediterranean style-diet in children and adolescents, assessing the potential effect of healthier behaviours. In nothern Italy, we described poor food quality which replaced the Mediterranean dietary pattern in children and adolescents, in particular among younger children. Moreover, in a systematic review, we supported skipping breakfast as an easy marker of the risk of overweight and obesity and metabolic-related diseases. Besides, increasing evidence especially reported the involvement of the gut microbiota in the dysmetabolism associated with obesity. For this reason, exploring the role of the gut microbiota in the development of childhood obesity was another outcome of this Ph.D. project, for potentially revealing new strategies for obesity prevention and treatment. Our first baseline findings correlated gut microbiota to dietary pattern and adherence to the Mediterranean style-diet. This suggested that dietary intervention would have enormous potential in modulating the microbial composition and promoting a more health-associated metabolic profile. However, few data are nowadays available concerning pediatrics, so this relationship awaits further studies. Most of the above-mentioned results were published on international peer-reviewed scientific journals, hoping to contribute to the current knowledge on the crosstalk between obesity, obesity-related diseases, Mediterranean style-diet and gut microbiota. Futhermore, during the Ph.D. project the GOOD-DAY Trial was designed and realized (ID NCT03154255). Although COVID-19 pandemic temporary stopped it, further results are awaited in the next months.

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Rask-Andersen, Mathias. "Obesity Genetics : Functional Aspects of Four Genetic Loci Associated with Obesity and Body Mass." Doctoral thesis, Uppsala universitet, Funktionell farmakologi, 2013. http://urn.kb.se/resolve?urn=urn:nbn:se:uu:diva-204449.

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Obesity is a complex disorder which has reached epidemic proportions in many parts of the world. Twin studies have demonstrated a high heritability for obesity. The subsequent appli-cation of genome wide association studies (GWAS) in the last decade have identified at least 32 genetic loci associated with body mass and obesity. Despite these great advances, these loci are almost exclusively completely naïve in a functional context. Genetic variations within the gene encoding the fat mass and obesity associated gene (FTO) are the strongest and most consistently observed genetic variants associated with obesity and body mass throughout various studied populations from all parts of the world. The identification of association of FTO with obesity has spurred immense interest in the function of the FTO protein and the functional consequences of its variants. However, the implications of genetic variants at other genetic loci on protein molecular function and body mass development remain undetermined. This thesis aims to examine more closely four of the genetic loci associated with obesity; in proximity of, or associated with: FTO, TMEM18, MAP2K5 and STK33, in two cohorts of children of European descent: a case-control of clinically obese children and normal weight controls from the Stockholm area; and a cross sectional cohort of Greek children. These smaller cohorts allow for studies of more specific effects of genetic variants as individuals in these cohorts can be more carefully studied. TMEM18 gene expression was also studied in the rat-brain where a positive correlation was observed between the body weight of the animal and TMEM18 expression. We also employed next generation sequencing to more carefully study obesity-associated genetic loci related to FTO and TMEM18. We utilized a novel strategy in this project to study genetic variation in the entire FTO- and TMEM18 genes, as well as in the GWAS-identified BMI-associated loci located downstream from TMEM18. This analysis was performed on a case-control cohort of Swedish children (n = ~1000). Through this analysis, we were able to observe genetic variants within intron 1 of the FTO gene to be the main genetic variants asso-ciated with obesity at this locus. We also observed, for the first time, obesity-associated genetic variants within the gene encoding TMEM18. To analyze the potential functional context of FTO we used an in silico approach, utilizing public information databases on mRNA co-expression and protein-protein interaction. Based on our findings, we speculate on a wider functional role of FTO in extracellular ligand-induced neuronal plasticity, possibly via interaction or modulation of the BDNF/NTRK2 signaling pathway.

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McMurray, Fiona. "Investigating the role of the fat mass and obesity associated gene (Fto) in obesity." Thesis, University of Oxford, 2013. http://ora.ox.ac.uk/objects/uuid:d7b76f58-6206-47fc-a208-7eeefac7fe27.

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In 2007, a genome wide association study identified a SNP in intron 1 of FTO with increased BMI. Homozygous risk allele carriers are on average three kg heavier than those homozygous for the protective allele. Mouse models have been made, including a conditional knockout, which is lean when globally expressed, as well as a conditional overexpression allele, which has increased body weight when globally expressed. The results from these and other studies suggest that the FTO SNPs lead to weight gain by increasing FTO activity and/or expression. Adult inactivation of Fto using the tamoxifen inducible Cre demonstrated that removal of Fto may be as deleterious as overexpression, with the adult knockout mice having increased fat mass and decreased lean mass. It also supported the role FTO plays in development as adult inactivation of Fto did not increase mortality rates as seen in the global Fto-/- pups. This study also revealed the importance of effective energy expenditure analysis in the mouse. I have confirmed a link between Fto-/- and increased mortality, which may be caused by alterations to developmental processes. Fto-/- reduces cilia formation in MEFs and results in dysregulated cilia formation in specific tissues in Fto-/- embryos. Levels of FTO also appear to affect adipogenic differentiation, which could be due to altered WNT/β-CATENIN signalling. Pharmacological inhibition of FTO was a success in vitro and a compound screen identified FG2216, which could be used in vivo to inhibit FTO. The in vivo effects of FG2216 at 60 mg/kg/2days did not affect body weight or composition in the mouse. My research suggests that there is dysregulation of gut hormones and neuronal signalling pathways in the FTO overexpression mice, which could cause the hyperphagia and increased body weight. These studies add to our current knowledge of FTO function, and suggest a role for FTO in control of body composition, development, and satiety signalling.

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Larkin, Benjamin. "Hydralazine as a potential novel therapy for maternal obesity and obesity-related kidney disease." Thesis, University of Sydney, 2020. https://hdl.handle.net/2123/24268.

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Obesity promotes the development and progression of chronic kidney disease (CKD). Increased risk of CKD also occurs in the offspring of obese mothers, which underpins the notion of fetal programming of disease. DNA methylation is a biological process in which addition of methyl groups to DNA affects gene expression without altering the underlying sequence. Occurring predominantly during gestation, it has been proposed as a key mechanism in the fetal programming of disease. DNA methylation has also been implicated in the progression of CKD, therefore DNA demethylating drugs may prevent CKD. It has previously been shown that low-dose hydralazine demethylates DNA, and reduces CKD progression in experimental models of renal fibrosis. The primary objectives of this thesis were to determine whether hydralazine prevents CKD due to obesity or maternal obesity, and to identify genes that are differentially methylated due to maternal obesity. In a mouse obesity model, low-dose hydralazine ameliorated obesity-induced albuminuria, glomerulosclerosis and renal global DNA methylation. When low-dose hydralazine was given to mothers during gestation in a mouse maternal obesity model, it prevented maternal obesity-induced upregulation of renal fibrotic markers in offspring at week 32. In obese offspring of obese mothers, gestational hydralazine reduced albuminuria, glomerulosclerosis and serum creatinine, whereas in obese offspring of lean mothers, it reduced markers of renal fibrosis and oxidative stress. Renoprotective effects of hydralazine correlated with reduced renal global DNA methylation compared to relative controls. Significantly differentially methylated genes were identified in the kidneys and blood of offspring exposed to maternal obesity versus controls. Several of these genes have previously been shown to have roles in CKD, fibrosis, diabetes and obesity. Finally, a small human study assessed differential gene methylation in the fetal cord blood of offspring born to obese versus lean mothers. One of the top 10 differentially methylated genes, ILDR2, has previously been linked to diabetes susceptibility in obesity. Low-dose hydralazine is renoprotective when administered to obese animals, or to mothers during gestation. This thesis supports the repurposing of hydralazine as a novel therapy to prevent CKD related to obesity and maternal obesity.

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MUROHARA, TOYOAKI, REI SHIBATA, KOJI OHASHI, and NORIYUKI OUCHI. "ADIPOCYTOKINES AND OBESITY-LINKED DISORDERS." Nagoya University School of Medicine, 2012. http://hdl.handle.net/2237/16019.

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Thomson, Alison. "Helping Families Change Childhood Obesity." The University of Waikato, 2008. http://hdl.handle.net/10289/2480.

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The prevalence of childhood obesity is increasing at an alarming rate and is implicated in the onset of serious and life threatening health problems of both a physical and psychological nature. The current research comprised of three main components. Firstly, the reliability of a readiness to change questionnaire was examined, which had been completed by parents of obese children enrolled in the Bodywise childhood obesity programme. Secondly, an analysis of outcome data from 36 families who completed the above programme was also undertaken in order to determine if the data identified their stage of change, as defined by the questionnaire Thirdly, four semi-structured interviews were conducted with families involved with the Bodywise programme. These parents provided information related to their experiences of lifestyle change, including what initiated change, what assisted change, and what barriers to change they had encountered. Findings revealed that in accordance with the transtheoretical model the readiness to change questionnaire was a reasonably reliable instrument for indentifying parents' readiness to change their child's eating patterns and physical activity levels. Analysis of the outcome data from the 36 families revealed individuals in the action stage of change for both eating and physical activity made more rapid change at the outset of the programme than individuals in earlier stages of change. In addition, information derived from the interviews with families identified several promoters and barriers to change, many of which were similar across families. Until now no studies have examined the application of the transtheoretical model to an intervention for childhood obesity. Previous research has shown support for the model's use with other health problems. Overall this study lends support for the utility of the transtheoretical model in childhood obesity intervention.

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Pasman, Wilrike Jeannette. "Obesity treatment and weight maintenance." [Maastricht : Maastricht : Universiteit Maastricht] ; University Library, Maastricht University [Host], 1998. http://arno.unimaas.nl/show.cgi?fid=5975.

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Bråkenhielm, Ebba. "Angiogenesis in obesity and cancer /." Stockholm, 2003. http://diss.kib.ki.se/2003/91-7349-578-6/.

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Segersvärd, Ralf. "On obesity in acute pancreatitis /." Stockholm : Karolinska institutet, 2005. http://diss.kib.ki.se/2005/91-7140-311-6/.

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Goforth, Nikkia L. "Determinants of Obesity: Racial Differences." VCU Scholars Compass, 2007. http://hdl.handle.net/10156/1389.

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Sylwestrzak, Malgorzata T. "Do subjective beliefs affect obesity?" abstract and full text PDF (free order & download UNR users only), 2007. http://0-gateway.proquest.com.innopac.library.unr.edu/openurl?url_ver=Z39.88-2004&rft_val_fmt=info:ofi/fmt:kev:mtx:dissertation&res_dat=xri:pqdiss&rft_dat=xri:pqdiss:1446451.

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Bell, Christopher Graeme. "The genetics of human obesity." Thesis, Imperial College London, 2006. http://ethos.bl.uk/OrderDetails.do?uin=uk.bl.ethos.433662.

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Iannitti, Tommaso. "Obesity, inflammation and pathological pain." Thesis, Glasgow Caledonian University, 2011. http://ethos.bl.uk/OrderDetails.do?uin=uk.bl.ethos.555680.

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Obesity has become a concern of epidemic proportion and is associated with an increased incidence in chronic pain but the underlying mechanism is not known. Obesity is associated with a low-grade inflammation of white adipose tissue due to a dysregulation in cytokines and adipokines, some of which, including turnor necrosis factor-α and interleukin-1β, have been linked to inflammatory pain. Other adipokines such as adiponectin, display anti- inflammatory properties but their role in modulating inflammatory pain has not been investigated. The aim of this project was to characterise inflammatory pain in the Zucker fatty rat (fa/fa) model of obesity and identify a role for adipokines in mediating this process. It is hypothesised that adipokines, particularly adiponectin, which is lowered on the onset of obesity and possesses anti-inflammatory properties, may account for the differences in pain occurring with obesity. Body weights, blood glucose, plasma lipoproteins and serum triacylglycerol, cholesterol, phospholipids and insulin were measured in adult male lean and obese Zucker rats. Hindpaw withdrawal latency (secs) to thermal stimulation and response threshold (grams) to mechanical stimulation were measured before and after intraplantar injection of carrageenan, capsaicin or hindpaw-incision, and treatment with morphine in lean and obese rats. The effects of recombinant adiponectin or drug-vehicle administered intrathecally or intraplantarly on carrageenan-induced pain and inflammation were also measured in adult male Wistar rats. Expression of adiponectin, adiponectin receptor 1, adiponectin receptor 2, resistin, tumor necrosis factor-a, interleukin-Iβ mRNA in spinal cord, brain and adipose tissues and blood was compared in lean and obese rats and in response to intraplantar injection of carrageenan/saline, using polymerase chain reaction methodologies. Obese Zucker rats had increased body weight, serum cholesterol, phospholipid and insulin levels compared to lean rats. No differences in serum triglyceride levels were observed. Following carrageenan-induced inflammation, obese rats were more sensitive to mechanical and thermal stimulation of the inflamed paw, and displayed greater paw oedema compared to lean rats. No difference in capsaicin- or paw-incision induced-mechanical and thermal hyperalgesia or in morphine-induced analgesia was observed. Adiponectin, resistin, adiponectin receptor 1 and adiponectin receptor 2, tumor necrosis factor-a and interleukin-l P mRNA were all found to be constitutively expressed in spinal cord, brain, adipose tissue and blood. In obese rats adiponectin mRNA was down-regulated in spinal cord compared to lean rats, while an increase was observed in brain tissue. A decrease in adiponectin was also observed in paw tissue from carrageenan-treated Wistar rats compared to saline-treated rats. Intrathecal but not intraplantar injection of recombinant adiponectin inhibited mechanical allodynia and carrageenan-induced peripheral inflammation of the paw. The present study confmns that the Zucker fatty rat is a reliable model of obesity with well defined metabolic characteristics. The increase pain sensitivity and inflammatory response in these rats supports the evidence that obesity is a chronic low-grade inflammatory disorder where further inflammatory challenge leads to an augmented inflammatory and nociceptive response. The results strongly suggest that alterations in adipokine-mediated signalling, in particular involving adiponectin, may account for changes in inflammatory pain occurring with obesity making it a valuable target for pain management in these individuals.

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Farooqi, Ismaa Sadaf. "Genetics of severe childhood obesity." Thesis, University of Cambridge, 2001. http://ethos.bl.uk/OrderDetails.do?uin=uk.bl.ethos.621345.

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Al-Mannai, Awatif Mohammad Saif. "Studies of obesity in Bahrain." Thesis, University of Surrey, 1997. http://ethos.bl.uk/OrderDetails.do?uin=uk.bl.ethos.360948.

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Dissertations / Theses on the topic 'Obesity'

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