title: Metabolic predictors of obesity. Contribution of resting energy expenditure, thermic effect of food, and fuel utilization to four-year weight gain of post-obese and never-obese women.
abstract: This prospective study was designed to identify abnormalities of energy expenditure and fuel utilization which distinguish post-obese women from never-obese controls. 24 moderately obese, postmenopausal, nondiabetic women with a familial predisposition to obesity underwent assessments of body composition, fasting and postprandial energy expenditure, and fuel utilization in the obese state and after weight loss (mean 12.9 kg) to a post-obese, normal-weight state. The post-obese women were compared with 24 never-obese women of comparable age and body composition. Four years later, without intervention, body weight was reassessed in both groups. Results indicated that all parameters measured in the post-obese women were similar to the never-obese controls: mean resting energy expenditure, thermic effect of food, and fasting and postprandial substrate oxidation and insulin-glucose patterns. Four years later, post-obese women regained a mean of 10.9 kg while control subjects remained lean (mean gain 1.7 kg) (P < 0.001 between groups). Neither energy expenditure nor fuel oxidation correlated with 4-yr weight changes, whereas self-reported physical inactivity was associated with greater weight regain. The data suggest that weight gain in obesity-prone women may be due to maladaptive responses to the environment, such as physical inactivity or excess energy intake, rather than to reduced energy requirements.
authors.affiliation: Department of Nutrition Sciences, University of Alabama at Birmingham 35294.
authors.forename: R L
authors.initials: RL
authors.lastname: Weinsier
authors.forename: K M
authors.initials: KM
authors.lastname: Nelson
authors.forename: D D
authors.initials: DD
authors.lastname: Hensrud
authors.forename: B E
authors.initials: BE
authors.lastname: Darnell
authors.forename: G R
authors.initials: GR
authors.lastname: Hunter
authors.forename: Y
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Schutz
mesh_terms: D000368:Aged; D001823:Body Composition; D050260:Carbohydrate Metabolism; D015984:Causality; D004734:Energy Metabolism; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D050356:Lipid Metabolism; D008137:Longitudinal Studies; D008875:Middle Aged; D009765:Obesity / Q000378:metabolism*; D017698:Postmenopause; D011446:Prospective Studies; D011506:Proteins / Q000378:metabolism; D015430:Weight Gain
chemical_list: D011506:Proteins