title: Obesity in patients with craniopharyngioma: assessment of food intake and movement counts indicating physical activity.
abstract: Patients with childhood-onset craniopharyngioma (CP) often suffer from obesity. We evaluated two important etiological factors of obesity development, energy intake and physical activity. Energy intake was supposed to be high due to a disturbed hypothalamic regulation of appetite. We used a validated nutritional diary to determine the 1-wk food intake in 27 CP patients (12 with intrasellar tumors and 15 with hypothalamic tumors) and 1027 controls who were a representative sample of the 7- to 16-yr-old German population. In 2 accelerometry settings, we determined movement counts indicating physical activity. Nineteen CP patients were comparable to 26 controls for age and body mass index. One setting was a clinical one during weight reduction; the other was an out-patient setting. Daily energy intake was 1916 +/- 677 kcal (mean +/- SD) in intrasellar CP patients, 2075 +/- 877 kcal in hypothalamic CP patients, and 2476 +/- 815 kcal in non-CP controls. Patients suffering from CP showed fewer movement registrations [clinical setting, 228 vs. 298 cpm for obese controls (P = 0.01); out-patient setting, 228 vs. 282 cpm for controls (P = 0.08)]. Differences were most pronounced during leisure time (382 cpm in CP patients vs. 546 cpm in obese controls; P = 0.002; clinical setting). Our findings suggest that reduced physical activity, rather than increased energy intake, in CP patients is responsible for the obesity development noted in these subjects.
authors: Department of Pediatrics, University Hospital of Bonn, 53113 Bonn, Germany.
authors: Katia Juliane
authors: KJ
authors: Harz
authors: Hermann L
authors: HL
authors: Müller
authors: Edith
authors: E
authors: Waldeck
authors: Volker
authors: V
authors: Pudel
authors: Christian
authors: C
authors: Roth
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D002648:Child; D003397:Craniopharyngioma / Q000150:complications*; D015930:Diet Records; D004040:Dietary Carbohydrates; D004041:Dietary Fats; D004044:Dietary Proteins; D004435:Eating; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D009043:Motor Activity; D009068:Movement; D009767:Obesity, Morbid / Q000209:etiology* / Q000517:prevention & control; D010911:Pituitary Neoplasms / Q000150:complications*; D012189:Retrospective Studies
chemical_list: D004040:Dietary Carbohydrates; D004041:Dietary Fats; D004044:Dietary Proteins