Brain energetics and obesity risk

Based on findings that the lifetime peak of energy expenditure in the developing human brain occurs in early childhood in the years before the body begins to regain fat, and that brain energy consumption is inversely related to body weight gain during child development, researchers hypothesize that variation in childhood brain energy expenditure could help explain variation in the timing when children regain body fat as well as the lifetime risk of obesity, according to a study.

Article #18-16908: "A hypothesis linking the energy demand of the brain to obesity risk," by Christopher W. Kuzawa and Clancy Blair.

MEDIA CONTACT: Christopher W. Kuzawa, Northwestern University, Evanston, IL; tel: 847-467-4302; e-mail: kuzawa@northwestern.edu; Clancy Blair, New York University, New York City, NY; tel: 212-998-5853; e-mail:clancy.blair@nyu.edu

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