Misconceptions in body weight regulation: Implications for the obesity pandemic

Abstract

Energy is a concept of universal importance. In applying it to body weight regulation, the focus has been on energy balance and how this balance is affected by intakes and expenditures. However, energy is an abstract concept without biological equivalent and applying it to explain body weight regulation has led to various misconceptions and created intellectual obstacles in understanding the obesity problem. When nutrient and substrate interactions are considered, instead, a number of important issues pertaining to body weight regulation and to the obesity epidemic can be much more pertinently addressed.

Keywords::

• Obesity
• body weight regulation
• energy balance
• nutrient balance
• energy expenditure
• basal metabolic rate
• food intake
• carbohydrate balance
• dietary fat
• exercise