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Influence of Body Composition on Food Intake

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Nutrient Regulation during Pregnancy, Lactation, and Infant Growth

Part of the book series: Advances in Experimental Medicine and Biology ((AEMB,volume 352))

Abstract

Regulation of body composition is important in permitting growth, deposition of energy reserves in anticipation of food deprivation or of periods of special needs (hibernation, migration and lactation), and maintenance of stable body weights in adults. The interactions between metabolism, physiology and behavior which bring about weight maintenance in adults have received particular attention, in view of the high incidence of obesity in affluent societies and of its adverse long-term health effects (Björntorp, 1990). The substantial daily variations in energy expenditure and energy intake are not closely synchronized (Edholm et al., 1970), yet body weight and body composition remain stable for long periods in the life of most individuals. This long-term stability of body composition implies that depletion or accumulation of body constituents elicit ‘corrective responses’, capable of compensating for deviations from equilibrated substrate balances. There are three types of possible responses: a) to modify the composition of the substrate mix used for energy generation, b) to alter the rate of energy expenditure, and/or c) to increase or decrease the amounts food consumed (Flatt, 1987).

This text was adapted from the author’s contribution to the Nestlé Foundation’s Annual Report 1991, under the title “The RQ/FQ concept and Body Weight Maintenance”, with the Nestlé Foundation’s permission.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Biochemistry and Molecular Biology, University of Massachusetts Medical School, Worcester, Massachusetts, 01655, USA

    J. P. Flatt

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  1. University of California-Davis, Davis, California, USA

    Lindsay Allen  & Bo Lönnerdal  & 

  2. University of California-Berkeley, Berkeley, California, USA

    Janet King

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Flatt, J.P. (1994). Influence of Body Composition on Food Intake. In: Allen, L., King, J., Lönnerdal, B. (eds) Nutrient Regulation during Pregnancy, Lactation, and Infant Growth. Advances in Experimental Medicine and Biology, vol 352. Springer, Boston, MA. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4899-2575-6_3

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4899-2575-6_3

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