Jul 13, 2019 12:00:00

Hypothesis that children's brain energy consumption is associated with obesity risk

by

vikvarga

Early in childhood, nearly half of the energy consumed is consumed by the brain. Because body weight increases when energy intake exceeds energy expenditure, a new paper, the hypothesis that “energy consumption in the brain during childhood influences the risk of obesity,” has been published in a paper.

A hypothesis linking the energy demand of the brain to obesity risk | PNAS
https://www.pnas.org/content/116/27/13266

The brain consumes half of a child's energy — and that could matter for weight gain-Northwestern Now
https://news.northwestern.edu/stories/20019/06/the-brain-consumes-half-of-a-childs-energy-and-that-could-matter-for-weight-gain/

Christopher Kuzawa of Northwestern University and Clancy Blair of the NYU Medical Center and others highlight the very simple fact that weight gain is when energy intake outweighs energy expenditure, “the brain Published a hypothesis on 'the relationship between energy consumption and obesity.'

by Free-Photos

'It is a well-known fact that how much energy the body consumes is deeply related to weight gain,' said Kuzawa. It is said that 5-year-old children use about half of their energy intake in their brains However, I do not know how much difference in energy consumption is between children, which is a “big hole” in understanding energy consumption. ”

Kuzawa et al.'S paper hypothesizes, but for the purpose of the paper, 'focus on gaps in understanding the brain and measure brain energy expenditure in future studies on child brain development. To encourage people to Kuzawa also noted that it is not clear in 2019 whether programs that stimulate 'brain development' implemented in preschools and kindergartens actually affect brain energy consumption. The idea 'it is good for brain development to increase brain energy consumption in children's programs' is a valid one, and Kuzawa believes it is worthwhile to demonstrate in future research.

by pan xiaozhen

Kuzawa's research team announced in 2014 that the brain of a five-year-old child spends two-thirds of energy consumption at rest and half of total energy consumption. In this study, 'The age at which the energy needed by the brain increases increases the weight gain,' and 'The weight gain increases as the child grows and the energy required for brain development decreases. Kuzawa came to this hypothesis because it was shown that the ratio would increase.

In the field of anthropology, the hypothesis that 'the human child's body grows more slowly than other animals' children is because it requires more energy for brain development' has been advocated for many years. Kuzawa's research is believed to be very helpful in supporting this hypothesis.