The fat of the land

Abstract

Any change in body weight arises from an imbalance between energy intake and energy expenditure. Unfortunately a rather one dimensional interpretation of this statement has led to the view that obesity is due to a positive energy balance resulting from energy intake exceeding energy expenditure. For many years, some nutritionists and clinicians have regarded obesity as no more than a self‐inflicted disease of those with gluttonous appetites, despite the fact there are many obese people who do not eat vast quantities of food and just as many lean people who do. These paradoxical variations in food intake lend support to the concept that perhaps the more crucial factor in the control of body weight is energy expenditure. From this alternative standpoint obesity may be envisaged as resulting from some kind of defect in energy expenditure. Whether metabolic differences between the lean and obese are actually important in the aetiology of obesity has remained a controversial topic among scientists. However, recent developments now indicate that a unique form of fat, called brown adipose tissue, may hold the answer to our large problems.

Citation

Brooks, S.L. (1981), "The fat of the land", Nutrition & Food Science, Vol. 81 No. 2, pp. 10-11. https://doi.org/10.1108/eb058838