Medical Bulletin 29/December/2022

A recent study, published in the European Journal of Public Health, is based on data concerning 25,049 children aged three to five who have undergone regular health checks at child health centers. The counties taking part were Dalarna, Jönköping, and Sörmland.

Reference:

Anton Holmgren et al,Increased incidence of overweight and obesity among preschool Swedish children during the COVID-19 pandemic,European Journal of Public Health,DOI: 10.1093/eurpub/ckac181

Understanding why you can't stop at eating just one potato chip

Have you ever sat with a bag of chips with the idea of just trying a handful and saving the rest, but ended up licking the entire packet clean? If so, you may soon find out the explanation.

High-calorie foods-high in fat, oil, and sugar-can taste good but often cause overeating, leading to obesity and major health problems. But what stimulates the brain to cause overeating?

Recently, it has become clear that a gene called CREB-Regulated Transcription Coactivator 1 (CRTC1) is associated with obesity in humans. When CRTC1 is deleted in mice, they become obese, indicating that functioning CRTC1 suppresses obesity. However, since CRTC1 is expressed in all neurons in the brain, the specific neurons responsible for suppressing obesity and the mechanism present in those neurons remained unknown.