The purpose of this study is to examine the relationship between the frequency of eating away from home (EAFH) and Body mass index (BMI) in adults. The data were collected from 2015 China Adult Chronic Disease and Nutrition Surveillance (CNNHS 2015). Adults aged 18 and above who had complete dietary frequency questionnaire data were recruited as the research objects. The frequency of EAFH among different genders and BMI groups were compared, and multiple linear regression method was used to analyze the correlation between frequency of EAFH and BMI of adults aged 18 years and above with different gender, age, family per capita annual income, education level, marital status, and occupation level. The frequency of EAFH was higher for adults aged 18–44, eastern region, urban, family per capita annual income of 20,000 RMB or more, highly educated, unmarried, school students, employed people, and obese adults, which were 3.64, 3.30, 3.71, 4.30, 5.92, 5.64, 9.29 and 2.68 times per week, respectively. The highest frequency of EAFH was obese men in urban areas aged 18–44 years, which was 5.63 times per week. Multiple linear regression analysis showed that the frequency of EAFH for breakfast was not associated with BMI (p > 0.05), the frequency of EAFH for lunch was negatively correlated with BMI (β = −0.024, p = 0.008), and the frequency of EAFH for dinner was positively correlated with BMI (β = 0.040, p = 0.004).The frequency of EAFH of male (β = 0.013, p = 0.008), 60 years old and above (β = 0.022, p = 0.021), family per capita annual income less than 10,000 RMB (β = 0.019, p = 0.005), junior high school education or below (β = 0.012, p = 0.009), and unemployed/retired (β = 0.029, p = 0.003) adults were positively correlated with BMI. While for women, the frequency of EAFH (β = −0.019, p = 0.001) was negatively correlated with BMI. In terms of frequency of EAFH for breakfast, female (β = 0.027, p = 0.041), people aged 45–59 years (β = 0.042, p = 0.002), aged 60 and above (β = 0.047, p = 0.017), eastern China (β = 0.034, p = 0.010), junior high school education or below (β = 0.045, p = 0.001), married/cohabiting (β = 0.024, p = 0.008) adults’ frequency of EAFH for breakfast of was positively correlated with BMI. In terms of frequency of EAFH for lunch, female (β = 0.056, p = 0.001), people aged 45–59 years (β = 0.024, p = 0.005), eastern China (β = 0.034, p = 0.004), rural areas (β = 0.035, p = 0.006), moderate and high family per capita annual income (β = 0.043, p = 0.007; β = 0.029, p = 0.039), high education level (β = 0.039, p = 0.034), married/cohabiting (β = 0.028, p = 0.001), on-the-job personnel (β = 0.033, p = 0.001) frequency of EAFH for lunch were negatively correlated with BMI. In terms of the frequency of EAFH for dinner, the frequency of EAFH for dinner had a significant positive influence on the BMI of males (β = 0.061, p = 0.001). The frequency of dinner EAFH for 18–44 years old (β = 0.042, p = 0.028), central region (β = 1.000, p < 0.001), rural areas (β = 0.055, p = 0.013), married/cohabiting (β = 0.048, p = 0.001), on-the-job personnel (β = 0.037, p = 0.035) adults were positively correlated with BMI. The frequency of EAFH in urban obese men aged 18–44 was the highest. The frequency of EAFH for breakfast was not correlated with BMI, the frequency of EAFH for lunch was negatively correlated with BMI, and the frequency of EAFH for dinner was positively correlated with BMI. The analysis between EAFH according to the current definition and health-related outcomes is mixed. It is suggested that relevant authorities redefine EAFH from the perspective of health outcomes. Full article

Diet-induced obesity models are widely used to investigate dietary interventions for treating obesity. This study was aimed to test whether a dietary intervention based on a calorie-restricted cafeteria diet (CAF-R) and a polyphenolic compound (Oleuropein, OLE) supplementation modified sucrose intake, preference, and taste reactivity in cafeteria diet (CAF)-induced obese rats. CAF diet consists of high-energy, highly palatable human foods. Male rats fed standard chow (STD) or CAF diet were compared with obese rats fed CAF-R diet, alone or supplemented with an olive tree leaves extract (25 mg/kg*day) containing a 20.1% of OLE (CAF-RO). Biometric, food consumption, and serum parameters were measured. CAF diet increased body weight, food and energy consumption and obesity-associated metabolic parameters. CAF-R and CAF-RO diets significantly attenuated body weight gain and BMI, diminished food and energy intake and improved biochemical parameters such as triacylglycerides and insulin resistance which did not differ between CAF-RO and STD groups. The three cafeteria groups diminished sucrose intake and preference compared to STD group. CAF-RO also diminished the hedonic responses for the high sucrose concentrations compared with the other groups. These results indicate that CAF-R diet may be an efficient strategy to restore obesity-associated alterations, whilst OLE supplementation seems to have an additional beneficial effect on sweet taste function. Full article

Background: Dietary and lifestyle habits constitute a significant contributing factor in the formation of anthropometric and biochemical characteristics of overweight and obese populations. The iMPROVE study recruited overweight and obese Greek adults and investigated the effect of gene–diet interactions on weight management when adhering to a six-month, randomized nutritional trial including two hypocaloric diets of different macronutrient content. The present paper displays the design of the intervention and the baseline findings of the participants’ dietary habits and their baseline anthropometric and biochemical characteristics. Methods: Baseline available data for 202 participants were analyzed and patterns were extracted via principal component analysis (PCA) on 69-item Food-Frequency Questionnaires (FFQ). Relationships with indices at baseline were investigated by multivariate linear regressions. A Lifestyle Index of five variables was further constructed. Results: PCA provided 5 dietary patterns. The “Mixed” pattern displayed positive associations with logBMI and logVisceral fat, whereas the “Traditional, vegetarian-alike” pattern was nominally, negatively associated with body and visceral fat, but positively associated with HDL levels. The Lifestyle Index displayed protective effects in the formation of logBMI and logGlucose levels. Conclusions: Dietary patterns and a Lifestyle Index in overweight and obese, Greek adults highlighted associations between diet, lifestyle, and anthropometric and biochemical indices. Full article

Many reports detail taste dysfunction in humans and animals with obesity. For example, mice consuming an obesogenic diet for a short period have fewer taste buds than their lean littermates. Further, rats with diet-induced obesity (DIO) show blunted electrophysiological responses to taste in the brainstem. Here, we studied the effects of high energy diet (HED)-induced peripheral taste damage in rats, and whether this deficiency could be reversed by returning to a regular chow diet. Separate groups of rats consumed a standard chow diet (Chow), a HED for 10 weeks followed by a return to chow (HED/chow), or a HED for 10 weeks followed by a restricted HED that was isocaloric with consumption by the HED/chow group (HED/isocal). Fungiform taste papilla (FP) and circumvallate taste bud abundance were quantified several months after HED groups switched diets. Results showed that both HED/chow and HED/isocal rats had significantly fewer FP and lower CV taste bud abundance than control rats fed only chow. Neutrophil infiltration into taste tissues was also quantified, but did not vary with treatment on this timeline. Finally, the number of cells undergoing programmed cell death, measured with caspase-3 staining, inversely correlated with taste bud counts, suggesting taste buds may be lost to apoptosis as a potential mechanism for the taste dysfunction observed in obesity. Collectively, these data show that DIO has lasting deleterious effects on the peripheral taste system, despite a change from a HED to a healthy diet, underscoring the idea that obesity rather than diet predicts damage to the taste system. Full article

Obesity is one of the most challenging diseases of the 21st century and is accompanied by behavioural disorders. Exercise, dietary adjustments, or time-restricted feeding are the only successful long-term treatments to date. Fibroblast growth factor 21 (FGF21) plays a key role in dietary regulation, but FGF21 resistance is prevalent in obesity. The aim of this study was to investigate in obese mice whether weight reduction leads to improved behaviour and whether these behavioural changes are associated with decreased plasma FGF21 levels. After establishing a model for diet-induced obesity, mice were subjected to three different interventions for weight reduction, namely dietary change, treadmill exercise, or time-restricted feeding. In this study, we demonstrated that only the combination of dietary change and treadmill exercise affected all parameters leading to a reduction in weight, fat, and FGF21, as well as less anxious behaviour, higher overall activity, and improved olfactory detection abilities. To investigate the interrelationship between FGF21 and behavioural parameters, feature selection algorithms were applied designating FGF21 and body weight as one of five highly weighted features. In conclusion, we concluded from the complementary methods that FGF21 can be considered as a potential biomarker for improved behaviour in obese mice after weight reduction. Full article