Quest for ideal weight: costs and consequences.

The quest to achieve the ideal weight comes with notable costs. Dieting carries the financial costs of professional consulting, low-calorie foods, books and materials, and diet programming. Club memberships, clothing, equipment, and time all contribute to the cost of exercise. Cosmetic surgery to achieve the desired physique carries a significant financial, and sometimes psychological, burden. Women often pursue thinner bodies despite already being at a healthy weight. This pursuit is motivated primarily to enhance appearance. The ideal body portrayed in the media has stabilized in thinness, but it is becoming increasingly tubular, i.e., taller with slimmer hips and thicker waist. This ideal is presented to adult and adolescent women in their popular magazines, and to little girls with their dolls. Exercise is promoted as an optimal means to achieve the ideal physique. Young American women tend to idealize an athletic body shape, especially with upper-body muscularity. This shape can be attained only through sustained exercise and upper-body strength training. High-level exercise may be a precursor to eating disorders. Women who exercise to excess, who are highly preoccupied with weight, and who are characterized by perfectionism and an obsessive compulsive personality are at risk for eating disorders. When body weight and shape are kept in perspective and realistic goals are set, the physical, psychological, and financial costs of achieving or maintaining a healthy weight may be minimized.

Self-esteem: its application to eating disorders and athletes.

Self-esteem, a hierarchical and multifactorial perception, can be described as the extent to which a person feels positive about himself or herself. Social factors such as life satisfaction, sex, age, and strongly held values can affect self-esteem. Low self-esteem is a well-recognized trait of those with eating disorders and may be associated with a heightened self-awareness. Body dissatisfaction, common among women in Western society, may enhance this awareness. Athletes, especially those with eating disorders, are perfectionists and have acute body awareness and a sense of loss of control. Control is a crucial issue with these athletes. Before any nutrition counseling starts, readiness to listen should be assessed in conjunction with a mental health professional. Various tools are available to assess the eating disordered athlete's self-esteem, body image, and eating behavior. Nutrition counseling can help the athlete overcome an eating disorder by clarifying misconceptions and focusing on the role of nutrition in promoting health and athletic performance.

Dietary fat, sugar, and fiber predict body fat content.

OBJECTIVE: This study was conducted to determine the relationships among the specific components of dietary fat and carbohydrate and body fatness in lean and obese adults. DESIGN: Body composition determination was performed on each subject by hydrostatic weighing at residual volume. Subsequently, the individual components of dietary fat and carbohydrate were examined relative to body fatness using a 3-day food diary and a food frequency questionnaire. SUBJECTS: Subjects were 23 lean (11.1 +/- 2.9% body fat) men, 23 obese (29.2 +/- 3.8% body fat) men, 17 lean (16.7 +/- 3.3% body fat) women, and 15 obese (42.7 +/- 3.9% body fat) women who volunteered for free diet and body composition analyses. Inclusion criteria were 15% body fat for lean men, 25% for obese men, 20% for lean women, and 35% for obese women. STATISTICAL ANALYSIS PERFORMED: Group comparisons for dietary variables were made with a multivariate analysis of variance. RESULTS: No differences were found between lean and obese subjects for energy intake or total sugar intake, but obese subjects derived a greater portion of their energy from fat (33.1 +/- 2.6% and 36.3 +/- 2.3% for obese men and women, respectively, vs 29.1 +/- 1.3% and 29.6 +/- 2.0%, lean men and women, respectively). Percent of fat intake for saturated, monounsaturated, and polyunsaturated fats was not different among groups. Obese subjects derived a greater percentage of their sugar intake from added sugars than lean subjects (38.0 +/- 3.5% vs 25.2 +/- 2.0%, respectively, for men; 47.9 +/- 8.0% vs 31.4 +/- 3.4%, respectively, for women). Dietary fiber was lower for obese men (20.9 +/- 1.8 g) and women (15.7 +/- 1.1 g) than for lean men (27.0 +/- 1.8 g) and women (22.7 +/- 2.1 g). APPLICATIONS/CONCLUSIONS: Obesity is maintained primarily by a diet that is high in fat and added sugar and relatively low in fiber. Alterations in diet composition rather than energy intake may be a weight control strategy for overweight adults.

Energy balance in highly trained female endurance runners.

Anecdotal and scientific reports have suggested that some female endurance athletes may have an inexplicable imbalance between energy intake and energy expenditure. We compared energy intake (EI) from food diaries (FD) with assessment of free-living energy expenditure (EE) using doubly labeled water (DLW) and a food attitude survey for 7 d in nine female distance runners. Daily EE via DLW (2990 +/- 415 kcal) was greater (P < 0.01) than daily EI via FD (2037 +/- 298 kcal): a 32% imbalance. Body weight did not change during the 7 d (day 1, 55.3 +/- 6.2 kg; day 7, 55.1 +/- 5.6 kg). A positive relationship was observed between EE and body weight (r = 0.82) while a negative correlation existed between EE vs EI (r = -0.83) and between EI vs body weight (r = -0.74). A negative correlation was observed between body weight and food attitude/body image (r = -78), i.e., the heavier women self-reported lower EI and also reported lower body image scores. These female athletes had a significant imbalance between EI and EE by our measures. Since body image and EI were related to body weight, the estimates of EI may be low due to underreporting particularly by the heavier athletes.

Successful weight loss in a self-taught, self-administered program.

There is little evidence concerning the effectiveness of self-help materials for weight control. The purpose of this research was to evaluate a self-help weight-loss program. Obese (body fat > or = 25.0%, range = 25.0-48.6%, mean +/- SEM = 36.5 +/- 1.3%) men (n = 14) and women (n = 21) were given a workbook detailing a behavior modification approach to weight loss that emphasizes self-monitoring of diet and exercise behaviors, and then sent home for 6 months to learn how to lose weight on their own. A group of 9 controls (CONT) who did not get a workbook were used for comparison. ANOVA showed that the experimental group (EXP) lost 8.1 +/- 0.9 (mean +/- SEM) kg body weight, 6.4 +/- 0.8 kg fat, and 3.9 +/- 0.6% body fat; all significant over time (p < 0.001) and different from the CONT (p < 0.0001) who showed no change in these variables. The EXP also reduced their fat intake (% of joules) from 36.1 +/- 1.0% to 27.9 +/- 1.3% (p < 0.0001), increased their carbohydrate intake from 45.7 +/- 1.2% to 50.0 +/- 1.7% (p < 0.007) and their protein intake from 16.3 +/- 0.05% to 20.7 +/- 0.7% (0 < 0.03), all of which were significantly different (p < 0.03) than the CONT who did not change. Dietary fiber increased in the EXP from 19.8 +/- 1.4 to 27.3 +/- 2.2 g/d (p < 0.001) even with a significant reduction in energy intake (11.3 +/- 0.6 vs. 8.9 +/- 0.5 Mj/d; p < 0.0001).(ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 250 WORDS)

Eating for Endurance or Ultraendurance.

In brief For optimum endurance, people who or compete must meet JMMJ basic nutrition requirements. Endurance and ultraendurance athletes need high carbohydrate intake to meet energy needs, as well as consistent intake of protein, vitamins, and minerals. Meeting these nutrient needs can be difficult, but through careful planning and monitoring of training schedules, body weight, and food and liquid intake, the athlete can develop a diet that meets the demands of both sport and life-style.

Rapid orocecal transit in chronically active persons with high energy intake.

Although chronic physical activity by humans can raise energy requirements and energy intake severalfold above sedentary levels, whether these increases alter digestive strategy remains unknown. To investigate this possibility, food passage rate (mouth-to-large intestinal lactulose transit) and absorption (xylose) were compared in a cross section of young men chosen to represent a wide range of daily physical activity and food intake. In 20 men (energy intake 1,272-5,342 kcal/day), resting mouth-to-cecum transit was faster in high caloric consumers (r = -0.69, P less than 0.01). In contrast, xylose absorption (n = 26; measured either as urinary xylose excretion or integrated breath H2 production from the sugar) was unrelated to food intake. Dietary fiber intake was uncorrelated with energy intake. This apparent human digestive strategy of rapid transit across the gut absorptive surface, without a sacrifice in absorption, parallels the adaptations made by several animal species similarly faced with increased energy demand at constant fiber intake. We therefore conclude that the hyperphagia of chronic exercise in humans may be linked with significant gastrointestinal adaptations.

Nutrient intake of an ultraendurance cyclist.

Meeting the energy demands of ultraendurance cycling requires careful planning and monitoring of food and fluid intake. This case study presents the nutrient intake of a cyclist while training for and competing in the Race Across AMerica (RAAM). Carbohydrate accounted for 65% of the calories consumed during training (4,743 kcal), 75% during 24-hr races (10,343 kcal), and 78% during RAAM (8,429 kcal). Gastrointestinal complaints during RAAM included nausea, feeling of fullness, and abdominal distension. Although probably exacerbated by sleep deprivation, these problems were all diet related. Based on this experience, it appears that by controlling the carbohydrate concentration of beverages, limiting dietary fiber, and relying on carbohydrate as the primary energy source, one could both control gastrointestinal symptoms and promote optimal performance in training and in ultramarathon cycling.

Diet composition, energy intake, and exercise in relation to body fat in men and women.

This study examined the relationships among body fat, diet composition, energy intake, and exercise in adults. Male (n = 107) and female (n = 109) adults aged 18-71 y (36.6 +/- 1.0 y, means +/- SEM) were hydrostatically weighed to determine body fat (5.7-49.0% of total weight). Diet and exercise behaviors were determined by use of a questionnaire. As body fat increased, percent of energy intake derived from fat increased (p less than 0.001) whereas the percent from carbohydrate decreased (p less than 0.001). There was no relationship between energy intake and adiposity although leanness and exercise were related (p less than 0.001). When subgroups of lean and obese subjects were compared, the lean subjects derived approximately 29% of their energy from fat and 53% from carbohydrate vs 35% and 46%, respectively, for the obese subjects. No differences were found between groups for energy intake but the lean individuals exercised more often than did the obese individuals. These data suggest that diet composition may play as important a role in fat deposition as do energy intake and lack of exercise.

Gastroplasty for respiratory insufficiency of obesity.

Three patients with the obesity hypoventilation syndrome and one patient with the sleep apnea syndrome underwent gastroplasty for weight reduction. A tracheostomy was also performed in the patient with sleep apnea. The PaO2 rose from an average of 51 +/- 9 to 71 +/- 5 torr and the PaCO2 fell from an average of 51 +/- 21 to 41 +/- 6 torr within two to ten months following bariatric surgery. The improved arterial blood gases were associated with an increased forced vital capacity in each patient. The change in maximum voluntary ventilation was variable. Sleep capneography demonstrated cure of the patient with sleep apnea permitting removal of the tracheostomy. All four patients have returned to productive lives in society. Given proper pre- and postoperative care, patients with respiratory insufficiency tolerate the operation well. Respiratory insufficiency associated with morbid obesity should be considered an indication for the gastroplasty procedure, rather than a contraindication as previously suggested.