Researchers set out to solve obesity riddle - 21.09.2011
We are getting more and more obese. Since the 1980s, the incidence of obesity has seen an increase of almost 75%, which means that today 10% of us are so obese that our health is at risk.
Researchers from LIFE’s elite research area ‘Obesity and appetite regulation’ would like to reverse this trend.
By Katherina Killander
Through dedicated research with partners in Denmark and abroad, the researchers are trying to shed more light on the many complex factors influencing the prevention of obesity.
This research offers huge perspectives as more knowledge about the development of obesity may provide better treatment opportunities in future while reducing the risk of lifestyle diseases in the population.
We asked anchorperson Professor Anne Birgitte Raben eight sharp questions about the elite research area:
1. Where is research in obesity and appetite regulation currently heading?
2. How does LIFE contribute to obesity and appetite regulation research worldwide?
3. Which other promising research projects would you like to mention?
4. If the elite research area becomes the success you are hoping for in the coming years, what do you hope to achieve?
5. How will LIFE students benefit from this emerging elite research area?
6. What are your considerations in relation to collaborating with companies and authorities that may have an interest in this specific elite research area?
7. Where can you follow the elite research area’s results?
8. Who is behind the elite research area?
Professor Anne Raben replies:
– There is strong worldwide focus on how environmental factors other than diet and exercise affect an individual’s weight, e.g. sleep, medicine and stress.
Several researchers are focusing on the significant impact that sleep may have, and several studies have documented that lack of sleep increases the risk of becoming overweight.
Unfortunately, we are seeing a clear tendency in society to sleep less because people are constantly on the Internet, checking their mobile etc., working more and also very active in their leisure time.
Special intestinal microflora in overweight individuals
In recent years, considerable research has been conducted in the relationship between intestinal microflora and obesity, as there are indications that the intestinal flora of overweight individuals differs from that of normal weight individuals.
It is, however, still too early to conclude whether individuals become obese because they have a special intestinal flora or whether they have this intestinal flora because they are obese. It is like the chicken or the egg.
But researchers are studying whether certain probiotics may affect the intestinal flora to promote weight loss.
Impact of genes
Genetics is a third very rapidly developing obesity research field.
The researchers are trying to scientifically describe the genetic composition of individuals who are, e.g., able to adapt to a high-fat diet without gaining significant weight.
One day, this will hopefully explain why some individuals are better at adapting to a high-fat diet than others.
Anne Raben replies:
– The elite research area employs 40 persons, including 20 researchers, each with their own focus area, e.g. which impact diet, food, bioactive compounds, pharmaceutical products, physical exercise, lack of sleep and stress have on the prevention and treatment of obesity and related diseases.
Our research results are regularly published in high-ranking scientific journals such as The Lancet and New England Journal of Medicine.
As obesity has become such a major issue, the research conducted in the area is of national strategic significance, and there is thus considerable political backing for our work.
Impact of sleep on obesity
Many of us are currently trying to shed more light on the impact of sleep on the tendency to develop obesity. We have been testing young men in respiration chambers where they are allowed to sleep for four and nine hours a night, respectively, for three consecutive days.
During the tests, we have measured their appetite regulation, hormones, combustion and well-being. The tests form part of a PhD project, and the results will soon be published in international journals.
New Nordic diet 
25 employees (researchers, dieticians, bioanalysts, nutrition assistants) in our group participate in the large OPUS research project which investigates the health potential of Nordic raw materials.
We are currently concentrating on a part of the research project called SHOPUS.
In this project, almost 200 overweight adult men and women receive foods free of charge from LIFE’s special supermarket which has both new Nordic foods and conventional foods on its shelves.
Half of the trial participants are eating in accordance with the New Nordic Diet (NND) principle, with the other being on a conventional diet.
NND includes locally produced raw materials (often organic) from the Nordic countries, prepared with focus on freshness and flavour.
The research group is continuously testing the subjects for health markers, e.g. whether they are losing weight, gaining more energy, quality of life etc. as a result of the NND.
A PhD student and a number of thesis, BSc and project students have been involved in SHOPUS.
Which other promising research projects would you like to mention?
– We have recently published the results of Europe’s largest diet study ever, DiOGenes.
Together with seven other EU countries, we studied 722 families and found that the optimal diet for people who want to lose weight and maintain it primarily consists of high-protein and low glycaemic index (GI) foods.
High-protein and low GI diet
Food with a low glycaemic index (LGI) causes blood glucose levels to increase more slowly and to lower levels compared to high-carbohydrate foods with a high glycaemic index.
The challenge involved in increasing protein intake is food production and sustainability. Thus, we cannot increase the protein intake if the protein is exclusively of animal origin, such as meet and dairy products. We would therefore like to study how we can increase the intake of protein from vegetable sources such as beans and lentils.
If the elite research area becomes the success you are hoping for in the coming years, what do you hope to achieve?
Anne Raben replies:
– One of the clear objectives of the elite research area is to develop new prevention and treatment methods.
Developing treatment options which can make people lose weight and subsequently maintain it more effectively than is currently the case will boost public health considerably.
To change people’s behaviour it is extremely important to engage in interdisciplinary collaboration with both businesses and experts at other universities, both in Denmark and abroad.
New scientific methods such as sophisticated bioimaging techniques will also provide more knowledge about the mechanisms of importance for preferences, the sensation of hunger and satiety.
Another success criterion for us is also to retain the most talented PhDs in the group as postdocs.
How will LIFE students benefit from this emerging elite research area?
Anne Raben replies:
– We have always tried to attach students from LIFE and/or other educational institutions to our research projects, usually with a good result for both parties.
The more successful and the more exciting projects the elite research area has, the easier it will be to attract students to the area.
The students are allowed to participate in real-life research projects – often major intervention studies involving human subjects – in which they learn hands-on methods and logistics, in addition to contact with project researchers and staff.
If they wish, they can subsequently become lead or co-authors on a scientific publication about the results.
Anne Raben replies:
– Historically, a very large number of the elite research area’s projects have received external funding, e.g. from the food and pharmaceutical industries.
For this reason, a large part of our research is conducted in close collaboration with experts from the industry, and a research focus that is also relevant and important to the industry.
Where can you follow the elite research area’s results?
On the Department of Human Nutrition website as well as in LIFE’s external (Danish)newsletter (www.foodoflife.dk)
In addition, researchers from the elite research area often make statements and comments in the press about current issues and new results.
Professor Anne Raben
Professor Arne Astrup
Associate Professor Thomas Meinert Larsen
Associate Professor Anders Sjödin
... as well as a number of assistant professors, postdocs and PhD students.
Kirsten Jenlev, - last update:11 October 2011