From fat cell biology to public health preventive strategies – pinpointing the critical period for obesity prevention

Abstract

The prevalence of childhood and adolescence obesity is increasing to alarming proportions worldwide and poses a major public health problem by significantly elevating the risks of chronic diseases. There is strong evidence that childhood overweight and obesity are risk factors for severe obesity over the whole life course. In fact, longitudinal studies have found that most overweight/obese children would become overweight and obese adults. There is a lack of coupling in the scientific literature between adipose tissue development and biology to obesity prevention and treatment strategies. This is of utmost importance, especially regarding childhood and adolescence, as the major scientific paradigm in studies of adiposity is that the major number of adipocytes is set for life at this early age. This review discusses the current adipose cell biology paradigms to pinpoint the critical factors and periods in childhood overweight and obesity and, consecutively, to develop relevant prevention strategies.

Disabled-2 Determines Commitment of a Pre-adipocyte Population in Juvenile Mice

“…Feeding studies also indicate juvenile animals are more subjective to high caloric induction of adipose numerical expansion50515253. Thus, intervention at younger age may be a critical period for countering obesity54. Existence of a pre-adipocyte population has been established and characterized555657.…”

Body adiposity from childhood to adolescence in boys: Interaction with somatic maturity

“…An important characteristic of body adiposity is its moderate‐to‐high tracking over time (Evensen, Wilsgaard, Furberg, & Skeie, ). Some factors may contribute to this tracking, such as the complexity of changing risk behaviors and biological characteristics of adipose tissue, which presents hyperplasia of adipocytes (Efrat, Tepper, & Birk, ; Glanz, Rimer, & Viswanath, ; Resnicow & Page, ). In addition, specific life periods appear to be critical for the development of adiposity (Dietz, ).…”

Reduced sCD36 following weight loss corresponds to improved insulin sensitivity, dyslipidemia and liver fat in obese children

“…This inconsistency may reflect an age-related difference in mechanisms of fat tissue expansion. The numbers of adipocytes are mainly set by a hyperplastic fat cell expansion during childhood and adolescence, 39 followed by a hypertrophic volume expansion of pre-existing adipocytes, which appears to be the predominant mechanism among adults. The latter mechanism may cause a state of low-grade inflammation due to local hypoxia proposed to induce a pro-inflammatory response.…”