Author Interviews, OBGYNE, Pediatrics, PLoS, Weight Research / 16.06.2019
Could Breast Milk from Overweight Moms Play a Role in Childhood Obesity?
MedicalResearch.com Interview with:
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Dr. Nuss[/caption]
Henry J. Nuss, Ph.D.
Assistant Professor
Louisiana State University Health Sciences Center
School of Public Health
New Orleans, LA
MedicalResearch.com: What is the background for this study?
Response: Childhood obesity rates in the U.S. have been increasing within the past 30 years. We can point to things like sedentary lifestyle, energy-dense, nutrient-poor foods and savvy marketing techniques of large food corporations that target kids and their parents to buy food items that aren’t healthy. That said, we do know that women who have an unhealthy weight status (as measured by BMI ≥ 25) tend to have offspring that eventually attain an unhealthy weight status themselves. Aside from environmental factors, could this be due to maternal programming or perhaps something in the breastmilk? Or both? We saw some interesting research that showed breastfed infants/toddlers born to asthmatic moms were more likely to develop asthma. Furthermore, this association became stronger the longer the infants/toddlers were breastfed. The conclusion here is that it must be something in the breastmilk.
We knew that asthma and obesity are both inflammatory in nature and that there are specific pro- and anti-inflammatory and obesogenic bioactive compounds in human breastmilk. Some have been studied before but there were no studies at the time that tied all of the pieces together. If we could target specific compounds in the milk that were associated with unhealthy growth patterns in infants then we could perhaps be more specific in how we fight this problem.
Dr. Nuss[/caption]
Henry J. Nuss, Ph.D.
Assistant Professor
Louisiana State University Health Sciences Center
School of Public Health
New Orleans, LA
MedicalResearch.com: What is the background for this study?
Response: Childhood obesity rates in the U.S. have been increasing within the past 30 years. We can point to things like sedentary lifestyle, energy-dense, nutrient-poor foods and savvy marketing techniques of large food corporations that target kids and their parents to buy food items that aren’t healthy. That said, we do know that women who have an unhealthy weight status (as measured by BMI ≥ 25) tend to have offspring that eventually attain an unhealthy weight status themselves. Aside from environmental factors, could this be due to maternal programming or perhaps something in the breastmilk? Or both? We saw some interesting research that showed breastfed infants/toddlers born to asthmatic moms were more likely to develop asthma. Furthermore, this association became stronger the longer the infants/toddlers were breastfed. The conclusion here is that it must be something in the breastmilk.
We knew that asthma and obesity are both inflammatory in nature and that there are specific pro- and anti-inflammatory and obesogenic bioactive compounds in human breastmilk. Some have been studied before but there were no studies at the time that tied all of the pieces together. If we could target specific compounds in the milk that were associated with unhealthy growth patterns in infants then we could perhaps be more specific in how we fight this problem.
Dr. Essig[/caption]
Dr. Garth Essig, MD
Otolaryngologist
The Ohio State University Wexner Medical Center.
MedicalResearch.com: What is the background for this study? What are the main findings?
Response: Dog bites are a significant yet modifiable public health concern, but the true magnitude is difficult to estimate with such wide ranges in reporting, severity of injury and varieties of breeds that bite. We reviewed bites from reports in the literature and from two regionally distinct medical centers.
We concluded that bite frequency and severity could be attributed to certain breeds in this sample, if the breed is known. Our study also acknowledged the significant risk of biting with the mixed breed population, which creates a dilemma with identification.
Hoda S. Abdel Magid, MHS, PhD
Postdoctoral Scholar
Department of Health Research & Policy
Stanford University
MedicalResearch.com: What is the background for this study? What are the main findings?
Response: Dr. Hoda Magid, my former graduate student, and I wanted to examine whether owning promotional items for e-cigarettes and other non-cigarette products predicted youth use of those products. Other studies have examined whether ownership of coupons, samples, and other promotional materials influenced cigarette use, but no longitudinal study examined other tobacco products.
Our findings show that non-tobacco using youth who own items to promote e-cigarettes and other alternative tobacco products are twice as likely to use alternative tobacco products a year later.
