Adam Drewnowski - Academia.edu (original) (raw)

Papers by Adam Drewnowski

International journal of obesity (2005), 2014

To compare the associations between food environment at the individual level, socioeconomic statu... more To compare the associations between food environment at the individual level, socioeconomic status (SES) and obesity rates in two cities: Seattle and Paris. Analyses of the SOS (Seattle Obesity Study) were based on a representative sample of 1340 adults in metropolitan Seattle and King County. The RECORD (Residential Environment and Coronary Heart Disease) cohort analyses were based on 7131 adults in central Paris and suburbs. Data on sociodemographics, health and weight were obtained from a telephone survey (SOS) and from in-person interviews (RECORD). Both studies collected data on and geocoded home addresses and food shopping locations. Both studies calculated GIS (Geographic Information System) network distances between home and the supermarket that study respondents listed as their primary food source. Supermarkets were further stratified into three categories by price. Modified Poisson regression models were used to test the associations among food environment variables, SES a...

The Journal of nutrition, 1983

ABSTRACT Glycerol kinase activity was measured in isolated fat cells from Zucker obese (fa/fa) ra... more ABSTRACT Glycerol kinase activity was measured in isolated fat cells from Zucker obese (fa/fa) rats, obese (ob/ob) mice, mice made obese by gold-thioglucose (GTG), yellow obese (Ay/a) mice, as well as their appropriate lean controls. Glycerol kinase activity per fat cell ...

International journal of sport nutrition and exercise metabolism, 2005

Dietary energy density (kcal/g) is defined as available dietary energy per unit weight or volume ... more Dietary energy density (kcal/g) is defined as available dietary energy per unit weight or volume of food. The consumption of energy-dense foods has been associated with increased obesity risk and with excessive weight gain. The objectives of this study were to compare how dietary energy density, calculated using three different methods relates to food choices and nutrient composition of the diets of elite figure skaters. Participants were 159 elite figure skaters attending training camps. Mean age was 18.4 y for boys (n = 79) and 15.9 y for girls (n = 80). Heights and weights were measured to calculate body-mass indices (BMI). Dietary intakes were based on 3-d food records analyzed using the Nutritionist IV program. Mean energy intakes were 2326 kcal/d for boys and 1545 kcal/d for girls. Dietary energy density,,based on foods and caloric beverages only, was 1.0 kcal/g. Dietary ED was positively associated with percent energy from fat and negatively with percent energy from sugar. Th...

It has been suggested that exercise may be a risk factor for anorexia nervosa (AN). An interest i... more It has been suggested that exercise may be a risk factor for anorexia nervosa (AN). An interest in exercise and dieting frequently follows parturition and nursing in human females. Activitybased anorexia (ABA) in the rat (1.5 h/day food access and 22.5 h/day activity wheel access) permits the systematic investigation of the relationship between voluntary exercise and restricted feeding on body weight regulation. The purpose of this study was to determine if lactating female rats separated from their pups on postnatal day 23 are more susceptible to ABA than weight-matched retired breeders. Susceptibility to ABA was defined as the number of days to reach a 20% weight-loss criterion. It was found that lactating females were considerably more susceptible to ABA than retired breeders. This effect was not due to reduced food intake or increased activity levels. Lactating ABA rats also had increased relative thymus weights compared to retired breeders but comparable gonadal fat depots. It is suggested that a diversion of metabolic substrate to milk production causes lactating females to be less able to defend body weight during ABA. The relative contribution of restricted feeding and voluntary exercise to this deleterious effect remains to be determined, as does the significance of the increase in relative thymus weight to cell-mediated immunity in lactating rats.

Journal of The American Dietetic Association, 2010

Learning Outcome: Participants will follow the formative evaluation process by observing the appl... more Learning Outcome: Participants will follow the formative evaluation process by observing the application of focus group and interviews with cooking with a chef participants and provider data in program implementation and impressions for improvement.

taste preference in women smokers: Comparison with nonsmokers and effects of menstrual phase and ... more taste preference in women smokers: Comparison with nonsmokers and effects of menstrual phase and nicotine abstinence. PHARMACOL BIOCHEM BEHAV 40(4) [995][996][997][998][999] 1991.--Cigarette smokers weigh less than comparably aged nonsmokers, and many gain weight following cessation. Though some evidence suggests that nicotine reduces food intake, with a selective effect on sweet-tasting foods, the issue remains unresolved. In the current study, 64 women (20 smokers, 26 never-smokers, and 18 ex-smokers) were tested for sweet taste preference; 9 of these smokers were studied under conditions of both ad lib smoking and overnight abstinence, in three hormonaily verified menstrual phases. 1) Although no overall differences were detected in taste preference among the three groups, significantly more smokers than nonsmokers preferred the higher sucrose concentrations. 2) No significant differences due to menstruai phase were observed. 3) Although preference ratings did not differ significantly between overnight abstinence and ad lib smoking, a subset of smokers who preferred higher sucrose concentrations rated their preference for the solutions significantly higher during the ad lib smoking sessions. Our findings suggest that smoking and nonsmoking women differ with respect to taste preference and that, at least in a subset of female smokers, preference is affected by nicotine abstinence/acute dosing.

This study examined the effects of four breakfast preloads of different sweetness and energy cont... more This study examined the effects of four breakfast preloads of different sweetness and energy content on motivational ratings, taste preferences, and energy intakes of 12 obese and 12 lean women. The preloads consisted of creamy white cheese (fromage blanc) and were either plain, sweetened with sucrose or aspartame, or sweetened with aspartame and supplemented with maltodextrin. Their energy content was either 300 kcal (1,255 kJ) or 700 kcal (2,929 kJ). Motivational ratings of hunger and the desire to eat were obtained prior to and at 30 min intervals after breakfast. Taste preferences were measured prior to and 150 min after breakfast. The subjects ate buffet-style lunch, snack, and dinner meals in the laboratory. Obese women consumed significantly more energy at meals (2,596 kcal or 10,862 kJ) than did lean women (1,484 kcal or 6,209 kJ); derived a greater proportion of energy from fat (39.9% vs. 35.5%), and had lower dietary carbohydrate-to-fat ratios. Consumption of low-energy as opposed to high-energy breakfast preloads was associated with elevated motivational ratings by noon. However, energy intakes at lunch, snack, or dinner did not vary as a function of preload type, and no compensation was observed for the energy consumed at breakfast. Taste preferences were not affected by preload ingestion or by preload type. The study provided no evidence that aspartame promotes hunger or results in increased energy intakes in obese or in lean women.

Genetically mediated taste responsiveness to 6-n-propylthiouracil (PROP) has been linked to reduc... more Genetically mediated taste responsiveness to 6-n-propylthiouracil (PROP) has been linked to reduced acceptance of some bitter foods. In this community-based study male (n = 364) and female (n = 378) adults enrolled in a self-help dietary intervention trial were screened for PROP taster status. Respondents, aged 18-70 years, were mailed filter papers impregnated with PROP or with aspartame solutions. They received instructions to rate taste intensity and hedonic preference using nine point category scales. Women rated PROP as more bitter than did men. Both sweetness and bitterness ratings were lower for older adults. Taste responsiveness to PROP was unrelated to body mass index in women or men. Higher bitterness ratings for PROP were weakly associated with higher sweetness ratings for aspartame, but were unrelated to sweet taste preferences. Successful administration of PROP filter papers by mail suggests new avenues for the screening of taste phenotypes in epidemiological studies.

Identifying areas of high diabetes prevalence can have an impact on public health prevention and ... more Identifying areas of high diabetes prevalence can have an impact on public health prevention and intervention programs. Local health practitioners and public health agencies lack small-area data on obesity and diabetes.

Increasing rates of obesity and overweight have been attributed to the growing proportion of diet... more Increasing rates of obesity and overweight have been attributed to the growing proportion of dietary energy that is consumed in liquid form. Liquids reportedly fail to trigger physiological satiety mechanisms so that compensation for energy consumed as beverages may be imprecise and incomplete. Sweetened beverages have come under particular scrutiny, as their consumption exceeds that of milk and fruit and vegetable juices. However, the evidence that liquids have less impact on satiety than do solid foods remains inconclusive. Some published studies have reported that liquids are less satiating than solids, whereas other studies have reported that solids are less satiating than liquids. In laboratory studies, the degree of energy compensation following pre-load ingestion was influenced by subject characteristics, pre-load volume, or the time lag between the pre-load and the next meal. Such factors appear to interact with pre-load texture in their impact on hunger and satiety and later food consumption.

Learning Outcome: To determine if 6-n-propylthiouracil taster status is a barrier to adopting a d... more Learning Outcome: To determine if 6-n-propylthiouracil taster status is a barrier to adopting a diet higher in fruits and vegetables and lower in dietary fat in response to nutrition counseling using motivational interviewing techniques.

Shopping at low-cost supermarkets has been associated with higher obesity rates. This study exami... more Shopping at low-cost supermarkets has been associated with higher obesity rates. This study examined whether attitudes toward healthy eating are independently associated with diet quality among shoppers at low-cost, medium-cost, and high-cost supermarkets. Data on socioeconomic status (SES), attitudes toward healthy eating, and supermarket choice were collected using a telephone survey of a representative sample of adult residents of King County, WA. Dietary intake data were based on a food frequency questionnaire. Thirteen supermarket chains were stratified into three categories: low, medium, and high cost, based on a market basket of 100 commonly eaten foods. Dietquality measures were energy density, mean adequacy ratio, and total servings of fruits and vegetables. The analytical sample consisted of 963 adults. Multivariable regressions with robust standard error examined relations between diet quality, supermarket type, attitudes, and SES. Shopping at higher-cost supermarkets was associated with higherquality diets. These associations persisted after adjusting for SES, but were eliminated after taking attitudinal measures into account. Supermarket shoppers with positive attitudes toward healthy eating had equally higher-quality diets, even if they shopped at low-, medium-, or high-cost supermarkets, independent of SES and other covariates. These findings imply that shopping at low-cost supermarkets does not prevent consumers from having high-quality diets, as long as they attach importance to good nutrition. Promoting nutrition-education strategies among supermarkets, particularly those catering to low-income groups, can help to improve diet quality.

American Journal of Preventive Medicine, 2011

Background: Measures of neighborhood deprivation used in health research are typically based on c... more Background: Measures of neighborhood deprivation used in health research are typically based on conventional area-based SES. Purpose: The aim of this study is to examine new data and measures of SES for use in health research. Specifıcally, assessed property values are introduced as a new individual-level metric of wealth and tested for their ability to substitute for conventional area-based SES as measures of neighborhood deprivation. Methods: The analysis was conducted in 2010 using data from 1922 participants in the 2008 -2009 survey of the Seattle Obesity Study (SOS). It compared the relative strength of the association between the individual-level neighborhood wealth metric (assessed property values) and area-level SES measures (including education, income, and percentage above poverty as single variables, and as the composite Singh index) on the binary outcome fair/poor general health status. Analyses were adjusted for gender, categoric age, race, employment status, home ownership, and household income. Results: The neighborhood wealth measure was more predictive of fair/poor health status than area-level SES measures, calculated either as single variables or as indices (lower DIC measures for all models). The odds of having a fair/poor health status decreased by 0.85 (95% CIϭ0.77, 0.93) per $50,000 increase in neighborhood property values after adjusting for individual-level SES measures. Conclusions: The proposed individual-level metric of neighborhood wealth, if replicated in other areas, could replace area-based SES measures, thus simplifying analyses of contextual effects on health. (Am J Prev Med 2011;41(1):88 -97)

To test the hypothesis that endogenous opiate peptides selectively influence hedonic response to ... more To test the hypothesis that endogenous opiate peptides selectively influence hedonic response to sweet and high- fat foods, the opiate antagonist naloxone, opiate agonist butorpha- nol, and a saline placebo were administered by intravenous info- sion to 16 obese and 25 normal-weight women. Twenty of the women (10 obese, 10 lean) fulfilled DSM-III-R diagnostic criteria for bulimia nervosa, as determined

Objective-To evaluate the geographic concentration of adult obesity prevalence by census tract (C... more Objective-To evaluate the geographic concentration of adult obesity prevalence by census tract (CT) in King County, WA, in relation to social and economic factors.

American Journal of Preventive Medicine, 2014

Studies have tried to link obesity rates and physical activity with multiple aspects of the built... more Studies have tried to link obesity rates and physical activity with multiple aspects of the built environment. To determine the relation between residential property values and multiple perceived (self-reported) measures of the obesogenic environment. The Seattle Obesity Study (SOS) used a telephone survey of a representative, geographically distributed sample of 2,001 King County adults, collected in 2008-2009 and analyzed in 2012-2013. Home addresses were geocoded. Residential property values at the tax parcel level were obtained from the King County tax assessor. Mean residential property values within a 10-minute walk (833-m buffer) were calculated for each respondent. Data on multiple perceived measures of the obesogenic environment were collected by self-report. Correlations and multivariable linear regression analyses, stratified by residential density, were used to examine the associations among perceived environmental measures, property values, and BMI. Perceived measures of the environment such as crime, heavy traffic, and proximity to bars, liquor stores, and fast food were all associated with lower property values. By contrast, living in neighborhoods that were perceived as safe, quiet, clean, and attractive was associated with higher property values. Higher property values were associated, in turn, with lower BMIs among women. The observed associations between perceived environment measures and BMI were largely attenuated after accounting for residential property values. Environments perceived as obesogenic are associated with lower property values. Studies in additional locations need to explore to what extent other perceived environment measures can be reflected in residential property values.

Journal of Nutrition, 2009

The consumption of nutrient-dense foods and beverages, which would ultimately be identified by a ... more The consumption of nutrient-dense foods and beverages, which would ultimately be identified by a scientifically validated nutrient density profiling system, should be instituted as a nutrition platform in the Dietary Guidelines as a part of a larger educational effort to help people choose more nutrient-dense foods and as the guiding principle for consumers to plan healthful diets. By consciously choosing more nutrient-dense foods and beverages, Americans will be in a better position to meet their nutrient requirements without overconsuming energy. An objective, science-based, and validated nutrient density profiling system is needed to characterize foods based on their nutrient composition and this concept should be integrated into the Dietary Guidelines. This article sets forth guiding principles for the development and implementation of a nutrient density profiling system based on the current knowledge of diet and health and recommends that the development of a nutrient density profiling system include testing for effectiveness against accepted measures of diet quality, such as the Healthy Eating Index, and measurable public health markers, such as blood lipids and blood pressure.

International journal of obesity (2005), 2014

To compare the associations between food environment at the individual level, socioeconomic statu... more To compare the associations between food environment at the individual level, socioeconomic status (SES) and obesity rates in two cities: Seattle and Paris. Analyses of the SOS (Seattle Obesity Study) were based on a representative sample of 1340 adults in metropolitan Seattle and King County. The RECORD (Residential Environment and Coronary Heart Disease) cohort analyses were based on 7131 adults in central Paris and suburbs. Data on sociodemographics, health and weight were obtained from a telephone survey (SOS) and from in-person interviews (RECORD). Both studies collected data on and geocoded home addresses and food shopping locations. Both studies calculated GIS (Geographic Information System) network distances between home and the supermarket that study respondents listed as their primary food source. Supermarkets were further stratified into three categories by price. Modified Poisson regression models were used to test the associations among food environment variables, SES a...

The Journal of nutrition, 1983

ABSTRACT Glycerol kinase activity was measured in isolated fat cells from Zucker obese (fa/fa) ra... more ABSTRACT Glycerol kinase activity was measured in isolated fat cells from Zucker obese (fa/fa) rats, obese (ob/ob) mice, mice made obese by gold-thioglucose (GTG), yellow obese (Ay/a) mice, as well as their appropriate lean controls. Glycerol kinase activity per fat cell ...

International journal of sport nutrition and exercise metabolism, 2005

Dietary energy density (kcal/g) is defined as available dietary energy per unit weight or volume ... more Dietary energy density (kcal/g) is defined as available dietary energy per unit weight or volume of food. The consumption of energy-dense foods has been associated with increased obesity risk and with excessive weight gain. The objectives of this study were to compare how dietary energy density, calculated using three different methods relates to food choices and nutrient composition of the diets of elite figure skaters. Participants were 159 elite figure skaters attending training camps. Mean age was 18.4 y for boys (n = 79) and 15.9 y for girls (n = 80). Heights and weights were measured to calculate body-mass indices (BMI). Dietary intakes were based on 3-d food records analyzed using the Nutritionist IV program. Mean energy intakes were 2326 kcal/d for boys and 1545 kcal/d for girls. Dietary energy density,,based on foods and caloric beverages only, was 1.0 kcal/g. Dietary ED was positively associated with percent energy from fat and negatively with percent energy from sugar. Th...

It has been suggested that exercise may be a risk factor for anorexia nervosa (AN). An interest i... more It has been suggested that exercise may be a risk factor for anorexia nervosa (AN). An interest in exercise and dieting frequently follows parturition and nursing in human females. Activitybased anorexia (ABA) in the rat (1.5 h/day food access and 22.5 h/day activity wheel access) permits the systematic investigation of the relationship between voluntary exercise and restricted feeding on body weight regulation. The purpose of this study was to determine if lactating female rats separated from their pups on postnatal day 23 are more susceptible to ABA than weight-matched retired breeders. Susceptibility to ABA was defined as the number of days to reach a 20% weight-loss criterion. It was found that lactating females were considerably more susceptible to ABA than retired breeders. This effect was not due to reduced food intake or increased activity levels. Lactating ABA rats also had increased relative thymus weights compared to retired breeders but comparable gonadal fat depots. It is suggested that a diversion of metabolic substrate to milk production causes lactating females to be less able to defend body weight during ABA. The relative contribution of restricted feeding and voluntary exercise to this deleterious effect remains to be determined, as does the significance of the increase in relative thymus weight to cell-mediated immunity in lactating rats.

Journal of The American Dietetic Association, 2010

Learning Outcome: Participants will follow the formative evaluation process by observing the appl... more Learning Outcome: Participants will follow the formative evaluation process by observing the application of focus group and interviews with cooking with a chef participants and provider data in program implementation and impressions for improvement.

taste preference in women smokers: Comparison with nonsmokers and effects of menstrual phase and ... more taste preference in women smokers: Comparison with nonsmokers and effects of menstrual phase and nicotine abstinence. PHARMACOL BIOCHEM BEHAV 40(4) [995][996][997][998][999] 1991.--Cigarette smokers weigh less than comparably aged nonsmokers, and many gain weight following cessation. Though some evidence suggests that nicotine reduces food intake, with a selective effect on sweet-tasting foods, the issue remains unresolved. In the current study, 64 women (20 smokers, 26 never-smokers, and 18 ex-smokers) were tested for sweet taste preference; 9 of these smokers were studied under conditions of both ad lib smoking and overnight abstinence, in three hormonaily verified menstrual phases. 1) Although no overall differences were detected in taste preference among the three groups, significantly more smokers than nonsmokers preferred the higher sucrose concentrations. 2) No significant differences due to menstruai phase were observed. 3) Although preference ratings did not differ significantly between overnight abstinence and ad lib smoking, a subset of smokers who preferred higher sucrose concentrations rated their preference for the solutions significantly higher during the ad lib smoking sessions. Our findings suggest that smoking and nonsmoking women differ with respect to taste preference and that, at least in a subset of female smokers, preference is affected by nicotine abstinence/acute dosing.

This study examined the effects of four breakfast preloads of different sweetness and energy cont... more This study examined the effects of four breakfast preloads of different sweetness and energy content on motivational ratings, taste preferences, and energy intakes of 12 obese and 12 lean women. The preloads consisted of creamy white cheese (fromage blanc) and were either plain, sweetened with sucrose or aspartame, or sweetened with aspartame and supplemented with maltodextrin. Their energy content was either 300 kcal (1,255 kJ) or 700 kcal (2,929 kJ). Motivational ratings of hunger and the desire to eat were obtained prior to and at 30 min intervals after breakfast. Taste preferences were measured prior to and 150 min after breakfast. The subjects ate buffet-style lunch, snack, and dinner meals in the laboratory. Obese women consumed significantly more energy at meals (2,596 kcal or 10,862 kJ) than did lean women (1,484 kcal or 6,209 kJ); derived a greater proportion of energy from fat (39.9% vs. 35.5%), and had lower dietary carbohydrate-to-fat ratios. Consumption of low-energy as opposed to high-energy breakfast preloads was associated with elevated motivational ratings by noon. However, energy intakes at lunch, snack, or dinner did not vary as a function of preload type, and no compensation was observed for the energy consumed at breakfast. Taste preferences were not affected by preload ingestion or by preload type. The study provided no evidence that aspartame promotes hunger or results in increased energy intakes in obese or in lean women.

Genetically mediated taste responsiveness to 6-n-propylthiouracil (PROP) has been linked to reduc... more Genetically mediated taste responsiveness to 6-n-propylthiouracil (PROP) has been linked to reduced acceptance of some bitter foods. In this community-based study male (n = 364) and female (n = 378) adults enrolled in a self-help dietary intervention trial were screened for PROP taster status. Respondents, aged 18-70 years, were mailed filter papers impregnated with PROP or with aspartame solutions. They received instructions to rate taste intensity and hedonic preference using nine point category scales. Women rated PROP as more bitter than did men. Both sweetness and bitterness ratings were lower for older adults. Taste responsiveness to PROP was unrelated to body mass index in women or men. Higher bitterness ratings for PROP were weakly associated with higher sweetness ratings for aspartame, but were unrelated to sweet taste preferences. Successful administration of PROP filter papers by mail suggests new avenues for the screening of taste phenotypes in epidemiological studies.

Identifying areas of high diabetes prevalence can have an impact on public health prevention and ... more Identifying areas of high diabetes prevalence can have an impact on public health prevention and intervention programs. Local health practitioners and public health agencies lack small-area data on obesity and diabetes.

Increasing rates of obesity and overweight have been attributed to the growing proportion of diet... more Increasing rates of obesity and overweight have been attributed to the growing proportion of dietary energy that is consumed in liquid form. Liquids reportedly fail to trigger physiological satiety mechanisms so that compensation for energy consumed as beverages may be imprecise and incomplete. Sweetened beverages have come under particular scrutiny, as their consumption exceeds that of milk and fruit and vegetable juices. However, the evidence that liquids have less impact on satiety than do solid foods remains inconclusive. Some published studies have reported that liquids are less satiating than solids, whereas other studies have reported that solids are less satiating than liquids. In laboratory studies, the degree of energy compensation following pre-load ingestion was influenced by subject characteristics, pre-load volume, or the time lag between the pre-load and the next meal. Such factors appear to interact with pre-load texture in their impact on hunger and satiety and later food consumption.

Learning Outcome: To determine if 6-n-propylthiouracil taster status is a barrier to adopting a d... more Learning Outcome: To determine if 6-n-propylthiouracil taster status is a barrier to adopting a diet higher in fruits and vegetables and lower in dietary fat in response to nutrition counseling using motivational interviewing techniques.

Shopping at low-cost supermarkets has been associated with higher obesity rates. This study exami... more Shopping at low-cost supermarkets has been associated with higher obesity rates. This study examined whether attitudes toward healthy eating are independently associated with diet quality among shoppers at low-cost, medium-cost, and high-cost supermarkets. Data on socioeconomic status (SES), attitudes toward healthy eating, and supermarket choice were collected using a telephone survey of a representative sample of adult residents of King County, WA. Dietary intake data were based on a food frequency questionnaire. Thirteen supermarket chains were stratified into three categories: low, medium, and high cost, based on a market basket of 100 commonly eaten foods. Dietquality measures were energy density, mean adequacy ratio, and total servings of fruits and vegetables. The analytical sample consisted of 963 adults. Multivariable regressions with robust standard error examined relations between diet quality, supermarket type, attitudes, and SES. Shopping at higher-cost supermarkets was associated with higherquality diets. These associations persisted after adjusting for SES, but were eliminated after taking attitudinal measures into account. Supermarket shoppers with positive attitudes toward healthy eating had equally higher-quality diets, even if they shopped at low-, medium-, or high-cost supermarkets, independent of SES and other covariates. These findings imply that shopping at low-cost supermarkets does not prevent consumers from having high-quality diets, as long as they attach importance to good nutrition. Promoting nutrition-education strategies among supermarkets, particularly those catering to low-income groups, can help to improve diet quality.

American Journal of Preventive Medicine, 2011

Background: Measures of neighborhood deprivation used in health research are typically based on c... more Background: Measures of neighborhood deprivation used in health research are typically based on conventional area-based SES. Purpose: The aim of this study is to examine new data and measures of SES for use in health research. Specifıcally, assessed property values are introduced as a new individual-level metric of wealth and tested for their ability to substitute for conventional area-based SES as measures of neighborhood deprivation. Methods: The analysis was conducted in 2010 using data from 1922 participants in the 2008 -2009 survey of the Seattle Obesity Study (SOS). It compared the relative strength of the association between the individual-level neighborhood wealth metric (assessed property values) and area-level SES measures (including education, income, and percentage above poverty as single variables, and as the composite Singh index) on the binary outcome fair/poor general health status. Analyses were adjusted for gender, categoric age, race, employment status, home ownership, and household income. Results: The neighborhood wealth measure was more predictive of fair/poor health status than area-level SES measures, calculated either as single variables or as indices (lower DIC measures for all models). The odds of having a fair/poor health status decreased by 0.85 (95% CIϭ0.77, 0.93) per $50,000 increase in neighborhood property values after adjusting for individual-level SES measures. Conclusions: The proposed individual-level metric of neighborhood wealth, if replicated in other areas, could replace area-based SES measures, thus simplifying analyses of contextual effects on health. (Am J Prev Med 2011;41(1):88 -97)

To test the hypothesis that endogenous opiate peptides selectively influence hedonic response to ... more To test the hypothesis that endogenous opiate peptides selectively influence hedonic response to sweet and high- fat foods, the opiate antagonist naloxone, opiate agonist butorpha- nol, and a saline placebo were administered by intravenous info- sion to 16 obese and 25 normal-weight women. Twenty of the women (10 obese, 10 lean) fulfilled DSM-III-R diagnostic criteria for bulimia nervosa, as determined

Objective-To evaluate the geographic concentration of adult obesity prevalence by census tract (C... more Objective-To evaluate the geographic concentration of adult obesity prevalence by census tract (CT) in King County, WA, in relation to social and economic factors.

American Journal of Preventive Medicine, 2014

Studies have tried to link obesity rates and physical activity with multiple aspects of the built... more Studies have tried to link obesity rates and physical activity with multiple aspects of the built environment. To determine the relation between residential property values and multiple perceived (self-reported) measures of the obesogenic environment. The Seattle Obesity Study (SOS) used a telephone survey of a representative, geographically distributed sample of 2,001 King County adults, collected in 2008-2009 and analyzed in 2012-2013. Home addresses were geocoded. Residential property values at the tax parcel level were obtained from the King County tax assessor. Mean residential property values within a 10-minute walk (833-m buffer) were calculated for each respondent. Data on multiple perceived measures of the obesogenic environment were collected by self-report. Correlations and multivariable linear regression analyses, stratified by residential density, were used to examine the associations among perceived environmental measures, property values, and BMI. Perceived measures of the environment such as crime, heavy traffic, and proximity to bars, liquor stores, and fast food were all associated with lower property values. By contrast, living in neighborhoods that were perceived as safe, quiet, clean, and attractive was associated with higher property values. Higher property values were associated, in turn, with lower BMIs among women. The observed associations between perceived environment measures and BMI were largely attenuated after accounting for residential property values. Environments perceived as obesogenic are associated with lower property values. Studies in additional locations need to explore to what extent other perceived environment measures can be reflected in residential property values.

Journal of Nutrition, 2009

The consumption of nutrient-dense foods and beverages, which would ultimately be identified by a ... more The consumption of nutrient-dense foods and beverages, which would ultimately be identified by a scientifically validated nutrient density profiling system, should be instituted as a nutrition platform in the Dietary Guidelines as a part of a larger educational effort to help people choose more nutrient-dense foods and as the guiding principle for consumers to plan healthful diets. By consciously choosing more nutrient-dense foods and beverages, Americans will be in a better position to meet their nutrient requirements without overconsuming energy. An objective, science-based, and validated nutrient density profiling system is needed to characterize foods based on their nutrient composition and this concept should be integrated into the Dietary Guidelines. This article sets forth guiding principles for the development and implementation of a nutrient density profiling system based on the current knowledge of diet and health and recommends that the development of a nutrient density profiling system include testing for effectiveness against accepted measures of diet quality, such as the Healthy Eating Index, and measurable public health markers, such as blood lipids and blood pressure.