Université de Fribourg

How dieting might make some fatter: modeling weight cycling toward obesity from a perspective of body composition autoregulation

Jacquet, Philippe ; Schutz, Yves ; Montani, Jean-Pierre ; Dulloo, Abdul G.

In: International Journal of Obesity, 2020, vol. 44, p. 1243-1253

The notion that dieting makes some people fatter has in the past decade gained considerable interest from both epidemiological predictions and biological plausibility. Several large-scale prospective studies have suggested that dieting to lose weight is associated with future weight gain and obesity, with such predictions being stronger and more consistent among dieters who are in the normal...

Université de Fribourg

Total energy expenditure assessed by doubly labeled water technique and estimates of physical activity in Mauritian children: analysis by gender and ethnicity

Ramuth, Harris ; Schutz, Yves ; Calonne, Julie ; Joonas, Noorjehan ; Dulloo, Abdul G.

In: European Journal of Clinical Nutrition, 2020, vol. 74, no. 3, p. 445–453

In the tropical island of Mauritius, the rise in obesity has accelerated in the past decades, and could be contributed by low physical activity and increased sedentary behavior. The study objectives were to generate the first dataset of total energy expenditure (TEE), to estimate physical activity in Mauritian children, and to explore differences due to gender and ethnicity.Subjects/methods:...

Université de Fribourg

European practical and patient-centred guidelines for adult obesity management in primary care

Durrer Schutz, D. ; Busetto, L. ; Dicker, D. ; Farpour-Lambert, N. ; Pryke, R. ; Toplak, H. ; Widmer, D. ; Yumuk, V. ; Schutz, Yves

In: Obesity Facts, 2019, vol. 12, no. 1, p. 40–66

The first contact for patients with obesity for any medical treatment or other issues is generally with General Practitioners (GPs). Therefore, given the complexity of the disease, continuing GPs’ education on obesity management is essential. This article aims to provide obesity management guidelines specifically tailored to GPs, favouring a practical patient-centred approach. The focus is...

Université de Fribourg

The contribution of Swiss scientists to the assessment of energy metabolism

Montani, Jean-Pierre ; Schutz, Yves ; Dulloo, Abdul G.

In: European Journal of Clinical Nutrition, 2018, vol. 72, no. 5, p. 665–679

Although Switzerland is considered a small country, it has its share in discoveries, inventions and developments for the assessment of energy metabolism. This includes seminal contributions to respiratory and metabolic physiology and to devices for measuring energy expenditure by direct and indirect calorimetry in vivo in humans and small animals (as well as in vitro in organs/tissues), for...

Université de Fribourg

Standing economy: does the heterogeneity in the energy cost of posture maintenance reside in differential patterns of spontaneous weight-shifting?

Miles-Chan, Jennifer L. ; Fares, Elie-Jacques ; Berkachy, Redina ; Jacquet, Philippe ; Isacco, Laurie ; Schutz, Yves ; Montani, Jean-Pierre ; Dulloo, Abdul G.

In: European Journal of Applied Physiology, 2017, vol. 117, no. 4, p. 795–807

Due to sedentarity-associated disease risks, there is much interest in methods to increase low-intensity physical activity. In this context, it is widely assumed that altering posture allocation can modify energy expenditure (EE) to impact body-weight regulation and health. However, we have recently shown the existence of two distinct phenotypes pertaining to the energy cost of...

Université de Fribourg

Reliability of low‐power cycling efficiency in energy expenditure phenotyping of inactive men and women

Fares, Elie-Jacques ; Isacco, Laurie ; Monnard, Cathriona R. ; Miles-Chan, Jennifer L. ; Montani, Jean-Pierre ; Schutz, Yves ; Dulloo, Abdul G.

In: Physiological Reports, 2017, vol. 5, no. 9, p. e13233

Standardized approaches to assess human energy expenditure (EE) are well defined at rest and at moderate to high‐intensity exercise, but not at light intensity physical activities energetically comparable with those of daily life (i.e., 1.5–4 times the resting EE, i.e., 1.5–4 METs). Our aim was to validate a graded exercise test for assessing the energy cost of low‐intensity dynamic...

Université de Fribourg

How dieting makes the lean fatter: from a perspective of body composition autoregulation through adipostats and proteinstats awaiting discovery

Dulloo, Abdul G. ; Jacquet, Jean ; Montani, Jean-Pierre ; Schutz, Yves

In: Obesity Reviews, 2015, vol. 16, p. 25–35

Whether dieting makes people fatter has been a subject of considerable controversy over the past 30 years. More recent analysis of several prospective studies suggest, however, that it is dieting to lose weight in people who are in the healthy normal range of body weight, rather than in those who are overweight or obese, that most strongly and consistently predict future weight gain. This paper...

Université de Fribourg

Dieting and weight cycling as risk factors for cardiometabolic diseases: who is really at risk?

Montani, Jean-Pierre ; Schutz, Yves ; Dulloo, Abdul G.

In: Obesity Reviews, 2015, vol. 16, p. 7–18

Despite the poor prognosis of dieting in obesity management, which often results in repeated attempts at weight loss and hence weight cycling, the prevalence of dieting has increased continuously in the past decades in parallel to the steadily increasing prevalence of obesity. However, dieting and weight cycling are not limited to those who are obese or overweight as substantial proportions of...

Université de Fribourg

Sitting comfortably versus lying down: Is there really a difference in energy expenditure?

Miles-Chan, Jennifer Lynn ; Sarafian, Delphine ; Montani, Jean-Pierre ; Schutz, Yves ; Dulloo, Abdul G.

In: Clinical Nutrition, 2014, vol. 33, no. 1, p. 175–178

Background and aims: Energy expenditure (EE) during sitting is widely assumed to be higher than that while lying down, but supporting evidence is equivocal. Despite this, resting EE in the sitting position is often used as a proxy for basal metabolic rate. Here we investigate whether EE differs in the comfortable seated position compared to supine (lying) position.Methods: EE and respiratory...

Université de Fribourg

Energy gap in the aetiology of body weight gain and obesity: a challenging concept with a complex evaluation and pitfalls

Schutz, Yves ; Byrne, N. M. ; Dulloo, Abdul G. ; Hills, A. P.

In: Obesity Facts, 2014, vol. 7, no. 1, p. 15–25

The concept of energy gap(s) is useful for understanding the consequence of a small daily, weekly, or monthly positive energy balance and the inconspicuous shift in weight gain ultimately leading to overweight and obesity. Energy gap is a dynamic concept: an initial positive energy gap incurred via an increase in energy intake (or a decrease in physical activity) is not constant, may fade out...