Brain is the determining factor in weight gain, study says
Northwestern University and NYU: a surge in brain energy consumption at age 5 is linked to slower weight gain — the brain determines a person's weight.
Northwestern University and NYU: a surge in brain energy consumption at age 5 is linked to slower weight gain — the brain determines a person's weight.
In childhood, nearly half of the body's energy is used by the brain. This fact is directly linked to a person's weight. Northwestern University and New York University School of Medicine believe that variations in the brain's energy demand (time, intensity, duration of energy use) influence energy expenditure patterns and weight gain.
Scientists were led to this idea by a 2014 study, which showed that the surge in brain energy consumption occurs at age five. It was also established that the childhood age at which increased brain energy expenditure is required corresponds to the age when weight-gain rates decrease. At the same time, when the brain's energy demand declines later in life, the rate of weight gain increases.
All this allowed researchers to conclude: human children develop much more slowly than the offspring of other mammals, partly because their brains require more energy to develop. According to specialists, increased brain energy expenditure may be a positive factor for a child's early development and weight control.
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