Grant: Operating Grant

Childhood obesity rates have nearly tripled in the last 25 years, with 26% of Canadian children ages 2-17 years currently overweight or obese. Despite significant efforts, our understanding, prevention and treatment of childhood obesity has fallen well short of established goals.This is highly problematic as obesity is associated with a myriad of medical and emotional complications, including cardiovascular disease, diabetes, depression and a decreased lifespan. Historically, most obesity research has fallen into one of two separate traditions. The majority of obesity work has examined metabolic factors and weight regulation, with a strong focus on diabetes and insulin. A separate tradition has focused on behavioural factors such as food reward processes and binge eating as a cause of obesity over time. It can be argued that a major limitation of obesity research has been a failure to integrate these two areas of work, and to characterize distinct forms of obesity that might involve both types of problems in the same individual. The goal of this proposal is to study obesity from both a metabolic and behavioural perspective, focusing on overeating driven by brain mechanisms related to Attention Deficit (Hyperactivity) Disorder (ADHD). There is significant evidence that both children and adults with ADHD have increased rates of overeating and obesity than does the population at large. This may be due to alterations related to the brain chemical dopamine, which is known to play a role in food reward processes,impulsivity and ADHD. It is likely that several new findings related to childhood and adult obesity will emerge from this work, and lead to entirely new preventative and treatment strategies for children and adults alike.