The average holiday weight gain is less than commonly asserted. Since this gain is not reversed during the spring or summer months, the net 0.48-kg weight gain in the fall and winter probably contributes to the increase in body weight that frequently occurs during adulthood.

OBJECTIVE-To investigate the relationship between loss of control over eating, adiposity, and psychological distress in a non-treatment sample of overweight children.METHOD-Based on self-reports of eating episodes, 112 overweight children, 6-10 y, were categorized using the Questionnaire of Eating and Weight Patterns -Adolescent Version into those describing episodes of loss of control over eating (LC), and those with no loss of control (NoLC). Groups were compared on measures of adiposity, dieting and eating behavior, and associated psychological distress.RESULTS-LC children (33.1%) were heavier and had greater amounts of body fat than NoLC children. They also had higher anxiety, more depressive symptoms, and more body dissatisfaction. 5.3% met questionnaire criteria for BED. Episodes of loss of control occurred infrequently, were often contextual, and involved usual meal foods. DISCUSSION-As in adults, overweight children reporting loss of control over eating have greater severity of obesity and more psychological distress than those with no such symptoms. It remains unknown whether children who endorse loss of control over eating before adolescence will be those who develop the greatest difficulties with binge eating or obesity in adulthood. KeywordsBinge eating; obesity; child; race; psychopathology Binge eating is a frequent behavior in overweight adults ( Loro & Orleans, 1981;Gormally, Black, Daston & Rardin, 1982;Marcus, Wing & Lamparski, 1985;Spitzer et al, 1992;Fairburn & Wilson, 1993;Grisset & Fitzgibbon, 1996;Robertson & Palmer, 1997), and is Author ManuscriptAuthor Manuscript Author ManuscriptAuthor Manuscript defined by the consumption of large amounts of food associated with a feeling of loss of control over eating (Fairburn & Wilson, 1993). A smaller proportion of individuals reporting binge eating meet criteria for binge eating disorder (BED), a research diagnostic category of the DSM IV that is characterized by recurrent binge-eating episodes associated with marked distress, but without inappropriate compensatory behaviors. The prevalence of BED in obese adults seeking weight loss treatment may be as high as 20% to 30% (Spitzer et al., 1992 while rates of BED in community samples have been estimated at somewhat less than 3% (Yanovski, 1999).In adults, binge eating is often associated with obesity (Telch, Agras & Rossiter, 1988;Smith, Marcus, Lewis, Fitzgibbon & Schreiner, 1998) and other disturbed eating behaviors. Besides having less ability to control eating behavior (Grisset & Fitzgibbon, 1996;Wadden, Foster, Letizia & Wilk, 1993;Kuehnel & Wadden, 1994), obese adults reporting binge eating also have greater concerns with body shape and weight (Marcus, Smith, Santilli, Kaye, 1992;Spitzer et al., 1993;Wilson, Nonas & Rosenblum, 1993), report an earlier onset of obesity and dieting, and describe a higher percentage of their lifetimes spent on a diet than non-binge eating obese individuals (Brody, Walsh & Devlin, 1994). Several studies have shown that obese adult binge eaters also report...

BACKGROUND & AIMS A genome-wide association study associated 5 genetic variants with hepatic steatosis (identified by computerized tomography) in individuals of European ancestry. We investigated whether these variants were associated with measures of hepatic steatosis (HS) in non-Hispanic white (NHW), non-Hispanic black, and Mexican American (MA) participants in the US population-based National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey III, phase 2. METHODS We analyzed data from 4804 adults (1825 NHW, 1442 non-Hispanic black, and 1537 MA; 51.7% women; mean age at examination, 42.5 y); the weighted prevalence of HS was 37.3%. We investigated whether ultrasound-measured HS, with and without increased levels of alanine aminotransferase (ALT), or level of ALT alone, was associated with rs738409 (patatin-like phospholipase domain-containing protein 3 [PNPLA3]), rs2228603 (neurocan [NCAN]), rs12137855 (lysophospholipase-like 1), rs780094 (glucokinase regulatory protein [GCKR]), and rs4240624 (protein phosphatase 1, regulatory subunit 3b [PPP1R3B]) using regression modeling in an additive genetic model, controlling for age, age-squared, sex, and alcohol consumption. RESULTS The G allele of rs738409 (PNPLA3) and the T allele of rs780094 (GCKR) were associated with HS with a high level of ALT (odds ratio [OR], 1.36; P = .01; and OR, 1.30; P = .03, respectively). The A allele of rs4240624 (PPP1R3B) and the T allele of rs2228603 (NCAN) were associated with HS (OR, 1.28; P = .03; and OR, 1.40; P = .04, respectively). Variants of PNPLA3 and NCAN were associated with ALT level among all 3 ancestries. Some single-nucleotide polymorphisms were associated with particular races or ethnicities: variants in PNPLA3, NCAN, GCKR, and PPP1R3B were associated with NHW and variants in PNPLA3 were associated with MA. No variants were associated with NHB. CONCLUSIONS We used data from the National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey III to validate the association between rs738409 (PNPLA3), rs780094 (GCKR), and rs4240624 (PPP1R3B) with HS, with or without increased levels of ALT, among 3 different ancestries. Some, but not all, associations between variants in NCAN, lysophospholipase-like 1, GCKR, and PPP1R3B with HS (with and without increased ALT level) were significant within subpopulations.