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The Dynamics of Human Body Weight Change
Open accessAbstract
An imbalance between energy intake and energy expenditure will lead to a change in body weight (mass) and body composition (fat and lean masses). A quantitative understanding of the processes involved, which currently remains lacking, will be useful in determining the etiology and treatment of obesity and other conditions resulting from prolonged energy imbalance. Here, we show that a mathematical model of the macronutrient flux balances can capture the long-term dynamics of human weight change; all previous models are special cases of this model. We show that the generic dynamic behavior of body composition for a clamped diet can be divided into two classes. In the first class, the body composition and mass are determined uniquely. In the second class, the body composition can exist at an infinite number of possible states. Surprisingly, perturbations of dietary energy intake or energy expenditure can give identical responses in both model classes, and existing data are insufficient to distinguish between these two possibilities. Nevertheless, this distinction has important implications for the efficacy of clinical interventions that alter body composition and mass.
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“The integrated systems by which the brain and body communicate to regulate body weight may indicate single or multiple set-points for weight that may be difficult to adjust 12,19–21.”
From Cellular bioenergetics as a target for obesity therapy (2010) · cites this paper as [21]
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Metadata
- Authors
- Chow, C. C., & Hall, K. D.
- Affiliations
- National Institutes of Health (US)
- Corresponding author
- Chow, Carson C.
- Venue
- PLoS Computational Biology
- Publisher
- Public Library of Science (PLoS)
- Published
- 2008-03-28
- Volume
- 4
- Issue
- 3
- Pages
- e1000045
- ISSN
- 1553-734X (ISSN-L)
- 1553-7358
- PMC
- PMC2266991
- OpenAlex
- W2103014115
- Cited by
- 156
- References
- 51
- Citations by year
- 2026: 9 · 2025: 5 · 2024: 13 · 2023: 3 · 2022: 7 · 2021: 7 · 2020: 2 · 2019: 12 · 2018: 4 · 2017: 9 · 2016: 9 · 2015: 6 · 2014: 13 · 2013: 8 · 2012: 12
- FWCI
- 5.48
- Type
- journal article
- Language
- en
- Open access
- gold
- doi.org
- Licence
- Locations
- PLoS Computational Biology (publishedVersion, public-domain)
- PubMed Central (publishedVersion, public-domain)
- PubMed (publishedVersion)
- arXiv (Cornell University) (submittedVersion)
- RePEc: Research Papers in Economics (submittedVersion)
- DOAJ (DOAJ: Directory of Open Access Journals) (submittedVersion, cc-by-sa)
- arXiv (Cornell University) (public-domain)
- Funders
- National Institutes of Health
- National Institute of Diabetes and Digestive and Kidney Diseases
- Topics
- Life Sciences › Neuroscience › Endocrine and Autonomic Systems › Regulation of Appetite and Obesity
- Health Sciences › Medicine › Public Health, Environmental and Occupational Health › Obesity, Physical Activity, Diet
- Health Sciences › Medicine › Physiology (medical) › Body Composition Measurement Techniques
- Keywords
- weight change, energy balance, energy expenditure, body composition, fat mass, lean body mass, obesity, mathematical model, dynamical systems, multiple steady states, energy intake
- MeSH terms
- Body Composition, Computer Simulation, Eating, Energy Metabolism, Humans, Kinetics, Models, Biological, Obesity, Weight Gain, Weight Loss
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