Obesity and Nutrition

Obesity and nutrition interventions often provide patients with a focused lifestyle change strategy such as altering energy consumed or physical activity. As obesity prevalence rates jumped in the early 1970s, funding agencies were less inclined to support small sample size experiments, and the obesity and nutrition research community moved away from direct monitoring of energy intake and energy expenditure. Sedentary behavior and obesity-related comorbidities are highly correlated with mortality. For studies involving biochemical analysis of consumption and exertion, the use of isotopically labeled biomolecules allows for the participants to engage in routine daily lives outside the laboratory over the duration of the experiment. Developing interventions for obesity treatment requires precise and reliable knowledge of two components of energy balance: energy intake and energy expenditure. For decades, investigators and clinicians relied on self-report surveys such as 24-hour recall, food frequency questionnaires, and physical activity questionnaires.