ARS | Publication request: Reply to DJ Millward

Submitted to: American Journal of Clinical Nutrition
Publication Type: Review Article
Publication Acceptance Date: April 1, 2010
Publication Date: June 1, 2010
Citation: Swinburn, B.A., Sacks, G., Sing, K.L., Westerterp, K.R., Rush, E.C., Rosenbaum, M., Luke, A., Schoeller, D.A., Delany, J.P., Butte, N.F., Ravussin, E. 2010. American Journal of Clinical Nutrition. 91:1802.

Technical Abstract: The objective of this Letter to the Editor was to clarify the tenets underlying a mathematical model of energy flux characterizing the obesity epidemic. 1. The obesity epidemic is attributed to an increase in energy intake, since the drop in physical activity energy expenditure (PAEE) that would need to account for or reverse the obesity epidemic would be so large and uniform as to be physiologically unlikely. 2. In modern populations, the positive nature of the observed relation between energy flux and body weight indicates that population increases in body weight will be accompanied by an increase in both total energy intake and total energy expenditure. 3. The energy flux (EnFlux) equation derived for adults was reformulated using log-transformed data with body weight on the x-axis as Ln EnFlux = 0.668 Ln. 4. Energy Flux Model can uncover evidence about the drivers of the obesity epidemic. Identifying the etiology of any disease with sharp increases in prevalence or incidence is fundamental to directing prevention efforts towards reducing the underlying drivers of the problem.