Control Your Hunger? Study Shows Men Can, Women Can't

Control Your Hunger? Study Shows Men Can, Women Can't


Findings may help explain gender differences in rates of obesity and binge eating
January 19, 2009

Excerpts:

UPTON, NY — A ground-breaking brain-imaging study at the U.S. Department of Energy’s Brookhaven National Laboratory shows that men, but not women, are able to control their brain’s response to their own favorite foods. The study, which will be published online by the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences the week of January 19, 2009, may help explain why rates of obesity and eating disorders are higher among women than men, and why women typically have more difficulty losing weight.

The researchers believe this is the first study to document such a gender-specific disconnect between subjective reports of an emotional or motivational state and the associated pattern of brain activity.

“The finding of a lack of response to inhibition in women is consistent with behavioral studies showing that women have a higher tendency than men to overeat when presented with palatable food or under emotional distress,” Wang said. “This decreased inhibitory control in women could be a major factor contributing to the observed differences in the prevalence rates of obesity and eating disorders such as binge eating between the genders, and may also underlie women’s lower success in losing weight while dieting when compared with men.”

Read Full Article: http://www.bnl.gov/bnlweb/pubaf/pr/PR_display.asp?prID=876

***********************************************************************
This posting was made my Jim Jacobs, President & CEO of Jacobs Executive Advisors. Jim also serves as Leader of Jacobs Advisors' Insurance Practice.