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Body weight set-points: determination and adjustment

R E Keesey1, M D Hirvonen

  • 1Department of Psychology, University of Wisconsin, Madison, WI 53706, USA.

The Journal of Nutrition
|September 1, 1997
PubMed
Summary

Body weight is physiologically regulated, similar to body temperature. This regulation involves energy intake and expenditure adjustments, with the hypothalamus playing a key role in setting the body weight set-point.

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Area of Science:

  • Physiology
  • Neuroscience
  • Obesity Research

Background:

  • Body weight, like body water and temperature, is proposed to be physiologically regulated.
  • Obesity involves active resistance to weight reduction, suggesting regulation at an elevated set-point.

Purpose of the Study:

  • To investigate the physiological regulation of body weight.
  • To explore the role of the hypothalamus in body weight set-point determination.

Main Methods:

  • Review of existing literature on body weight regulation.
  • Analysis of experimental studies on genetically transmitted and diet-induced obesity in animals.
  • Examination of the effects of hypothalamic lesions on body weight regulation.

Main Results:

  • Coordinated adjustments in energy intake and expenditure stabilize body weight.
  • Obesity is characterized by resistance to weight loss, indicating regulation at a higher set-point.
  • Hypothalamic mechanisms, particularly lesions of the lateral hypothalamus, can alter body weight regulation set-points.

Conclusions:

  • Body weight is actively regulated around a physiological set-point.
  • The hypothalamus is crucial for establishing and potentially modifying the body weight set-point.
  • Genetic, dietary, and lifespan factors influencing body weight likely act through hypothalamic mechanisms.

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