Disinhibition that limits weight loss tied to impaired metabolism in obese females

Washington: A new study has revealed that obese females' disinhibition (detrimental eating and behavioral characteristics) that limits successful weight loss is linked to impaired metabolism. Lead study author Julia Passyn Dunn of Vanderbilt University School of Medicine in Nashville, Tennessee said that obese females those who are particularly unlikely to lose weight are also those who need to lose weight the most.

Dunn added that those with an eating/behavioral characteristic that especially limits their weight loss also have the most derangement of their metabolism from their elevated weight. In people with obesity, a broad range of behavioral and metabolic characteristics influences their ability to lose weight. Disinhibition is an eating characteristic common in obesity that occurs with poor response to weight loss interventions.

Dunn noted that when comparing females with obesity and similar body weight and composition, high disinhibition occurs with more severe insulin resistance and more symptoms of depression. In patients with type 2 diabetes mellitus, those with increased disinhibition scores have longer disease duration and poorer quality of life compared to patients with lower disinhibition, added Dunn.

The authors suggest that the poorer outcomes in the women with high disinhibition may be due to poorer insulin signaling, and that the mechanism driving the association of detrimental behavioral and metabolic characteristic may lead to future treatments.