Association between eating behavior, anthropometric and biochemical measurements, and pyy hormone levels in obese adolescents in outpatient care
Abstract Background: Food intake and energy expenditure, as well as short-term satiety signals, can be regulated by the peptide tyrosine tyrosine (PYY) secreted by the gastrointestinal tract. It is also unknown if changes in PYY hormone levels lead to changes in feeding behavior or in body composition. More comprehensive investigation of serum regulation of gut-derived hormone signals, with behavioral and clinical outcomes, are needed to understand the consequences of deregulating the appetite of obese adolescents.Objective: To evaluate the eating behavior of obese adolescents and its association with biochemical, anthropometric and PYY measures. Methods: 51 obese adolescents received counseling for weight management at 12 monthly appointments. Fasting serum PYY levels, total cholesterol (TC), high density lipoprotein cholesterol (HDL-C), triglycerides (TG), low density lipoprotein cholesterol (LDL-C), insulin and glucose levels, waist circumference (WC) and results from the Three-Factor Eating Questionnaire (TFEQ-21) were assessed. Results: Over one year there was a significant increase in PYY levels (p = 0.026); reduction in TC (p = 0.003), TG (p = 0.022), BMI (p = 0.002), BMI z-score (p <0.001) and WC (p = 0.003). During this period there was a decrease in the Uncontrolled Eating score (UE), illustrating that adolescents displayed more self-control (p = 0.008) at the end of the study; however, this result was independent of BMI and BMI z-score (p = 0.407). The reduction in UE was associated with a significant improvement in insulin levels (rs = 0.326; p = 0.020). The reduction in UE was also associated with lower levels of blood glucose (r = 0.332; p = 0.017), and the increase of cognitive restriction, with the reduction of insulin insulin (rs = -0.294 p = 0.036) and TG (r = -0.368; p = 0.008) and an increase in Cognitive Restraint. Conclusions: Our results show that after a year of monitoring weight loss, adolescents had more controlled eating behaviors, increased PYY levels, and reduced weights.