Given the ongoing strain that the obesity epidemic has placed on public health outcomes, new and effective approaches to weight control are needed. One approach to improving weight and metabolic outcomes is intermittent fasting, which consists of multiple different timing schedules for temporary food avoidance, including alternate-day fasting, other similar full-day fasting patterns, and time-restricted feeding (where the day’s food is consumed over a 6-h period, allowing for 18 h of fasting). These feeding schedules have favorable metabolic effects by intermittently inducing the metabolism of fatty acids to ketones. The regimens overall lead to a decrease in weight and have been linked to improvements in dyslipidemia and blood pressure. While more research is needed on longer-term outcomes and this approach should be avoided in particular health conditions, intermittent fasting should be considered as an option for individuals who have a pattern of unhealthy weight gain using standard eating patterns.

The metabolic syndrome (MetS) is a group of cardiovascular risk factors that are associated with insulin resistance and are driven by underlying factors, including visceral obesity, systemic inflammation, and cellular dysfunction. These risks increasingly begin in childhood and adolescence and are associated with a high likelihood of future chronic disease in adulthood. Efforts should be made at both recognition of this metabolic risk, screening for potential associated Type 2 diabetes, and targeting affected individuals for appropriate treatment with an emphasis on lifestyle modification. Effective interventions have been linked to reductions in MetS—and in adults, reductions in the severity of MetS have been linked to reduced diabetes and cardiovascular disease.

Background: After menopause, women exhibit a higher prevalence of the metabolic syndrome (MetS) and higher risk of cardiovascular disease. However, the timing of changes in MetS severity over the menopausal transition and whether these changes differ by racial/ethnic group remain unclear. Methods and Results: We assessed data from 1470 women from the Atherosclerosis Risk in Communities cohort who experienced transition in menopausal status over 10 years (visits 1–4). We used linear mixed models to evaluate changes by menopausal status (premenopause, perimenopause, and postmenopause) in a MetS severity Z ‐score and in the individual MetS components. While there were gradual increases in MetS severity over time across menopause stages, black women in particular exhibited more rapid progression in MetS severity during the premenopausal and perimenopausal periods than during the postmenopausal period. In the postmenopausal period (compared with prior periods), white women exhibited unfavorable decreases in high‐density lipoprotein, while black women exhibited favorable alterations in the rate of change for waist circumference, triglycerides, high‐density lipoprotein, and glucose, contributing to the slowed progression of MetS severity. These changes were all observed after adjusting for hormone replacement treatment. Conclusions: During menopausal transition, women exhibited rapid increases in MetS severity during the premenopausal and perimenopausal periods, with black women having significant reductions in this increase in severity during the postmenopausal period. These data suggest that the higher prevalence of MetS in postmenopausal women may be caused more by changes during the menopausal transition than by postmenopause. These findings may thus have implications regarding the timing of cardiovascular risk relative to menopause.

BACKGROUND AND OBJECTIVE: Although sugar-sweetened beverage (SSB) consumption has been tightly linked to weight status among older children, the data regarding these relationships in children aged 2 to 5 years have been mixed. Our objective was to evaluate longitudinal and cross-sectional relationships between SSB consumption and weight status among children aged 2 to 5 years. METHODS: We assessed SSB consumption and BMI z scores among 9600 children followed in the Early Childhood Longitudinal Survey—Birth Cohort, using linear and logistic regression and adjusting for race/ethnicity, socioeconomic status, mother’s BMI, and television viewing. RESULTS: Higher rates of SSB consumption were associated with higher BMI z scores among children age 4 (P < .05) and 5 (P < .001) but not yet at 2 years. Children aged 5 years who drank SSB regularly (compared with infrequent/nondrinkers) had a higher odds ratio for being obese (1.43, confidence interval 1.10–1.85, P < .01). In prospective analysis, children drinking SSB at 2 years (compared with infrequent/nondrinkers) had a greater subsequent increase in BMI z score over the ensuing 2 years (P < .05). CONCLUSIONS: Similar to what is seen among older children, children aged 2 to 5 years drinking SSB demonstrate both prospective and cross-sectional correlations with higher BMI z score. Pediatricians and parents should discourage SSB consumption to help avoid potential unhealthy weight gain in young children. From a public health standpoint, strong consideration should be made toward policy changes leading to decreases in SSB consumption among children.

Hypotheses regarding the developmental origins of health and disease postulate that developing fetuses – and potentially young children – undergo ada