The role of taste and appetite regulation in the understanding of overweight and obesity. Proceedings of the 16th Aschauer Soiree, 26th April 2008.

Overweight and obesity have developed into major illnesses in most Western societies and significantly contribute to the financial burden of modern public health systems. Almost daily, new therapeutic proposals are published in the lay press, and also the scientific literature has increased dramatically in recent years. E.g., when searching MEDLINE (1966 - May 2008 (1)), the key word "obesity" meanwhile appears in more than 108,000 articles. Primary focus however, is put upon aspects of treatment, neglecting the role of taste and appetite regulation. Combining keywords like "obesity + treatment" results in over 50.000 citations, "obesity + diet" in over 23.000, "obesity + energy + expenditure" in over 13.000 citations (even "obesity + gastric + bypass" still evoke 2.600 citations), whereas "obesity + appetite + regulation" result in some 3.000, "obesity + NPY" - neuropeptid Y being one of the major chemical stimulators of appetite - evoke some 500 and "obesity + Arc + nucleus" - the arcuate nucleus being the anatomical centre of appetite regulation - no more than 370 scientific publications. The apparent scarcity of literature about taste and appetite regulation and the amazing lack of interest in neuronal information processing in overweight and obesity, has prompted the authors to brainstorm new aspects of the world-wide derailment of weight control.

Diversity in auxology: between theory and practice. Proceedings of the 18th Aschauer Soiree, 13th November 2010.

Auxology has developed from mere describing child and adolescent growth into a vivid and interdisciplinary research area encompassing human biologists, physicians, social scientists, economists and biostatisticians. The meeting illustrated the diversity in auxology, with the various social, medical, biological and biostatistical aspects in studies on child growth and development.

The average height of 18- and 19-year-old conscripts (N=458,322) in Switzerland from 1992 to 2009, and the secular height trend since 1878.

QUESTION UNDER STUDY: We determine the causes of secular changes in the average height of the male Swiss population for the first time by analysing an unbiased, individually measured, highly representative height-data sample of 18- and 19-year-old Swiss conscripts (N = 458,322) at the national level spanning the years 1992 to 2009. Furthermore, we add historical context based on earlier data from the same source. RESULTS: In 2009, the average height of regularly 19-year-old Swiss conscripts was 178.2 cm. Percentiles were P5 = 168 cm, P10 = 170 cm, P25 = 174 cm, P50 = 178 cm, P75 = 182 cm, P90 = 187 cm, and P95 = 189 cm. Over the course of the 130 years between 1878-79 and 2009 the average height of 19-year-old conscripts increased by a total of 14.9 cm. The distribution shifted upwards. In 1878-79, 5.48% of conscripts were 175 cm tall or taller, but only 0.89% were 180 cm tall or taller. In 2008-09, 71.13% of the conscripts were 175 cm tall or taller, and 41.69% 180 cm tall or taller. In recent decades, this trend has slowed markedly. CONCLUSIONS: While the increase in average height among Swiss conscripts (representative 90% of the male Swiss population) since the 19th century is usually attributed to improvements in living conditions, all of the factors contributing to the recent slowdown have yet to be identified.

BMI distribution/social stratification in Swiss conscripts from 1875 to present.

BACKGROUND/OBJECTIVES: We aimed to extend the actual overweight discussion with new unbiased Swiss conscript data from 2005 to 2006, and to present for the first time Swiss data on body mass index (BMI) before 1950 and for the late-nineteenth century. SUBJECTS/METHODS: For this study, 19-year-old Swiss male conscripts (draft army; Cantons Bern, Zurich, Basel-Stadt and Basel-Land) from the census of 1875-1879, 1933-1939 and 2005-2006 (N=28 033; 2005-2006 census) were included. BMI distribution (World Health Organization (WHO) classification) and social stratification (International Labour Organization classification) were main outcome measures. RESULTS: Mean BMI of 19-year-old men in Switzerland increased in the 50 years between the 1870s and the 1930s by 0.80 kg/m(2) and between the 1930s and 2005 by 1.45 kg/m(2). The modern BMI sample is much more right skewed and s.d. is higher. Obesity prevalence (according to modern WHO classification) has increased by a factor of 105 from 1870s until present. Over 23% of our representative sample of Swiss men in 2005-2006 had a BMI of over 25 kg/m(2). In 2005-2006, contrary to the nineteenth century, unskilled workers had articulately higher BMI values at the 75th, 90th and 95th percentile than students; 12% of unskilled workers were obese against 2% of students. CONCLUSIONS: It thus seems that BMI relations between the upper and the lower end of the socio-economic strata changed inversely from the late-nineteenth century to 2005-2006. We further propose that the phenomenon of massive right-skewing BMI distribution between the 1930s and 2005-2006 affected the lower socio-economic strata to a far greater extent than the higher socio-economic group.