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Leptin and the Brain (April 2, 2004, One)

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Program Summary

Some Americans are overweight. So what else is new? But it’s not just grown-ups who are fighting the battle of the bulge. Some experts say that 15 percent of America’s kids are overweight and 15 percent more are at risk of becoming that way. What’s to blame? High fat, high calorie junk foods, and hours in front of the tube or computer are certainly culprits in the war against obesity, but is that all there is to the story? In this hour, Ira and his guest Jeffrey Friedman discuss new discoveries about the hormone Leptin and how it may be a factor in the way our brains are wired for weight gain. Learn about the latest thinking about the age-old topic of weight loss and discover whether losing weight and being fit is a matter of willpower or hormone power.

Guests

Jeffrey Friedman, Marilyn M. Simpson professor, head of the laboratory of molecular genetics and investigator at the Howard Hughes Medical Institute at the Rockefeller University in New York

Related Links and Resources

Centers for Disease Control (CDC): Overweight and Obesity Frequently Asked Questions
Howard Hughes Medical Institution News: Chipping Away at Leptin's Effects
KidsHealth: Nutrition and Fitness
Science News Digest for Physicians and Scientists: “Leptin, a Multifunctional Protein”
U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA): The Food and Nutrition Information Center

From the Science Friday Kids’ Connection Archives
October 4, 2002: Diet and Nutrition

November 15, 2002: The Hungry Gene

January 3, 2003: Designing the Food Guide Pyramid

For Discussion:

• What does it mean to be obese?
• What’s the difference between being obese and being overweight?
• What is a healthy lifestyle?
• Why do most “diets” not work?
• Why is exercise important to maintaining a healthy weight?
• What is a calorie? And why are calories important in discussing weight?
• How many calories should a healthy kid have every day?
• What kinds of foods should your calories come from?
• Can you create a meal plan and exercise plan that shows an example of a healthy lifestyle for someone your age?

Activities

Let’s get physical! May is National Physical Fitness Month, but Education World has a great collection of links, with hundreds of ideas and activities that can be used year-round to encourage students to challenge themselves physically to become strong and fit. Skills and activities presented in the Physical Education page are a good start. There are also great links to sites for teaching physical fitness, creating field days, and tying fitness into math and science curricula.

Food for thought. The New York Times daily lesson plan archives have several good lesson plans that can open student’s minds about nutrition and fitness. Students learn what serving size suggestions really are and how they can re-define their daily eating habits in Sizing up Servings. In Sugar-Coating the Facts, students explore the ideas behind marketing to children through food. They examine kids’ nutritional habits, analyze nutrition labels found on food packaging and create “warning labels” for children and parents to reveal actual nutritional value. Weight Training challenges students to examine the relationship between diet, exercise, and weight loss by asking them to conduct a survey and to collect, compile, and analyze the data.

You are what you eat. Have students write down everything they eat for one week. Use this as a basis for a discussion about nutrition, the food pyramid, serving sizes, and healthy lifestyles. Challenge the students to write down all serving sizes and figure out how many calories they consumed. For a reference to calories see Calorie Calculator from the Calorie Control Council. Then have them tally up how many calories they’ve burned. After they analyze their eating and exercise habits, have students evaluate their own lifestyle and create an ideal plan for someone their age.

Use the search box below to perform a Google search within any of the specifc sites or general domains mentioned in this Activities section.

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