Apports lipidiques et prise de poids : aspects qualitatifs

IBDC, Université de Nice Sophia-Antipolis, CNRS, 28 avenue de Valrose, 06100 Nice

^* ailhaud@unice.fr

Abstract

The importance of dietary fat in human obesity remains a controversial issue as the prevalence of overweight and obesity has increased despite no dramatic change in the amount of ingested fats over the last decades. However qualitative changes, i.e. the fatty acid composition of fats, have been largely disregarded. In this review, we summarize experimental evidence which supports polyunsaturated fatty acids of the x6 series as potent stimulators of both adipogenesis in vitro and adipose tissue development in vivo. Changes observed over the last decades in the fatty acid composition of dietary fats observed in breast milk and formula milk, i.e. increase in LA with lower or no change in LNA content, may be responsible at least in part of the dramatic rise in the prevalence of childhood overweight and obesity. Similar changes, which are observed in most consumed foods, can be traced to changes in human food habits and in the feeding pattern of breeding stock. These qualitative changes, acting in concert with a positive energy balance, should promote excessive adipose tissue development. Whether prevention of obesity appears critical to avoid difficult if not insurmountable health problems to solve in the future, the status of dietary lipids should be reconsidered from the very beginning of the food chain.