Food insecurity promotes adiposity in mice

OBJECTIVE: The obesity epidemic, driven by a complex interplay of environmental and biological factors, remains a significant global health challenge. Herein, we investigate the impact of food insecurity, characterized by unpredictable food access, on the regulation of body weight and body composition in mice.

METHODS: Male and female C57BL/6J mice were subjected to a combination of intermittent fasting and calorie restriction to simulate food insecurity.

RESULTS: Our new model demonstrates that food insecurity increases fat mass and decreases lean mass in both sexes on a standard chow diet. Additionally, high-fat diet-fed male mice exposed to the food insecurity paradigm show decreased lean mass despite being in positive energy balance. Transcriptomic analysis of white adipose tissue from food-insecure male mice revealed upregulation of metabolic pathways associated with fat mass expansion and downregulation of immune response-related transcripts.

CONCLUSIONS: These findings underscore the role of food insecurity in driving metabolic adaptations that favor fat storage. Understanding this paradoxical link between food insecurity and adiposity is crucial for developing targeted interventions to address the disproportionate incidence of obesity in socioeconomically disadvantaged populations.