Studies on Obesity I. Nutritional Obesity in Mice

Abstract

Mice of the C₃H and A strains were made obese prior to 6 months of age by being fed certain highly purified diets. Animals of the C₅₇ and I strains did not so respond. The feeding of a high protein diet prevented the development of obesity. Mice rendered obese by these nutritional means showed high levels of liver lipids. The carcass fat content of lean animals increased linearly with the fat-free weight. It is suggested that an animal can be considered obese if it deviates from this linear relationship by more than two times the standard error of estimate of the regression of carcass fat on fat-free weight.