TY - CHAP
T1 - Epidemiology of Obesity
AU - Sørensen, Thorkild I A
AU - Martinez, Andrea Rodriguez
AU - Jørgensen, Terese Sara Høj
N1 - © 2022. The Author(s), under exclusive license to Springer Nature Switzerland AG.
PY - 2022
Y1 - 2022
N2 - Obesity is in theory defined on the basis of the excess health risk caused by adiposity exceeding the size normally found in the population, but for practical reasons, the World Health Organization (WHO) has defined obesity as a body mass index (weight (kg)/height (m) 2) of 30 or above for adults. WHO considers the steep increases in prevalence of obesity in all age groups, especially since the 1970s as a global obesity epidemic. Today, approximately 650 million adult people and approximately 340 million children and adolescence (5-19 years) suffer from obesity. It is generally more prevalent among women and older age groups than among men and younger age groups. Beyond the necessity of availability of food, evidence about causes of obesity is still very limited. However, studies have shown that obesity 'runs in families', where both genetics and environmental, and especially social, factors play important roles. Obesity is associated with an increased risk of many adverse medical, mental and social consequences, including a strong relation to type 2 diabetes. Type 2 diabetes and related metabolic syndrome and diseases are major contributors to the excess morbidity and mortality associated with obesity.
AB - Obesity is in theory defined on the basis of the excess health risk caused by adiposity exceeding the size normally found in the population, but for practical reasons, the World Health Organization (WHO) has defined obesity as a body mass index (weight (kg)/height (m) 2) of 30 or above for adults. WHO considers the steep increases in prevalence of obesity in all age groups, especially since the 1970s as a global obesity epidemic. Today, approximately 650 million adult people and approximately 340 million children and adolescence (5-19 years) suffer from obesity. It is generally more prevalent among women and older age groups than among men and younger age groups. Beyond the necessity of availability of food, evidence about causes of obesity is still very limited. However, studies have shown that obesity 'runs in families', where both genetics and environmental, and especially social, factors play important roles. Obesity is associated with an increased risk of many adverse medical, mental and social consequences, including a strong relation to type 2 diabetes. Type 2 diabetes and related metabolic syndrome and diseases are major contributors to the excess morbidity and mortality associated with obesity.
U2 - 10.1007/164_2022_581
DO - 10.1007/164_2022_581
M3 - Book chapter
C2 - 35419622
T3 - Handbook of Experimental Pharmacology
SP - 3
EP - 27
BT - Handbook of Experimental Pharmacology
A2 - null, Juergen Eckel
A2 - null, Karine Clément
PB - Springer
CY - Heidelberg
ER -