Questions and Answers

For a person with a BMI of 25-28.9 kg/m2, the relative risk for coronary heart disease is 1.72. The risk progressively increases with an increasing BMI; with BMIs greater than 33 kg/m2, the relative risk is 3.44. Similar trends have been demonstrated in the relationship between obesity and stroke or chronic heart failure. Overall, obesity […] Read More

Data from insurance databases and large, prospective cohorts, such as findings from the Framingham and National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey (NHANES) studies, clearly indicate that obesity is associated with a substantial increase in morbidity and mortality rates. The adverse consequences of obesity may be attributed in part to comorbidities, but results from several observational […] Read More

Children, particularly adolescents, who are obese, have a high probability of becoming adults who are obese; hence, the bimodal distribution of obesity portends a large-scale obesity epidemic in the next few decades. Taller children generally tend to be more obese than shorter peers, are more insulin-resistant, and have increased leptin levels. Adolescent obesity poses a […] Read More

Obesity is a cosmopolitan disease that affects all races worldwide. However, certain ethnic and racial groups appear to be particularly predisposed. The Pima Indians of Arizona and other ethnic groups native to North America have a particularly high prevalence of obesity. In addition, Pacific islanders (Polynesians, Micronesians, Maoris), African Americans, and Hispanic populations (either Mexican […] Read More

In 2016, a study by the NCD Risk Factor Collaboration indicated 124 million children and adolescents worldwide were obese, compared with 11 million in 1975. According to the study, 73% of this change resulted from an increased prevalence of obesity (as opposed to other factors, such as population growth). The study also reported that between […] Read More

Although data from Africa are scant, a clear and distinct secular trend of profoundly increased BMIs is observed when people from Africa emigrate to the northwestern regions of the world. Comparisons of these indices among Nigerians and Ghanaians residing in their native countries with indices in recent immigrants to the United States show this trend […] Read More

The prevalence of obesity worldwide is increasing, particularly in the industrialized nations of the Northern Hemisphere, such as the United States, Canada, and most countries of Europe. Available data from the Multinational Monitoring of Trends and Determinants in Cardiovascular Disease (MONICA) project suggest that at least 15% of men and 22% of women in Europe […] Read More

Overweight and obesity were associated with nearly 1 in 5 deaths (18.2%) among adults in the United States from 1986 through 2006, according to a study published in the American Journal of Public Health. Previous research has underestimated obesity’s impact on US mortality. Obesity appeared to have a particularly strong effect among black women, with […] Read More

Approximately 78 million adults above age 20 (37.5 million men and 40.6 million women) and 12.5 million children and adolescents (5.5 million boys and 7 million girls) in the United States are obese. A report from the National Center for Health Statistics stated that in US individuals aged 20 years or older, the prevalence of […] Read More

Evolving data suggest that a notable inflammatory, and possibly infective, etiology may exist for obesity. Adipose tissue is known to be a repository of various cytokines, especially interleukin 6 and tumor necrosis factor-alpha. One study showed an association between obesity and a high-normal level of plasma procalcitonin, a dependent variable that reflects a state of […] Read More