Via practica 1/2015

Epidemiology and health consequences of obesity

Epidemic (pandemic) of obesity is one of the most important global health problems today. Paradoxically frequent problem is adult obesity than malnutrition. Around 475 million adults are obese, overweight is more than twice. Around 1.5 billion adults were found in the category of overweight and obesity. The problem is becoming more closely related to child and adolescent population. Obesity is a chronic progressive disease caused by dysbalance between energy intake and expenditure of calories. It is characterized by the accumulation of fat. It leads to structural and functional changes, culminating multiple organ specific pathological complications that can significantly affect morbidity, as well as the quality and length of life of obese individuals. Obesity increases the risk of developing chronic diseases. It is responsible for 60% increased risk of diabetes mellitus type 2, the 20% increased risk of arterial hypertension and coronary heart disease, 10 to 30% increase in cancer (Ref. 29, Fig. 1, tab 5).

Keywords: epidemiology of obesity, ectopic fat tissue, arterial hypertension, type 2 diabetes, atherogenic dyslipidemia, hyperuricemia.