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Like many other medical conditions, obesity is the result of an interplay between environmental and genetic factors. [2] [3] Studies have identified variants in several genes that may contribute to weight gain and body fat distribution, although only in a few cases are genes the primary cause of obesity.
As societies become increasingly reliant on energy-dense fast-food meals, the association between fast food consumption and obesity becomes more concerning. [9] In the United States, consumption of fast food meals has tripled and calorie intake from fast food has quadrupled between 1977 and 1995. [ 10 ]
Obesity has become a common health problem. It affects about one in five children and two out of five adults in the U.S., according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC).
This has been attributed to the fact that people often lose weight as they become progressively more ill. [91] Similar findings have been made in other types of heart disease. People with class I obesity and heart disease do not have greater rates of further heart problems than people of normal weight who also have heart disease.
Being overweight or having obesity may increase the risk of several diseases, such as diabetes, heart disease, and some cancers, and may lead to short- and long-term health problems during pregnancy. [2] Rates of obesity worldwide tripled from 1975 to 2016 to involve some 1.8 billion people and 39% of the world adult population. [3]
By 2014, figures from the National Institute of diabetes shows that 82% of Americans are overweight. [14] National Center for Health Statistics at the CDC showed that 42.4% of U.S. adults were obese as of 2017–2018 (43% for men and 41.9% for women). [15] For the following statistics, "adult" is defined as age 20 and over.
And, in a remarkable finding, rich people of color have higher rates of cardiovascular disease than poor people of color—the opposite of what happens with white people. One explanation is that navigating increasingly white spaces, and increasingly higher stakes, exerts stress on racial minorities that, over time, makes them more susceptible ...
Obesity has been observed throughout human history. Many early depictions of the human form in art and sculpture appear obese. [2] However, it was not until the 20th century that obesity became common — so much so that, in 1997, the World Health Organization (WHO) formally recognized obesity as a global epidemic [3] and estimated that the worldwide prevalence of obesity has nearly tripled ...