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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 ...
On average obese people have a greater energy expenditure than normal weight or thin people and actually have higher basal metabolic rates. [45] [46] This is because it takes more energy to maintain an increased body mass. [47] Obese people also underreport how much food they consume compared to those of normal weight. [48]
Share of adults that are obese, 1975 to 2016. Obesity is common in the United States and is a major health issue associated with numerous diseases, specifically an increased risk of certain types of cancer, coronary artery disease, type 2 diabetes, stroke, and cardiovascular disease, as well as significant increases in early mortality and economic costs. [1]
As of 2016, 1.9 billion adults (aged 18 years or older) were classified as being overweight, and within these adults, 650 million were classified as obese. [6] This translates to 39% of adults (39% of men and 40% of women) being overweight and 13% of the adult population worldwide (11% of men and 15% of women) being obese in 2016.
Body composition in general is hypothesized to help explain the existence of metabolically healthy obesity—the metabolically healthy obese are often found to have low amounts of ectopic fat (fat stored in tissues other than adipose tissue) despite having overall fat mass equivalent in weight to obese people with metabolic syndrome.
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.
Prevalence estimates of MHO have varied from 6 to 75 percent, [7] and it has been argued that between 10 and 25 percent of obese individuals are metabolically healthy. [8] One study found that 47.9% of obese people had MHO, while another found that 11% did. [3] It seems to be more prevalent in women than men, and its prevalence decreases with ...
A study, involving more than 12,000 people tracked over 32 years, found that social networks play a surprisingly powerful role in determining an individual's chances of gaining weight, transmitting an increased risk of becoming obese from wives to husbands, from brothers to brothers and from friends to friends. [7] [8]