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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.
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. In people with greater degrees of obesity, however, the risk of further cardiovascular events is increased.
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]
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]
Body roundness index (BRI) is a calculated geometric index used to quantify an aspect of a person's individual body shape. Based on the principle of body eccentricity , it provides a rapid visual and anthropometric tool for health evaluation.
Prevalence of obesity in the adult population, top countries (2016), the United States has the tenth highest rate in the world. The CDC defines an adult (a person aged 20 years or greater) with a body mass index (BMI) of 30 or greater as obese and an adult with a BMI of 25.0 to 29.9 as overweight. [4]
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 ...
The degree to which a person is overweight is generally described by the body mass index (BMI). Overweight is defined as a BMI of 25 or more, thus it includes pre-obesity defined as a BMI between 25 and 29.9 and obesity as defined by a BMI of 30 or more.