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Obesity

Abstract

Excessive fat deposition in obesity has a multifactorial aetiology, but is widely considered the result of disequilibrium between energy intake and expenditure. Despite specific public health policies and individual treatment efforts to combat the obesity epidemic, >2 billion people worldwide are overweight or obese. The central nervous system circuitry, fuel turnover and metabolism as well as adipose tissue homeostasis are important to comprehend excessive weight gain and associated comorbidities. Obesity has a profound impact on quality of life, even in seemingly healthy individuals. Diet, physical activity or exercise and lifestyle changes are the cornerstones of obesity treatment, but medical treatment and bariatric surgery are becoming important. Family history, food environment, cultural preferences, adverse reactions to food, perinatal nutrition, previous or current diseases and physical activity patterns are relevant aspects for the health care professional to consider when treating the individual with obesity. Clinicians and other health care professionals are often ill-equipped to address the important environmental and socioeconomic drivers of the current obesity epidemic. Finally, understanding the epigenetic and genetic factors as well as metabolic pathways that take advantage of ‘omics’ technologies could play a very relevant part in combating obesity within a precision approach.

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Figure 1: Global body mass index in men and women.
Figure 2: Evolution of obesity prevalence.
Figure 3: Critical periods in the development of obesity.
Figure 4: Key factors involved in the regulation of energy balance.
Figure 5: The relationship between the body mass index and mortality and morbidity risk.
Figure 6: Control of hunger and satiety.
Figure 7: Pathological changes in adipose tissue.
Figure 8: Bariatric surgery.

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Acknowledgements

The authors thank the Spanish Government Carlos III Health Institute Centre of Biomedical Research Network (CIBERobn Physiopathology of Obesity and Nutrition) for support and funding.

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Introduction (P.G.-M. and J.A.M.); Epidemiology (F.B.H. and M.-A.M.-G.); Mechanisms/pathophysiology (J.-P.D., Y.M. and R.J.F.L.); Diagnosis, screening and prevention (L.A.M.); Management (G.A.B.); Quality of life (M.-A.M.-G.); Outlook (P.G.-M. and J.A.M.); Overview of the Primer (J.A.M.).

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Correspondence to J. Alfredo Martinez.

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González-Muniesa, P., Mártinez-González, MA., Hu, F. et al. Obesity. Nat Rev Dis Primers 3, 17034 (2017). https://doi.org/10.1038/nrdp.2017.34

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