Obesity Is a Disease

Overview and Development of Obesity

Dysregulated Energy Balance Is Central to Obesity

Obesity is a multifactorial, chronic, progressive, relapsing, and treatable multifactorial, neurobehavioral disease. An increase in body fat promotes adipose tissue dysfunction and abnormal fat mass, resulting in adverse metabolic, biomechanical, and psychosocial health consequences.¹

A body mass index (BMI) of ≥30 kg/m² is consistent with a diagnosis of obesity. Obesity is categorized into classes (class 1: 30.0-34.9 kg/m², class 2: 35.0-39.9 kg/m², and class 3: ≥40.0 kg/m²).¹ Complex biological systems play a major role in regulating food intake in response to hunger, satiety, and appetite signals. Disruption in these mechanisms may alter energy balance and contribute to obesity development and persistence.²

Contributing Factors:

Sociocultural
Environmental
Epigenetic
Genetic
Psychological
Behavioral

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Factors Contributing to the Development of Obesity

Typically, increased dietary intake, reduced energy expenditure, and reduced physical activity contribute to obesity. In turn, these factors have a multitude of contributors, which can ultimately result in dysregulated energy balance causing obesity.

Increased consumption of food contribute to obesity.

Food Intake: Food intake may be affected by sociocultural determinants of health (e.g., social and community factors, economic and educational factors, the food environment or access to healthy food), mental health, hunger and satiety signaling, sleep, medical conditions or medications that impact food intake, and socioeconomic status.³

Decreased metabolism and energy expenditure contribute to obesity.

Energy Expenditure: Affected by age, sex, genetic/epigenetic factors, neuroendocrine factors, body composition, medications affecting metabolic rate, the thermic effect of food, and amount and activity of brown adipose tissue (BAT).³

Reduced physical activity contribute to obesity.

Physical activity: May be influenced by social determinants of health (e.g. the built environment), physical limitations, chronic medical conditions, medications, or emotional barriers.³

BAT=Brown Adipose Tissue; BMI=Body Mass Index; CCK=Cholecytokinin; GI=Gastrointestinal; GLP-1=Glucagon-Like Peptide 1; PYY=Peptide YY.

References

Obesity Medicine Association. Definition of obesity. https://obesitymedicine.org/definition-of-obesity/ (Accessed August 24, 2023).
Morton GJ, Meek TH, Schwartz MW. Neurobiology of food intake in health and disease. Nat Rev Neurosci. 2014;15(6):367-378.
Sharma AM, Padwal R. Obesity is a sign – over-eating is a symptom: an aetiological framework for the assessment and management of obesity. Obes Rev. 2010;11(5):362-370.

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Overview and Development of Obesity

References

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