"We have shown previously that a maternal diet during pregnancy and lactation plays a role in predisposing offspring to obesity. Here we show that rat offspring born to mothers fed the same junk food diet rich in fat, sugar and salt develop exacerbated adiposity accompanied by raised circulating glucose, insulin, triglyceride and/or cholesterol by the end of adolescence (10 weeks postpartum) compared with offspring also given free access to junk food from weaning but whose mothers were exclusively fed a balanced chow diet in pregnancy and lactation. Results also showed that offspring from mothers fed the junk food diet in pregnancy and lactation, and which were then switched to a balanced chow diet from weaning, exhibited increased perirenal fat pad mass relative to body weight and adipocyte hypertrophy compared with offspring which were never exposed to the junk food diet."
Obesity is a medical condition, considered a disease by multiple organizations, in which excess body fat has accumulated to such an extent that it can have negative effects on health. People are classified as obese when their body mass index (BMI)—a person's weight divided by the square of the person's height—is over 30 kg/m2; the range 25–30 kg/m2 is defined as overweight. Some East Asian countri
"Unhealthy lifestyles and mental health problems are increasingly prevalent globally. Not only are ‘junk food’-induced overweight and obesity risk factors for the development of brain disorders but they are also associated intergenerationally with ill health."
"Obesity is not normal physiology. It is common, costly, and deadly. Pretending otherwise is not kindness—it is [pseudovirtuous] cultural anesthesia. …Obesity is associated with increased risk for type 2 diabetes, hypertension, fatty liver disease, sleep apnea, osteoarthritis, infertility, and several cancers. It shortens lives and drains public resources. To insist that these risks are merely inventions of stigma is to lie to patients under the guise of affirmation. …The obesity epidemic is not an accident. It is [a] product of incentives."
"Obesity is a double victory for consumerism. Instead of eating little, which will lead to economic contraction, people eat too much and then buy diet products - contributing to economic growth twice over."
"In 2015, obesity affected 107.7 million (98.7-118.4) children and 603.7 million (588.2- 619.8) adults worldwide. Obesity prevalence has doubled since 1980 in more than 70 countries and continuously increased in most other countries. Although the prevalence of obesity among children has been lower than adults, the rate of increase in childhood obesity in many countries was greater than the rate of increase in adult obesity. High BMI accounted for 4.0 million (2.7- 5.3) deaths globally, nearly 40% of which occurred among non-obese. More than two-thirds of deaths related to high BMI were due to cardiovascular disease. The disease burden of high BMI has increased since 1990; however, the rate of this increase has been attenuated due to decreases in underlying cardiovascular disease death rates."
"We evaluated a densely interconnected social network of 12,067 people assessed repeatedly from 1971 to 2003 as part of the Framingham Heart Study. The body-mass index was available for all subjects. We used longitudinal statistical models to examine whether weight gain in one person was associated with weight gain in his or her friends, siblings, spouse, and neighbors. ... Network phenomena appear to be relevant to the biologic and behavioral trait of obesity, and obesity appears to spread through social ties."
"Corpulence, an excessive development of the bodily fat—an "oily dropsy," in the words of Lord Byron—is a condition for which the physician is frequently consulted, and for which much may be done by judicious arrangement of the diet. The tendency to polysarcia or obesity is often hereditary, and is particularly apt to be manifest after the middle period of life. It may, however, be seen early, and in this country it is not very uncommon in young girls and young boys. A very important factor is overeating, a vice which is more prevalent and only a little behind overdrinking in its disastrous effects. A majority of persons over forty years of age habitually eat too much. In some of the most aggravated cases of obesity, however, this plays no part, and the unfortunate victim may be a notoriously small eater. A second element is lack of proper exercise; a third less important factor is the taking largely of alcoholic beverages, particularly beer."