{"id":35235,"date":"2021-11-18T14:52:30","date_gmt":"2021-11-18T13:52:30","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/exerens.com\/obesity-knowing-it-to-counter-it\/"},"modified":"2021-11-18T14:52:36","modified_gmt":"2021-11-18T13:52:36","slug":"obesity-knowing-it-to-counter-it","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/exerens.com\/en\/obesity-knowing-it-to-counter-it\/","title":{"rendered":"Obesity: knowing it to counter it"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Caterina Maci and Marco Biagi <\/strong>Department of Physical, Earth and Environmental Sciences of the University of Siena<\/em><\/p>\n\n

<\/div>\n\n

The promotion of health and the fight against obesity are at the center of scientific debates and political actions as they are elements of great impact on people’s health and on the environment. While 821 million people were starving in 2017, 672 million were obese, according to the United Nations Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) report<\/strong> . In the face of greater conditions of well-being in industrialized countries, where the availability of food is greater, in fact, there is a lack of physical activity linked to sedentary habits and an incorrect diet, characterized by the introduction of an excessive amount of refined sugars and scarce fiber. food.<\/p>\n\n

The perception of overweight and obesity is often linked to the only aesthetic problem that this represents in the general collective imagination, conditioning the cultural perception of this condition and the marketing strategies related to it to promote food products and more. We can also affirm that a physical condition of this type also has a considerable influence on the psychic state of the person and on his mood, conditioning the relationship with others and with himself.<\/p>\n\n

From a medical and scientific point of view in general, however, it is much more<\/strong> : on the one hand it negatively affects man’s life, predisposing him to chronic diseases and on the other hand it is linked to problems of food safety and the health of our entire planet.<\/p>\n\n

<\/div>\n\n

What is Obesity?<\/h2>\n\n

Obesity is due, in most cases, to incorrect lifestyles and diets<\/strong> : physical inactivity associated with a high-calorie diet. The result is excessive accumulation of body fat<\/strong> . Excluding the conditions for which endocrinological causes are recognized, where the use of specific drugs must necessarily be adopted, in other cases the patient’s diet and lifestyle<\/strong> are taken almost exclusively, given that it is a reversible condition<\/strong> . .<\/p>\n\n

Obesity represents one of the major public health problems globally<\/strong> since it is constantly increasing<\/strong> both in industrialized and richer countries, but also in poorer countries (availability of cheap “junk food”) and is a predisposing factor to the development of chronic diseases such as type 2 diabetes<\/strong> , cardiovascular disease and cancer.<\/p>\n\n

The International Diabetes Federation has estimated that 382 million people were affected by type 2 diabetes in 2013 alone and the number of patients is expected to double in 2035. This increase is attributable to causes such as insulin resistance<\/strong> and dysfunction of pancreatic beta-type cells, responsible for hyperglycemia<\/strong> , ie the increased level of glucose in the blood. In fact, postprandial blood glucose levels play an important role in the development and evolution of complications of type 2 diabetes.<\/p>\n\n

<\/div>\n\n
\"\"<\/figure>\n\n
<\/div>\n\n

Childhood obesity, a rampant phenomenon<\/h2>\n\n

In Italy, home of the Mediterranean diet, two out of 10 children are overweight and one in 10 is obese<\/strong> . Childhood obesity is a phenomenon that is not only rampant but also persistent: about 50% of obese adolescents are likely to be obese even as an adult<\/strong> ( SIP, Italian Society of Pediatrics<\/a><\/strong> ).<\/p>\n\n

<\/div>\n\n

What are the risks of childhood obesity?<\/h2>\n\n

Beyond the high prevalence and persistence of the phenomenon, the demonstration of the physical and psychosocial complications already present in obese children and which tend to worsen in adulthood arouses alarm. More and more children and adolescents suffer from pathologies resulting from obesity hitherto unknown in childhood, such as hypertension, dyslipidemia and type 2 diabetes.<\/strong><\/p>\n\n