Epidemiologic Reviews Advance Access published online on June 13, 2007
Epidemiologic Reviews, doi:10.1093/epirev/mxm012
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Epidemiologic Reviews Copyright © 2007 by the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health All rights reserved; printed in U.S.A.
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The Global Epidemic of Obesity: An Overview
From the Center for Human Nutrition, Bloomberg School of Public Health, The Johns Hopkins University, Baltimore, MD
Correspondence to Dr. Benjamin Caballero, Center for Human Nutrition, Bloomberg School of Public Health, The Johns Hopkins University, 615 North Wolfe Street, Baltimore, MD 21205 (e-mail: caballero@jhu.edu).
accepted for publication May 13, 2007.
BMI, body mass index
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For centuries, the human race struggled to overcome food scarcity, disease, and a hostile environment. With the onset of the industrial revolution, the great powers understood that increasing the average body size of the population was an important social and political factor. The military and economic might of countries was critically dependent on the body size and strength of their young generations, from which soldiers and workers were drawn. Moving the body mass index (BMI) distribution of the population from the underweight range toward normality had an important impact on survival and productivity, playing a central role in the economic development of industrialized societies (1).
Historical records from developed countries indicate that height and weight increased progressively, particularly during the 19th century. During the 20th century, as populations from better-off countries began to approach their genetic potential for longitudinal growth, they began to gain proportionally more weight than
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WHEN WAS THE LAST TIME WE WERE NOT OBESE? |
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DEFINING OBESITY |
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WEIGHT GAIN AND ENERGY BALANCE |
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Dietary energy intake
Energy output: physical activity
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EARLY GROWTH AND LATER OBESITY |
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THE "OBESOGENIC" ENVIRONMENT: ENERGY BALANCE IN AN UNBALANCED WORLD |
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A GLOBAL EPIDEMIC |
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