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Obesity : A Global Epidemic

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1.0 Introduction 1.1 Human Obesity Obesity in the human population is becoming a global epidemic, results from the 2007–2008 National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey (NHANES) estimated that 34.2% of adults in the United States are overweight, 33.8% are obese, and 5.7% are extremely obese (A). Obesity in humans can be caused by multiple factors although it is most commonly the result of genetics, increased availability of high-energy foods and decreased amounts of physical activity (B). Obesity is an abnormal or extensive accumulation of adipose tissue and is defined as a state of chronic low-grade inflammation (23, D). This low-grade inflammation links obesity to the development of multiple secondary chronic diseases such as diabetes, hypertension, arthritis, high cholesterol, fatty liver, pulmonary disease, cardiovascular disease and certain cancers (B,A,E, 23). Of these secondary diseases cancer, cardiovascular disease, and diabetes are responsible for more than 36 million deaths every year (63% of all deaths), with almost one quarter of deaths occurring in people under the age of 60 (F). The secondary diseases caused by obesity are often debilitating, costly and shorten the lifespan. The primary focus of many obesity treatments and preventions is the correct management of diet and exercise; reducing the amount of calories being consumed and increasing the amount of physical activity performed (G). However these strategies alone have been proven ineffective in

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