Obesity, Metabolic Syndrome and Human Health

Obesity is a complex disease resulting from a combination of physiological environmental, and
psychological factors. New evidences about the role of obesity in promoting other disease states are
continually being identified. According to WHO World Health Organization (2012), the prevalence of
obesity is rising to epidemic proportions at an alarming rate, in both developed “Westernized” and less
developed countries around the world. For example the prevalence of obesity has increased from 10
to 50% in the majority of European countries since 1990. As Europeans turn away from nutritional
healthy diets and active lifestyle, their incidence of obesity is catching up with that of their American
counterparts. WHO estimates that nearly one-third of all Europeans are obese and 320,000 die each
year from obese-related diseases. Many children today are growing up in an obesogenic environment
that encourages weight gain and obesity. The incidence of juvenile obesity has rapidly increased as
well. In 2014, an estimated 41 million children under 5 years of age were affected by overweight or
obesity (World Health Organization, 2016).