Bray George A, Bellanger Tracy
Pennington Biomedical Research Center, Baton Rouge, LA, USA.
Endocrine. 2006 Feb;29(1):109-17. doi: 10.1385/ENDO:29:1:109.
Obesity has been described as an epidemic because of the rapid increase in the number of overweight and obese individuals over the past 20 yr. This increasing prevalence of obesity is a worldwide phenomenon affecting both children and adults. The metabolic syndrome is a constellation of central adiposity, impaired fasting glucose, elevated blood pressure, and dyslipidemia (high triglyceride and low HDL cholesterol). When three of these five criteria are present, the risk of cardiovascular disease and diabetes is increased 1.5- to 2-fold. As body weight, expressed as the BMI, rises, there are a number of other diseases that are associated with it. First, life span is shortened and the risk of sudden death increases. Second, the risk of diabetes, gall bladder disease, hypertension, heart disease, osteoarthritis, sleep apnea, and certain forms of cancer also increase.
由于在过去20年中超重和肥胖个体数量迅速增加，肥胖已被描述为一种流行病。肥胖患病率的不断上升是一个影响儿童和成人的全球现象。代谢综合征是一组包括中心性肥胖、空腹血糖受损、血压升高和血脂异常（高甘油三酯和低高密度脂蛋白胆固醇）的症候群。当这五个标准中的三个出现时，心血管疾病和糖尿病的风险会增加1.5至2倍。随着以体重指数（BMI）表示的体重上升，还会出现许多与之相关的其他疾病。首先，寿命缩短，猝死风险增加。其次，糖尿病、胆囊疾病、高血压、心脏病、骨关节炎、睡眠呼吸暂停和某些癌症的风险也会增加。
