Department of Medicine & Therapeutics, Chinese University of Hong Kong, Hong Kong, China.
Int J Environ Res Public Health. 2010 Mar;7(3):765-83. doi: 10.3390/ijerph7030765. Epub 2010 Feb 26.
Obesity is a public health problem that has become epidemic worldwide. Substantial literature has emerged to show that overweight and obesity are major causes of co-morbidities, including type II diabetes, cardiovascular diseases, various cancers and other health problems, which can lead to further morbidity and mortality. The related health care costs are also substantial. Therefore, a public health approach to develop population-based strategies for the prevention of excess weight gain is of great importance. However, public health intervention programs have had limited success in tackling the rising prevalence of obesity. This paper reviews the definition of overweight and obesity and the variations with age and ethnicity; health consequences and factors contributing to the development of obesity; and critically reviews the effectiveness of current public health strategies for risk factor reduction and obesity prevention.
肥胖是一个全球性的公共卫生问题,已经变得非常流行。大量文献表明,超重和肥胖是多种合并症的主要原因,包括 2 型糖尿病、心血管疾病、各种癌症和其他健康问题,这可能导致进一步的发病率和死亡率。相关的医疗保健费用也相当可观。因此,采用公共卫生方法制定基于人群的策略来预防体重过度增加非常重要。然而,公共卫生干预计划在解决肥胖症发病率上升方面收效甚微。本文回顾了超重和肥胖的定义以及随年龄和种族的变化;健康后果和导致肥胖发展的因素;并批判性地审查了当前减少风险因素和预防肥胖的公共卫生策略的有效性。