OBESITY, LIFESTYLE, GENETICS and PHARMACOTHERAPY
INTRODUCTION TO OBESITY, LIFESTYLE, GENETICS and PHARMACOTHERAPY There is little doubt among most medical and nutrition professionals, that worldwide obesity and its eventual health consequences represent the main challenge to medical systems and national healthcare expenditures in most countries. The World Health Organization (WHO), in 2022, estimated that some 1.9 billion people worldwide were overweight and some 650 million were obese. By 2030 more than 20% of the world’s population will have a body mass index (BMI) equal to or greater than 30 Kg/m2, meeting the definition of obesity. There are some 200 co-existing diseases associated with obesity, many increasing all-cause and cardiovascular mortality. Over the last two decades, this alarming trend has also impacted individuals in developing countries, and disproportionally people at the lowest socioeconomic levels in most industrialized nations. According to the WHO, far more than hunger, obesity is the major problem. Currently in the U.S. about one