Obesity is widely assumed to be associated with economic affluence; it has therefore been assumed to become more common with economic development. However, obesity has also been associated with poverty. These contrary findings highlight the need for an examination of the contribution of social and economic factors to the global distribution of obesity. Males and females may be differently expos...

Background: An elevated resting heart rate (RHR) has been linked with adverse cardiovascular outcomes. Obese people have altered autonomic balance that could lead to elevated RHR and altered responses to postural changes. As no comparative data are available on RHR in young normal weight (NW) and obese (OB) adults in Saudi Arabia, the present study was aimed at finding out the effect of adiposi...

BACKGROUND Recent data indicate increasing rates of adult obesity and mortality from cardiovascular disease (CVD) in Greece. No data, however, are available on prevalence of overweight and obesity in relation to CVD risk factors among young adults in Greece. METHODS A total of 989 third-year medical students (527 men, 462 women), aged 22 +/- 2 years, were recruited from the University of Cret...

Excess body weight is a cardiovascular risk factor. The relationship between anthropometric indices and cardiovascular health is not completely understood. Carotid Intima-Media Thickness (CIMT) is a subclinical marker of atherosclerosis. This study aimed to investigate the best anthropometric obesity indicator for diagnosis of initial stage of atherosclerosis by CIMT. This cross-sectional study...

BACKGROUND We comparatively assessed the performance of six simple obesity indices to identify adults with cardiovascular disease (CVD) risk factors in a diverse and contemporary South Asian population. METHODS 8,892 participants aged 20-60 years in 2010-2011 were analyzed. Six obesity indices were examined: body mass index (BMI), waist circumference (WC), waist-height ratio (WHtR), waist-hip...

Published evidence suggests that obesity impairs cognition. Development of chronic low-grade inflammation (CLGI) represents the earliest consequence of obesity. The present study investigated the association between obesity and fluid intelligence impairment and assessed the potential mediating role of CLGI and psychological (depression/anxiety symptoms), lifestyle (exercise) and physiological (...

BACKGROUND Obesity and arterial hypertension are a serious risk factor for insulin resistance patients leading to diabetes and other disorders. Obesity is one of the most common nutritional problems in developed countries. Actually the incidence of obesity is increasing considerably, obesity is emerging in alarming rates between the last 10 years. Obesity and hypertension beginning in childhood...

INTRODUCTION Weight-and-height-based anthropometric indices have long been used for obesity screening among adolescents.However, the ability of their age-and-sex-specific reference values in classifying adolescent as "obese" in different populations was not fully established. Our study aimed to validate the existing international (BMI-for-age charts from WHO, CDC, IOTF) and local cut-offs [perc...

OBJECTIVE To investigate whether indices of obesity are associated with insulin resistance in Korean adolescents. METHODS This study was conducted as a cross-sectional analysis of 817 healthy adolescents aged 15-16 years without diabetes. Percentiles group of weight-for-height, body mass index (BMI)-for-age, waist circumference (WC)-for-age, and skin fold thickness (SFT)-for-age were based on...