Obesity

Overweight and obesity are defined by the WHO as abnormal or excessive fat accumulation that presents a risk to an individuals health.

Overweight and obesity are major risk factors for a number of chronic diseases, including diabetes, cardiovascular diseases and cancer and while it was once an issue only in high income countries, overweight and obesity has now dramatically risen in low- and middle-income countries.Such countries are now facing a "double burden" of disease, for while they continue to deal with the problems of infectious disease and under-nutrition, they are also experiencing a rapid upsurge in chronic disease risk factors such as obesity and overweight, particularly in urban settings.

What is Obesity?

Obesity and overweight have in the last decade become a global problem - according to the World Health Organization (WHO) back in 2005 approximately 1.6 billion adults over the of age 15+ were overweight, at least 400 million adults were obese and at least 20 million children under the age of 5 years were overweight.

Obesity and Diabetes

Why is Visceral Fat Dangerous?

Obesity and Heart Disease

Obesity and Metabolic Syndrome

Obesity and Arthritis

Obesity, What Can be Done?

Obesity and Depression

What does Sleeve Gastrectomy Involve?

Obesity Management

Obesity and Periodontitis

Obesity Epidemiology

See more featured articles »

Obesity and Genetics

Obesity and Cancer

Obesity in Pregnancy

Abdominal Obesity and the Metabolic Syndrome

Obesity and Autism

Dieting for Obese Children

Obesity and Blood Pressure

Obesity and Fractures

Obesity in Children

Obesity and Skin Problems

Obesity and Hormones

Fat Mass and Obesity-Associated Gene (FTO)

Obesity in Adults

Obesity and Exercise

Obesity and Sleep

Obesity and Infertility

What is Obesity Paradox?

What is Body Mass Index (BMI)?

Obesity and Sexual Health

Obesity and Stress

Obesity and Anesthesia

Causes of Obesity and Overweight

Obesity and Fast Food

Obesity and Respiratory Disorders

Latest Obesity News and Research

New study makes progress in understanding the mechanisms behind severity of HFpEF

Approximately 3 million people in the United States are living with a condition called heart failure with preserved ejection fraction, or HFpEF.

24 Aug 2026

Type 2 diabetes incidence increases 10-fold among American youth

Type 2 diabetes has traditionally been a disease that has developed mostly in middle-aged and older adults.

24 Aug 2026

Book reframes pregnancy loss as a natural trial-and-error process

According to a new book from University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign anthropology professor Kate Clancy, pregnancy is necessarily fraught, involving a series of tests of egg, embryo and reproductive system viability, with potential losses at every stage.

24 Aug 2026

Semaglutide’s heart benefits may partly involve reduced inflammation

A prespecified analysis of 17,604 SELECT participants found that higher baseline hsCRP was associated with greater risks of major cardiovascular events and death in people with overweight or obesity and established cardiovascular disease. Semaglutide produced rapid and sustained reductions in hsCRP, with changes emerging before substantial weight loss, although the study could not establish whether reduced inflammation directly mediated its cardiovascular benefits.

24 Aug 2026

A two-year diet trial challenges the idea that weight loss is the only result that matters

In the two-year DELISH randomized trial, adults with obesity achieved modest, sustained weight loss with either an adapted Mediterranean-style program or a commercial weight loss program. The Mediterranean-style intervention produced greater improvements in self-reported diet quality, while 24-month weight loss did not materially differ between groups.

24 Aug 2026

Historic redlining continues limiting healthy food access, study finds

Bad housing, high crime and poor schools are more important than transportation or income when it comes to accessing healthy food in neighborhoods historically subjected to "redlining" - the now-illegal practice once used to refuse loans, insurance or mortgages to people in certain neighborhoods that were disproportionately inhabited by racial and ethnicity minorities.

21 Aug 2026

UC Berkeley researchers find new potential treatment for obesity and diabetes

Over the past five years, medications called GLP-1s have revolutionized the treatment of metabolic disorders like obesity, diabetes and fatty liver diseases.

21 Aug 2026

Review outlines how SIRT3 protein regulates global metabolic disorders

A comprehensive review published in Engineering systematically outlines the regulatory capacity of silent information regulator 3 (SIRT3), a mitochondrial deacetylase termed the "head goose molecule", and its negentropic mechanism for intervening global metabolic disorders including type 2 diabetes, obesity, and steatotic liver disease.

21 Aug 2026

What happens to your diet when you get better at cooking?

Cooking-skills interventions were associated with healthier dietary behaviors in healthy adults, including greater fruit and vegetable intake, improved diet quality, and greater cooking confidence. However, the certainty of evidence was low to very low, and too little evidence was available to determine whether cooking skills affect nutritional status.

20 Aug 2026

Study shows how prostate tumors rewire metabolism to resist therapy

Prostate tumors can rewire amino acid metabolism to override the normal brakes on cholesterol production, a process that may fuel hormone therapy resistance, according to a study by Weill Cornell Medicine investigators.

20 Aug 2026

Study: Nearly 8 out of 10 young adults have cardiovascular-kidney-metabolic syndrome

A new scientific study found that nearly 8 out of 10 young adult participants, average age 23 years, had cardiovascular-kidney-metabolic syndrome (CKM syndrome), according to new independent research published today in Circulation: Population Health and Outcomes, a peer-reviewed scientific journal of the American Heart Association.

20 Aug 2026

BMJ investigation exposes unhealthy food products at major UK school catering exhibition

As the government prepares to introduce updated school food standards, an investigation by The BMJ finds that more than a third of the firms exhibiting at the UK's biggest school food show sell products high in fat, sugar or salt (HFSS).

19 Aug 2026

Semaglutide trial targets people with liver disease, obesity and alcohol addiction

A new study -- co-led by the University of Plymouth, University Hospitals Plymouth NHS Trust, and the NIHR Biomedical Research Centre: Nottingham -- is being launched into a treatment for people impacted by liver disease, obesity and alcohol addiction.

19 Aug 2026

$Pomegranate-derived compound shows promise against preserved ejection fraction heart failure$

Pomegranate-derived compound shows promise against preserved ejection fraction heart failure

A compound produced in the body after eating pomegranates improves heart function by up to 80% in a type of heart failure with limited treatment options.

19 Aug 2026

Lower-calorie meals look cheaper, but there’s a catch in the price

Analysis of 7,392 menu items from 200 large restaurant chains found that lower-calorie options on two major UK food delivery platforms carried a substantially higher cost per 100 kcal than higher-calorie items. The findings suggest that per-calorie pricing may create financial disincentives for choosing lower-calorie foods, with potential implications for diet-related health inequalities.

19 Aug 2026

Global study reveals rising chronic kidney disease burden in women

Chronic kidney disease is now the seventh leading cause of death among noncommunicable diseases globally, affecting 11–13% of the adult population.

19 Aug 2026

Prenatal strength training may help reduce the risk of gestational diabetes

Various forms of physical exercise may help prevent diabetes during pregnancy (or gestational diabetes), but data are limited. In a randomized clinical trial published in Acta Obstetricia et Gynecologica Scandinavica including 209 pregnant women, participants who followed a strength training program from gestational weeks 12–14 until week 36 or delivery had lower rates of gestational diabetes.

19 Aug 2026

Study analyzes how BMI and waist circumference affect mortality in older adults

In a Journal of the American Geriatrics Society analysis of nationally representative data from 6,905 US adults aged 65 or older followed between 2011–2024, higher body mass index (BMI) was associated with lower mortality risk, whereas higher waist circumference, a marker of abdominal obesity, was independently associated with higher mortality risk after accounting for BMI.

19 Aug 2026

Study links dollar store food quality to worse health outcomes

While consumers may save a few bucks on groceries at dollar stores, they end up paying a higher price with their health.

18 Aug 2026

Habitual pork consumption supports clinically meaningful weight loss, study finds

According to a peer-reviewed study published May 29, 2026 in Nutrition & Diabetes, adults with overweight or obesity (mean BMI: 33.6 kg/m²; mean age: 47.7 years) who reported continuing to eat pork while participating in a 6-month digital weight management program lost a clinically significant 5.3% of starting body weight and improved their overall diet quality scores by 4.3 points.

18 Aug 2026