Book Description
The percentage of population suffering from overweight or obesity is increasing worldwide, both in developed and developing countries, and for all subpopulations of age and gender (although data on the incidence of those problems seem to differ somewhat across sources; see Díaz-Bonilla and Paz, 2019). High body mass is a risk factor for many non-communicable diseases such as diabetes, high blood pressure, coronary heart disease and stroke. High Body Mass also tends to increase the risks of various types of cancer, gallbladder disease, musculoskeletal disorders and respiratory symptoms among others. In consequence, it constitutes one of the leading risk factors causing early death and disability, as measured in disability-adjusted life years (DALYs).1 It is estimated that in recent years overweight and obesity contributed to about an estimated 4 million deaths (7.1% of all deaths) and 120 million DALYs worldwide (4.9% of all DALYs among adults); overweight and obesity also carry economic costs, estimated globally in US$500 billion per year (Development Initiatives, and Institute for Health Metrics and Evaluation (IHME) , 2018). Consequently, there is an increasing interest to develop policies and interventions that may reduce the incidence of overweight and obesity.