0:00
Hello, my name is
Costas Christodoulides.
I'm a clinical researcher
from the University of Oxford
and I'm going to talk to you
about adipose tissue biology.
0:11
So obesity is defined as
excessive accumulation
of adipose tissue
that may impair health.
It is commonly classified
by body mass index,
which is the weight
of an individual in kilograms
divided by their height
square in meters.
According to the
World Health Organization
individuals with
a BMI of 25 or above
are classified as overweight,
30 or above, obese,
and less than 18.5, underweight.
The criteria for the definition
of overweight and obesity
are stricter
in Asian populations.
0:48
So the prevalence of obesity
has more than doubled
over the past 30 years
as illustrated in the slide
which shows data
from the United States.
According to the World Health
Organization in 2014,
39 percent of the world's
adult population,
that's more than
1.9 billion individuals,
were overweight and 13 percent
i.e. more than 600 million
subjects were obese.
1:14
Obesity has many adverse
health consequences.
In particular, it is associated
with the development
of insulin resistance
which is linked
to the pathogenesis
of type 2 diabetes
and cardiovascular disease,
including heart
disease and stroke,
which were the leading
global causes of death in 2012.
Obesity is also associated
with osteoarthritis
which is a degenerative disease
of joints
as well as certain forms
of cancer including breast,
colon and endometrial cancer.
