Obesity

Question 1

What is the obesity burden world wide and what are the resultant issues.?

Answer 1

30% of the population are overweight or obese. Issue is obese patients tend to visit GP practices more frequently and therefore cost healthcare a lot. It decreases life expectancy up to 20 years.

Question 2

What is obesity and what methods of there of measuring it?

Answer 2

Excess adiposity. Methods of measuring are; Body mass index, proxy measure (fat mass + fat free mass), waist circumference as this is an indicator of intra-abdominal or visceral fat.

Question 3

What BMI values are classified as overweight and obese?

Answer 3

Overweight - 25+,

Obese - 30+

Question 4

What are some co-morbidities of obesity?

Answer 4

• Stroke,
• Lung disease,
• Heart disease,
• Liver disease,
• Gallstones,
• Cancer,
• Sleep apnoea,
• Diabetes,
• Pancreatitis,
• Psychological
  Women - abnormal periods and infertility

Question 5

How is obesity classified in children?

Answer 5

In centiles. Anything above 85th percentile = risk of being overweight

Question 6

What are some consequences of childhood obesity?

Answer 6

Pulmonary, orthopaefic, neurological (Intracranial hypertension), gastroenterological, endocrine (type 2 diabetes), CV (hypertension and fatty streaks) and psychological

Question 7

What are some of the components of energy imbalance

Answer 7

It is a balance between energy intake and expenditure. It is effected by individual susceptibility and dietary and physical activity patterns (modifiable)

Question 8

What are some modifiable behaviours in the treatment of childhood obesity?

Answer 8

• Sedentary behaviour (increased screen time = increased risk),
• Nutritional context
• Sensory variety,
• Sweetened beverages,
• Portion sizes (allow child to self regulate),

Question 9

Describe the genetic link to obesity

Answer 9

Monogenic forms of obesity - Rare and are caused by single gene disorders eg, LEP or LEPR.
- polygenic forms of obesity - Complex interactions between genes and environment

Question 10

What are some common gene variants that predispose to polygenic obesity?

Answer 10

• Peroxisome proliferator-activated receptor,
• Uncoupling proteins,
• Beta adrenergic receptors,
• FTO,
• MC4R

Question 11

Describe the WHOs Global strategy on diet and physical activity

Answer 11

1) Reduce risk factors for chronic diseases that stem from diet and physical activity (PA).
2) Increase awareness and understanding of the influences of diet and PA on health.
3) Develop policies and action plans to improve diets and increase PA,
4) Monitor science and promote research on diet and PA>