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The incidence of obesity in our Society is increasing and there is a lack of effective therapeutic tools with which to treat it.
In Spain, about 15% of the adult population is affected by obesity (2000), while a further 30% suffer from overweight. However, general concern about body weight is shared by an even larger proportion of the population. Moreover, the incidence of childhood obesity is growing even faster than in adults. |
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In the US, obesity affects one in four adults, and 63 % of men and 55 % of women have a BMI1 of 25 kg/m2 or greater2, the highest values being in black women (more than 70 %). Childhood obesity has increased by 40 % in the last sixteen years. |
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| Obesity in the United States (BMI>303) |
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| Study |
Men (%) |
Women (%) |
| 1960-62 |
10.4 |
15.1 |
| 1971-74 |
11.8 |
16.1 |
| 1976-80 |
12.2 |
16.3 |
| 1988-94 |
19.9 |
24.9 |
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Sources: NHES1 (1960-62), NHANES I (1971-74), NHANES II (1976-80) and NHANES III (1980-94) Studies. In: Clinical Guidelines for the Identification, Evaluation and Treatment of Overweight and Obesity in Adults (NIH-NHLBI, Rockville ND USA, 1999). |
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Obesity not only causes an aesthetic, psychological and mobility problem, its pathological roots are deeply ingrained because of its direct or indirect association with other potentially severe diseases, such as type 2 diabetes, arteriosclerosis, sleep apnea, arterial hypertension and other cardiovascular diseases, some types of cancer, and a considerable number of pathologies which include joint and bone damage caused by excess weight. In the US, the estimated number of annual deaths attributable to obesity is nearly 300,0004 and this disease is now the second-leading preventable cause of death after cigarette smoking. |
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The health costs of obesity, both direct and, particularly, indirect, are enormous. The direct costs of obesity and physical inactivity account for approximately 9.4% of US health care expenses. This is largely due to the diseases associated with obesity and to the limited efficacy of the therapeutic means available. |
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Treatment of obesity using hypocaloric diets is ineffective, except for mild overweight. Drug treatments are scarce, have limited efficacy and induce many unwanted secondary effects. In addition, they are essentially palliative, of limited duration and completely ineffective for the most severe degrees of the disease. |
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| Direct and indirect costs of obesity in several countries |
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| Country |
Costs (million $) |
Year |
Comments |
| United States |
117,000 |
2000 |
9.4 % of total health expenses |
| Germany |
5,200-6,800 |
1998 |
conservative estimation |
| France |
1,900 |
1995 |
indirect costs only partially included |
| Spain |
1,700 |
1999 |
not all health costs included |
| United Kingdom |
584 |
1997 |
very conservative estimation; indirect expenses not included |
| The Netherlands |
483 |
1995 |
indirect expenses not included |
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The potential market for antiobesity drugs is enormous, especially in the US, where the costs of the disease have been estimated at more than one billion dollars per year. Furthermore, in the US, obesity is already the second cause of mortality, and its incidence and severity increase year after year despite the frantic, largely inoperative, measures taken by individuals and Health Authorities. |
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Links of Interest about obesity:
Sociedad Española para el Estudio de la Obesidad
International Obesity Task Force
North American
Association for the Study of Obesity
International Association for the Study of Obesity.
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1 BMI stands for Body Mass Index, which can be calculated by dividing weight in kilograms by height in meters squared
2 See JAMA, 1999, 282, 1523-1529
3 According to the WHO, obesity is considered for a BMI greater than 30 kg/m2
4 See JAMA 1999, 282, 1530-1538 |
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