Adult Obesity

Adult obesity begins in childhood, preventing this condition is a major challenge for the paediatrician. This collection highlights the causes and consequences of obesity. It focuses on managing the condition and its outcomes. It offers advice on confronting obesity and conveys the urgency that this problem demands and deserves.
In 2002 the National Audit Office reported that levels of obesity in the UK had tripled over the previous 20 years. This makes the British among the fattest nations in Europe and, if nothing is done to halt the epidemic, it is feared that levels will soon reach those in the US where one person in every four is obese. Every year tens of thousands of people in the Western world are dying prematurely from heart disease, stroke and diabetes - all of them closely linked to obesity. Obesity is a disease. It is the expression of a classic interaction between nature and nurture. What are the factors responsible for its development? Are we becoming more and more a nation of couch potatoes, or are we just eating too much? Do fat children become fat adults? Can anything be done to halt the obesity epidemic?;This collection of essays, based on a national symposium on obesity, is aimed at the generalist with an interest in managing obesity and its outcomes, whether general practitioner, community nurse, dietitian or hospital clinician. Its purpose is to highlight the causes and consequences of obesity and to bring modern understanding to the treatment of a problem that is still heavily stigmati