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. 2018 Jan;26(1):9-10.
doi: 10.1002/oby.22085.

Three New Perspectives on the Perfect Storm: What's Behind the Obesity Epidemic?

Eric Ravussin  1 , Donna H Ryan  1
Affiliations

Three New Perspectives on the Perfect Storm: What's Behind the Obesity Epidemic?

Eric Ravussin et al. Obesity (Silver Spring). 2018 Jan.
No abstract available

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Conflict of interest statement

Disclosure: The authors declared no conflict of interest.

Figures

Figure 1
Figure 1
As illustrated by the energy balance equation (energy stores = calories in – calories out), overweight and obesity occur when energy intake exceeds energy expenditure over an extended period. The secular rises in overweight and obesity prevalence have to be explained by a combination of physiological and behavioral factors triggered by the changes in the food environment and the environmentally driven reductions in physical activity. Depending on the genetic susceptibility, age, and sex of individuals, such changes result in variable weight gain. However, the often cited major contributors, i.e., the food environment and physical activity environment (orange), are not the only factors implicated in the obesity epidemic. Other environmental obesity promoters (green), such as increased atmospheric CO2 levels, living in thermoneutrality most of the year, spending countless hours in front of electronic screens, being exposed to chemicals known to disrupt endocrine functions, increased consumption of medications, and the composition of one’s microbiome, may all tip the energy balance equation in an unhealthy direction.
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