[French and worldwide epidemiology of obesity]

Abstract

Obesity is a disease characterized by an excessive fat deposition. It is associated to the development of several comorbidities. The worldwide prevalence of obesity has been rising in the past 30 years. Recent results published in 2015 show a global prevalence of 12% in adults, which amounts to 604 million obese adults in the world. The prevalence of obesity has also increased in children since the 1980s to reach 5% globally. Social categories are differently affected by obesity with the most impoverished ones having the highest rate of obesity and obesity increase. In the French ESTEBAN study of 2015, the prevalence of overweight and obesity was the highest among adults with the lowest education level and among children whose caregiver was without diploma.