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Review
. 2025 May;477(5):657-668.
doi: 10.1007/s00424-025-03066-8. Epub 2025 Feb 10.

The obesity pandemic and its impact on non-communicable disease burden

Staffan Hildebrand  1 , Alexander Pfeifer  2   3
Affiliations
Review

The obesity pandemic and its impact on non-communicable disease burden

Staffan Hildebrand et al. Pflugers Arch. 2025 May.

Abstract

The rising prevalence of overweight and obesity across the globe is a major threat both to public health and economic development. This is mainly due to the link of obesity with the development and outcomes of non-communicable diseases (NCDs). NCDs are a leading cause of global death and disability, and reducing the burden of NCDs on patients and healthcare systems is of critical importance to improve public health. Obesity is projected to be the number one preventable risk factor for NCDs by 2035, and there is an urgent need to tackle the growing obesity rates in order to reduce NCD incidence and severity. Here, we review the current understanding of the impact of obesity on NCD burden in general, as well as the epidemiological and mechanistic relationship between obesity and some of the most common classes of NCDs. By literature review, we found that over 70% of NCDs have a documented association with obesity, highlighting the importance of a better understanding of the pathophysiologies underlying obesity/overweight as well as the interaction between obesity and NCDs in order to reduce global disease burden.

Keywords: Metaflammation; Non-communicable disease; Obesity; Overweight.

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Conflict of interest statement

Declarations. Ethical approval and consent to participate: Not applicable. Consent for publication: Not applicable. Human ethics: Not applicable. Competing interests: The authors declare no competing interests.

Figures

Fig. 1
Fig. 1
Scheme of different classes of NCDs which have significant association with overweight and obesity. Image created with BioRender (https://www.biorender.com/)
See this image and copyright information in PMC

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