Obesity: An New Generation Problem

Increasingly, more of us are entering the ranks of those who need to shed some pounds.Today, an estimated 64 percent of all American adults are overweight or obese. And this epidemic extends to our children, our nation's future. Nearly 9 million children aged 6 years or older, from all states, socioeconomic, and ethnic groups, are obese. A disproportionate number of them are African-American, Hispanic, or American Indian.

Obesity can be because of having high fatty diet or by genetic

Fifteen years ago, physician Andrew Greenberg was involved in the original discovery of an important protein within fat cells that controls the breakdown of fat droplets to provide energy. Greenberg, then a postdoctoral fellow working under federal researcher Constantine Londos, was the first author on the first paper describing the protein, called "perilipin."

For the past 12 years, Greenberg has been studying the perilipin gene at HNRCA, where he is director of the Obesity and Metabolism Laboratory.

New Zealand has serious cause for alarm at the increasing rate of obesity among children, says Professor John Birkbeck, Institue of Food, Nutrition and Human Health.

Evidence shows a strong likelihood that obese children will grow into obese adults, he told the symposium. He says a new menace is surfacing with rising obesity - the risk of an increase in a variety of serious diseases, notably Type 2 diabetes, coronary heart disease and high blood pressure.

"In the USA , an obese male child aged seven has a four-fold risk of being obese as an adult, or 3.2 times for a girl. The relationship increases with age, so that by 15 years an obese teen male is 9.8 times more likely to be obese as an adult, and a girl 8.8 times, compared to a lean child."

The Americans have calculated that the costs of surgical and medical management of these diseases could easily result in serious financial demands on the economy.