Key result
The prevalence of overfat adults and children in developed countries is extremely high, reaching over 90% in adult males and up to 50% in children in countries like the US, New Zealand, Greece, and Iceland.
Highlights the growing public health pandemic of 'overfat' individuals—those with excess body fat despite normal weight—and its link to cardiometabolic dysfunction.
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Widespread overfat signals need for clinical adiposity screening beyond BMI; leaves open prospective validation of cardiometabolic risks and interventions.
refers to the presence of excess body fat that can impair health, even for normal weight non-obese individuals. Excess body fat is associated with cardiometabolic dysfunction, a clinical situation that can progressively worsen, potentially leading to various common disease risk factors, chronic diseases, increased morbidity and mortality, and reduced quality of life. The prevalence of overfat populations in 30 of the world's most developed countries is substantially higher than recent global estimations, with the largest growth due to a relatively recent increased number of people with excess abdominal fat. Abdominal overfat is the most unhealthful form of this condition, so it is concerning that average waist circumference measures, generally indicative of abdominal overfat, have increased. Despite a leveling off appearance of being overweight and/or obese in some developed countries, the overfat pandemic continues to grow.
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Maffetone et al. (2017) conducted a review in Overfat and Obesity. The prevalence of overfat adults and children in developed countries is extremely high, reaching over 90% in adult males and up to 50% in children in countries like the US, New Zealand, Greece, and Iceland.
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