The World vs. Obesity
As the world keeps on growing continuously, the global population undoubtedly needs a stable nutritional intake. Unfortunately, not everyone is privileged enough to have access to healthy, nutritious food every day. Even if they do, there is always a chance for them to be malnourished as well, such as the excessive consumption of food. This is the major problem behind one of the most common forms of malnourishment, obesity.
Obesity was once considered an issue only in developed countries, as the population has easier accessibility to foods. However, in recent years, obesity has spread to become an epidemic, with the population of low- and middle-income countries becoming obese at an increasing rate. In fact, the rate has been more than 30% higher than that of developed countries. As a result, there have been over 4 million deaths worldwide due to overweight and obesity as of 2017. To make matters worse, obesity can lead to non-communicable diseases such as cardiovascular disease (CVD), type 2 diabetes, and some types of cancers.
According to WHO, obesity is defined as an abnormal or excessive accumulation of body fat that may harm the individual by presenting health risks. It can be measured using the body mass index (BMI), where a value of over 30 is considered obese.
Mainly, obesity is caused by an imbalance between the consumption and burning of calories. This is due to an increased intake of foods rich in sugars and fats, along with decreased to no physical activity (exercising, walking, playing sports, etc). With the advancements in urbanization, modes of transportation, food production and many others, it further facilitates the increasing rate of obesity in a population.
Can someone be “more prone” to obesity?
A lot of health conditions could be caused not only by environmental factors but also genetic factors, including obesity. This means that even though someone is in an obesogenic (tending to cause obesity) environment, they will not become obese as the environmental factors of obesity are more towards the controllable side. Genetic factors, on the other hand, are beyond an individual’s control. Before genomic research grew in trend, there have been studies providing indirect scientific evidence about the comparison between the impacts of inherited factors and childhood environment on body mass index of twins.
Obesity is more commonly caused by abnormalities in multiple genes (polygenic) rather than a single gene (monogenic). Of course, there are candidate genes selected to be the predominant player behind genetic obesity. Genomic research has discovered more than 50 obesity-associated genes since 2006. Nevertheless, no single genetic cause could be identified in obese people. This is due to the complex nature of obesity that is caused by the combination of both genetic and environmental factors.
Nutrigenetics – the tool to better understand and overcome the impacts of obesity
Previously, trends (and might still trend currently) in weight loss include keto diets, very low-calorie diets, no-salt diets, etc. However, we should take note that those diets may not be suitable for everyone as their dietary needs should be personalized. As major advancements are made in the healthcare industry, there have been numerous methods for healthcare professionals to better understand the needs of their patients as well as aiding the patient in their journey.
One of them is applying personalized nutrition through the study of nutrigenetics. Even though nutrition by itself is an environmental factor, the way each person metabolizes a particular nutrient may differ from one to another due to their genetic makeup. Nutrigenetics is based off this concept which has greatly helped patients in obtaining their specific needs and finding out what diseases they are more prone to, including the ones caused by obesity such as cardiovascular diseases, type 2 diabetes, and more.
Dietary recommendations provided to cater for each patient’s individual needs after gaining information about their genetic susceptibilities can be the potential strategy to prevent and treat not only obesity but also diseases related to it. Of course, more research needs to be conducted to extensively look up the genetic aspects of obesity-related diseases, however, analysis with nutrigenetics have shown promising and consistent results which could be further improved combined with “omics” disciplines (nutrigenomics, metabolomics, proteomics, etc).
With obesity being a very preventable condition, it is our responsibility to protect ourselves and our loved ones from its harmful effects. We could start as small as choosing healthier foods (fruits and vegetables, whole grains, nuts, healthy fats and protein sources) rather than sugar-rich, saturated/trans fat-rich foods and beverages. Daily activities such as sitting for long periods of time, lack of exercise, could also be improved. You can also take the extra mile by taking a DNA test to find out about your very own genetic blueprint to know what your body truly needs. To learn more about personalized nutrition and nutrigenetics, Nalagenetics provides you with NutriReady™, our very own nutrigenetics test. Click on this link for more information!
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