In 2010, overweight and obesity were estimated to cause 3·4 million deaths, 3·9% of years of life lost, and 3·8% of disability-adjusted life-years (DALYs) worldwide. The rise in obesity has led to widespread calls for regular monitoring of changes in overweight and obesity prevalence in all populations. Comparable, up-to-date information about levels and trends is essential to quantify population health effects and to prompt decision makers to prioritise action. We estimate the global, regional, and national prevalence of overweight and obesity in children and adults during 1980-2013. We systematically identified surveys, reports, and published studies (n=1769) that included data for height and weight, both through physical measurements and self-reports. We used mixed effects linear regression to correct for bias in self-reports. We obtained data for prevalence of obesity and overweight by age, sex, country, and year (n=19,244) with a spatiotemporal Gaussian process regression model to estimate prevalence with 95% uncertainty intervals (UIs). Worldwide, the proportion of adults with a body-mass index (BMI) of 25 kg/m(2) or greater increased between 1980 and 2013 from 28·8% (95% UI 28·4-29·3) to 36·9% (36·3-37·4) in men, and from 29·8% (29·3-30·2) to 38·0% (37·5-38·5) in women. Prevalence has increased substantially in children and adolescents in developed countries; 23·8% (22·9-24·7) of boys and 22·6% (21·7-23·6) of girls were overweight or obese in 2013. The prevalence of overweight and obesity has also increased in children and adolescents in developing countries, from 8·1% (7·7-8·6) to 12·9% (12·3-13·5) in 2013 for boys and from 8·4% (8·1-8·8) to 13·4% (13·0-13·9) in girls. In adults, estimated prevalence of obesity exceeded 50% in men in Tonga and in women in Kuwait, Kiribati, Federated States of Micronesia, Libya, Qatar, Tonga, and Samoa. Since 2006, the increase in adult obesity in developed countries has slowed down. Because of the established health risks and substantial increases in prevalence, obesity has become a major global health challenge. Not only is obesity increasing, but no national success stories have been reported in the past 33 years. Urgent global action and leadership is needed to help countries to more effectively intervene. Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation.

BACKGROUND: Few epidemiologic studies have examined the association between the rate of eating and obesity. In this study, we cross-sectionally examined the association of the self-reported rate of eating with current Body Mass Index (BMI), and BMI-change from 20 years of age to the current age. METHODS: Subjects were 3737 male (mean age ± standard deviation and mean BMI ± standard deviation: 48.2 ± 7.1 years and 23.3 ± 2.7 kg/m2) and 1005 female (46.3 ± 7.0 years and 21.8 ± 2.8 kg/m2) Japanese civil servants. We measured self-reported categorical rate of eating, current BMI, BMI at age 20, and BMI-change from age 20. Energy intake was assessed over a 1-month period with a brief-type diet history questionnaire. RESULTS: The multiple regression analysis in which the current BMI was regressed by categorical rate of eating, energy intake, age, and lifestyle factors showed that current BMI steadily increased by -0.99, -0.67, 0.81, and 1.47 kg/m2 along with the progress of categorical rate of eating from the 'medium' group to 'very slow', 'relatively slow', 'relatively fast', and 'very fast' groups, respectively, in men. In women, the corresponding values were -1.06, -0.35, 0.50, and 1.34 kg/m2. When the BMI increment from age 20 to current age was regressed in the same manner, the increment was -0.63, -0.34, 0.57, and 1.05 kg/m2 in men and -0.71, -0.32, 0.34, and 1.14 kg/m2 in women, respectively. Additionally, both BMI at age 20 and current height were positively associated with rate of eating. CONCLUSIONS: Our results among middle-aged men and women suggest that eating fast would lead to obesity. J Epidemiol 2006; 16: 117-124.

Background and Purpose— The retinal microvasculature reflects cumulative small-vessel damage from hypertension and other vascular processes. No study has prospectively examined retinal findings in relation to the incidence of clinical lacunar stroke in comparison with other ischemic stroke subtypes. Methods— In 10 496 adults initially free of stroke, we related retinal findings imaged during 1993 to 1995 with the incidence of hospitalized ischemic strokes through 2005. Results— During a median of 11.2 years of follow-up, 338 incident ischemic strokes occurred (66 lacunar, 192 nonlacunar thrombotic, and 80 cardioembolic). Generalized arteriolar narrowing as measured by the central retinal arteriole equivalent was associated with an increased incidence of lacunar stroke (multivariate-adjusted hazard ratio [HR] per 1-SD decrement of central retinal arteriole equivalent=1.67; 95% CI, 1.23–2.26) but was not associated with other ischemic stroke subtypes. Generalized venular widening as measured by the central retinal venule equivalent was also positively associated with only lacunar stroke (multivariate-adjusted HR per 1-SD increment=1.44; 95% CI, 1.09–1.91). Retinal microvascular abnormalities were positively associated with lacunar stroke incidence (HR for focal arteriolar narrowing=2.22; 95% CI, 1.11=4.48; for arteriovenous nicking, HR=2.38; 95% CI, 1.20–4.71), whereas retinopathy signs (microaneurysms, retinal hemorrhages, and others) were positively associated with nonlacunar thrombotic (HR=2.41; 95% CI, 1.47–3.95) and cardioembolic (HR=2.25; 95% CI, 1.09–4.65) stroke incidence. Conclusions— A narrower central retinal arteriole equivalent, wider central retinal venule equivalent, focal arteriolar narrowing, and arteriovenous nicking were predictive of lacunar stroke. Retinal imaging is useful in understanding the pathophysiology and mechanisms of cerebral small-vessel disease.

Although the global prevalence of both the overweight and obese is on the rise, there are variations among regions or countries, and sexes. Approximately half or more than half of the population are overweight/obese defined as body mass index ≥25 kg/m2in the Americas (61.1%), Europe (54.8%), and Eastern Mediterranean (46.0%) according to the World Health Organization, while a much lower prevalence is observed in Africa (26.9%), South-East Asia (13.7%), and the Western Pacific (25.4%). Females are more likely to be overweight/obese in the Eastern Mediterranean, Africa, South-East Asia and the majority of countries in the Americas and Western Pacific but not in the most of the countries in Europe. These region-sex-ethnicity differences in prevalence may be a clue to the causes of the obesity epidemic. Epidemiological studies done in the USA, Europe, and Asia found that higher BMI was significantly associated with increased incidence of coronary artery disease (CAD) and ischemic stroke, but the association with hemorrhagic stroke incidence was not always consistent. The association of BMI with CAD and ischemic stroke was generally independent of known mediators, which would indicate the importance of controlling or preventing overweight/obesity for the prevention of cardiovascular disease. (Circ J 2014; 78: 2807–2818)

To assess the validity of self-reported height and weight in a Japanese workplace population, and to examine factors associated with the validity of self-reported weight. Comparison of self-reported height and weight with independent measurement. In total, 4253 men and 1148 women aged 35–64 y (mean measured body mass index (BMI): 23.3 kg/m² in men, 21.9 kg/m² in women) were included in the study. Self-reported height and weight were obtained by a self-administered questionnaire. Measured height and weight were based on annual health checkups. Sex, age, measured BMI, and the presence of hypertension, diabetes, and hyperlipidemia were examined as potential factors associated with the accuracy of self-reported weight. Self-reported height and weight were highly correlated with measured height and weight for men and women (Pearson’s r for men and women: 0.979 and 0.988 in height, 0.961 and 0.959 in weight, 0.943 and 0.950 in BMI, respectively). For men, mean differences±2 s.d. of height and weight were 0.078±2.324 cm and −0.034±5.012 kg, respectively, and for women 0.029±1.652 cm and 0.024±4.192 kg, respectively. The prevalence of obesity with BMI ≥25 kg/m² based on self-reported data (23.6 and 11.5% for men and women, respectively) was slightly smaller than that based on measured data (24.9 and 12.4%, respectively). Specificity and sensitivity, however, were quite high for both men and women (sensitivity was 85.8 and 85.2%, and specificity was 97.0 and 98.9%, respectively). The subjects with higher measured BMI significantly underestimated their weight compared with those with smaller BMI after adjustments for age in men and women. Furthermore, the presence of diabetes in men and age in women affected self-reported weight. Neither the presence of hypertension nor hyperlipidemia was associated with reporting bias. The self-reported height and weight were generally reliable in the middle-aged employed Japanese men and women. However, it should be remembered that self-reported weight was biased by actual BMI and affected by age and the presence of diabetes.