‘Westernised’ lifestyle responsible for obesity, says German professor

Hopes the discovery of new genes will lead to ‘innovative therapies and preventive measures’.

LAHORE:

In Europe and the United States, almost one in three adults can be declared clinically obese. The developing world is catching up as people adopt a ‘westernised’ life-style.

Prof Dr Martin Wabitsch from the department of paediatrics and adolescent medicine at the University of Ulm, Germany, stated this while delivering a lecture on Monogenic Forms of Human Obesity at the University of Health Sciences (UHS) on Wednesday.

The lecture was arranged by the university’s department of allied health sciences.

Prof Martin said obesity could be seen as a global pandemic.  “The consequences of this are not only the social and psychological effects of excessive weight, but also the significant morbidity and premature mortality associated with serious medical conditions that obesity predisposes to, including diabetes, hypertension, coronary artery disease and many forms of cancers,” he added.

Rapid industrialisation and its economic consequences, according to Prof Martin, had led to the creation of an ‘obesogenic’ environment in which people have easy access to high-calorie food and almost no urge to exercise. Studies have shown, he said, that humans can become obese as a result of simple genetic defects.

He hoped that the discovery of new genes that contribute to obesity will lead to “innovative therapies and preventive measures, opening up new avenues in the management of obesity.”

Published in The Express Tribune, December 20^th, 2012.