3rd Middle East Obesity, Bariatric Surgery and Endocrinology Congress

Definition: Obesity is a chronic case of excessive body fat or adiposity that exceeds healthy limits. The most commonly accepted method to screen for excess adiposity is calculation of body mass index (BMI). Abnormal BMI cut-offs in children are determined by age- and gender-specific percentiles based on growth charts, as the amount of body fat changes with age and differs between boys and girls. Globally the definition of overweight and obesity changes; however, a BMI >85th percentile is defined as overweight or at risk for overweight in the US and UK, a BMI ≥95th percentile is variably defined as obesity or overweight, and a BMI >99th percentile is defined as morbid obesity. For paediatric under 2 years of age, BMI percentiles are not available; thus, obesity may be defined as a weight ≥95th percentile for height. Aetiology: Obesity in children is multifactorial. Interactions among factors such as genetic predisposition, behavioural and cultural practices,

OBESITY AND OVERWEIGHT: Obesity is described as the accumulation of fat in the human body beyond the amount required for the normal body function. This continuous accumulation of fats results weight gain. Obesity has reached wide range in global, with more than 1 billion adults overweight - at least 300 million of them clinically obese - and is a major contributor to the global burden of chronic disease and disability. Often coexisting in developing countries with under-nutrition, obesity is a complex condition, with serious social and psychological dimensions, affecting virtually all ages and socioeconomic groups. Increased utilization of more energy-dense, nutrient poor foods with high levels of sugar and saturated fats, combined with reduced physical activity, have leads to obesity rates that have risen three-fold or more since 1980 in some areas of North America, the United Kingdom, Eastern Europe, the Middle East, the Pacific Islands, and China. The o