Faced with a double challenge: obesity and climate change

Abstract

The current global obesity epidemic is occurring in parallel with global warming due to climate change. Epidemiological evidence suggests a role for increasing environmental temperatures in increasing rates of overweight and obesity. The suppression, caused by high temperatures, of the energy expenditure necessary for adaptive thermogenesis, may be a mechanism that explains the alteration in energy balance caused by global warming, which favors obesogenesis. Reciprocally, there are data indicating that high rates of obesity around the world are causing, directly and indirectly through increased food production and transportation, an increase in greenhouse gas emissions, thus contributing to global warming. The impact of global warming on obesity highlights the dangers of climate change and points to the need for greater action to slow the process to prevent its harmful effects on global health.