Overview of Pediatric Obesity as a Disease

From a semantic perspective, a "disease," as defined by the Oxford Medical Dictionary, is "a disorder with specific cause (which may or may not be known) and recognizable signs and symptoms; or any bodily abnormality or failure to function properly, except that resulting directly from physical injury that may open the way for disease." Consistent with this definition and as discussed in this review, childhood obesity has multiple established specific causes, recognizable signs and symptoms, and associated abnormal bodily functions. There are pathophysiologic mechanisms driven by the metabolic and hormonal dysfunction and chronic inflammation accompanying the state of obesity, which in turn result in increased prevalence and risk of numerous secondary diseases across multiple organ systems. "Adiposity-based chronic disease," defined by Steele and Finucane,2 2 is an apt description to classify this disease based on its origin, time course, and sequelae. Like many chronic diseases, obesity is multi- factorial, with genetic, biological, behavioral, sociocultural, economic, and environmental factors contributing, but that does not diminish the significance of the dysfunctional and detrimental physiologic processes the state generates or the overwhelming adverse effects it engenders on multiple aspects of health, especially among youth.