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Simple carbohydrates and obesity: Fact, Fiction and Future

International Journal of Obesity volume 30, pages S1–S3 (2006)Cite this article

The prevalence of overweight and obesity has risen dramatically over the past 3 decades and is threatening to become a global epidemic.1 A substantial proportion of the population is at increased risk of morbidity and mortality as a result of increased body weight. In affluent countries, excess body fat accounts for ≈30–40% of coronary heart disease;2 cancers of the colon, breast and endometrium; and most cases of non-insulin-dependent diabetes mellitus.3 Genetic susceptibility predisposes people to the development of body fatness but cannot account for the exponential increase in obesity in nearly all-Western countries.

Obesity is generally accepted as resulting from an imbalance between food intake and daily physical activity. Obesity is thus the largest nutrition-related problem in the developed world. Despite the overwhelming amount of research and statistical analysis, no clear explanation can be given for the relationship between changes in behavior and the rapid increase in obesity prevalence in the past 3 decades.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Nutrition and Toxicology Research Institute Maastricht, NUTRIM, University of Maastricht, Maastricht, The Netherlands

    W H M Saris

  2. Center for Obesity Research and Education, Temple University, Philadelphia, PA, USA

    G D Foster

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  1. W H M Saris
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  2. G D Foster
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Correspondence to W H M Saris.

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Saris, W., Foster, G. Simple carbohydrates and obesity: Fact, Fiction and Future. Int J Obes 30 (Suppl 3), S1–S3 (2006). https://doi.org/10.1038/sj.ijo.0803522

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