Weighing in on obesity prevention and cardiovascular disease prognosis

Considerable data has emphasized the importance of obesity in the overall development and prognosis of cardiovascular (CV) diseases (CVD) (1-3). Clearly, obesity has been increasing in epidemic levels in the United States (US) and most of the Westernized globe (4), with current statistics being especially alarming, including 39.6% of the US population now meeting criteria for obesity based on body mass index (BMI) criteria (BMI ≥30 kg/m²) and even more alarming is that now 7.7% of the adult population meet criteria for severe, or class III, obesity, with BMI ≥40 kg/m² (5). Certainly, the marked increase in obesity is increasing almost all CVD, producing tremendous burden on our society and the healthcare system and could even threaten to reduce or reverse the welcome decline that has been occurring in CVD mortality trends during recent decades (1-5).