Over 66% of . adults are currently categorized as overweight or obese, and the prevalence of obesity is increasing rapidly throughout most of the industrialized world. Based on statistics from the World Health Organization, overweight and obesity may soon replace more traditional public health concerns such as undernutrition and infectious diseases as the most significant contributors to ill health. Children and adolescents are also becoming more obese, indicating that the current trends will accelerate over time. Obesity is associated with an increased risk of multiple health problems, including hypertension, type 2 diabetes, dyslipidemia, degenerative joint disease, and some malignancies. .
