title: Etiology of Obesity Over the Life Span: Ecological and Genetic Highlights from Asian Countries.
abstract: Obesity is a worldwide pandemic, and the prevalence rate has doubled since the 1980s. Asian countries are also experiencing the global epidemic of obesity with its related health consequences. The prevalence of overweight and obesity are increasing at an alarming rate across all age groups in Asia. These increases are mainly attributed to rapid economic growth, which leads to socio-economic, nutrition and lifestyle transitions, resulting in a positive energy balance. In addition, fat mass and obesity-associated gene variants, copy number variants in chromosomes and epigenetic modifications have shown positive associations with the risk of obesity among Asians. In this review highlights of prevalence and related ecological and genetic factors that could influence the rapid rise in obesity among Asian populations are discussed.
authors.affiliation: Nutritional Sciences Programme, School of Healthcare Sciences, Faculty of Health Sciences, Universiti Kebangsaan Malaysia, Jalan Raja Abdul Aziz, 50300, Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia.
authors.forename: Pei Nee
authors.initials: PN
authors.lastname: Chong
authors.affiliation: UKM Medical Molecular Biology Institute, Universiti Kebangsaan Malaysia, Jalan Ya'acob Latiff, Bandar Tun Razak, 56000, Cheras, Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia.
authors.forename: Christinal Pey Wen
authors.initials: CP
authors.lastname: Teh
authors.affiliation: Nutritional Sciences Programme, School of Healthcare Sciences, Faculty of Health Sciences, Universiti Kebangsaan Malaysia, Jalan Raja Abdul Aziz, 50300, Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia. pbkoon@fskb.ukm.my.
authors.forename: Bee Koon
authors.initials: BK
authors.lastname: Poh
authors.affiliation: Department of Nutrition and Dietetics, Faculty of Health Sciences, MARA University of Technology, 42300, Puncak Alam, Selangor, Malaysia.
authors.forename: Mohd Ismail
authors.initials: MI
authors.lastname: Noor
keywords: Adolescents; Adults; Asia; Children; Ecology; Elderly; Epigenetics; Etiology; Genetic variants; Nutrition transition; Obesity; Overweight; Physical activity; Prevalence; Socio-economy