Obesity and Metabolic Syndrome

This lecture covers the definition of obesity based on Body Mass Index, the concept of homeostasis in energy balance, historical examples of extreme weight gain, the development of relative prices for different foods, trends in obesity among US adults, changes in lifestyle affecting obesity, the differences between central and peripheral obesity, the metabolic syndrome linked to obesity, insulin resistance, pathophysiology of the metabolic syndrome, and the impact of non esterified fatty acids on insulin resistance and beta-cell function.