Obesity can have an adverse impact on health at each stage of a woman's life cycle. In young women, obesity has an impact on psychosocial health and, as they grow older and become parents, on their reproductive health. Obesity also imposes a number of serious risks during pregnancy. In older women, obesity is associated with the emergence of a number of related chronic diseases, such as type 2 diabetes and cardiovascular disease, and increased risk for almost all types of cancer. Of concern in the elderly is the increasing evidence that obesity is an independent risk factor for dementia and Alzheimer's disease. Obesity also has a marked impact on life expectancy. The medical risks associated with obesity in women are also important for the woman's children and future generations. There is emerging evidence that nutrition during fetal and early life can influence risk for obesity and chronic diseases for both sexes. International Journal of Obesity (2007) 31, S3-S7; doi:10.1038/sj.ijo.0803729Keywords: women; pregnancy; intergenerational programming; Alzheimer's diseaseIn an obesogenic environment, women are at greater risk for obesity, and especially severe obesity, than men, and they also appear to be at disproportionate risk for some of the complications of obesity. In most developed countries, the rates of obesity are higher in women than men. Also, focus on obesity in women is an important consideration for men because the metabolic status of the mother during pregnancy can impact her children, both boys and girls.The biologic differences between men and women in their risk for obesity and its complications are an important area for research because they can give insights into the mechanisms that underlie obesity and can increase the understanding of obesity in both genders.
Adolescence and young adulthoodObesity can have an adverse impact on health at each stage of a woman's life. In young women, obesity has an impact on psychosocial health and, as they grow older and become parents, on their reproductive health.The higher rate of obesity in women compared with men has a number of societal consequences. Compared with men, women suffer more from the stigmatisation imposed by obesity and have lower education levels and rates of marriage. At a socio-economic level, compared with normal weight women, obese women with higher education or in upper white-collar positions have significantly lower incomes. Excess body weight is not associated with similar income disadvantages for men.The social and economic consequences of obesity were demonstrated in a study of a representative sample of 10 039 US adolescent and young adult men and women (aged 16-24 years). On follow-up 7 years after the initial survey, women who had been overweight (defined as body mass index (BMI) above the 95th percentile for age and sex) at baseline had indices of socio-economic status that were worse than those of the normal weight women. The survey showed that they were more likely to have had fewer years of education, to be living in poverty,...