Chinese Journal of Nature ›› 2022, Vol. 44 ›› Issue (6): 469-479.doi: 10.3969/j.issn.0253-9608.2022.03.012

• Natural Forum • Previous Articles     Next Articles

Challenges and hopes in obesity intervention

ZHANG Yankang, ZHANG Ting, LI Yu, MA Xinran, XU Lingyan   

  1. Shanghai Key Laboratory of Regulatory Biology/School of Life Sciences, East China Normal University, Shanghai 200241, China
  • Received:2022-05-05 Online:2022-12-25 Published:2022-08-05

Abstract: Obesity is characterized by the excess accumulation of fat caused by long-term imbalance between energy intake and expenditure. Obesity becomes a major public health problem with increasing prevalence worldwide. Obesity is the major risk factor for various diseases including diabetes, fatty liver, cardiovascular diseases and certain types of cancer, which cause serious health consequences and limits human healthspan and lifespan. Nonetheless, current therapeutic interventions are still lacking due to limited efficacy or potential adverse effects. Therefore, it is imperative to obtain deeper mechanistic understandings and novel intervention strategies for obesity. Here, we comprehensively discuss the leading causes, intervention ways, existing problems and future perspective for better understanding and treating obesity. Overall, although it is still a major challenge, promising ways for weight control are emerging.