Obesity: courses and consequences - the complex interplay between behavior, society, genes and the environment

Learning objectives

A student who has met the objectives of the course will be able to:

1. Understand and discuss whether obesity is a disease
2. Understand the epidemiology of obesity from birth to old age
3. Understand the importance of appetite regulation and energy expenditure
4. understand and discuss the complexity related to the causes of obesity, including interactions with genes and the environment
5. understand the health consequences of obesity
6. understand if and how obesity may be managed at the individual and societal levels

Content

Obesity is not the simple consequence of too much food and too little exercise. Rather we know today, that a multitude of factors play a role, and that development of obesity is the consequence of a complex interplay between factors related to behavior, society, genes and the environment. The course will provide a comprehensive overview of the latest development in our understanding of the putative causes and consequences of human obesity and offer knowledge on potential avenues for prevention, diagnosis and management of obesity from infancy through old age. The course program will thus permit attendees to improve their knowledge in this field, with updated overviews.