Читать книгу Clinical Obesity in Adults and Children - Группа авторов - Страница 68

Obesity, defined as an excess of body fat to a level that adversely affects health, is frequently considered to be a “modern” disease – a reflection of the excesses of Western urbanized society. However, artifacts dating from the Palaeolithic Stone Age clearly represent subjects with an excess of body fat, and descriptions of individuals with obesity have emerged in manuscripts and medical texts from many of the ancient civilizations, from Mesopotamia to Arabia, China to India. This historical evidence suggests that independent of diet and geographical region, throughout history, some individuals have harbored the propensity to store excess energy as fat.