An Overview on Visceral Obesity

Abstract

Obesity is one of the most prevalent chronic conditions affecting nearly forty-percent of the world. However, obesity affects individuals in different manners, oftentimes in localized regions in the body. As a result, not all obesity is equal with fat accumulation in the visceral region posing the greatest health threats. The history of anthropometric methods utilized to evaluate and assess obesity status in individuals is a significant contributing factor to how our knowledge on visceral obesity has been shaped. This investigation conducts an analytical review of traditional research, current research, and measuring approaches related to visceral obesity and its associated chronic diseases. Results from analyzed sources indicated that fat accumulation in the visceral region contributes to the most chronic disease than any other localized obesity. The accuracy of computerized tomography (CT) and magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) have successfully determined that visceral obesity is the leading cause of cardiovascular disease, type II diabetes, metabolic syndrome, hyperlipidemia. Not only does obesity pose great risks to all individuals suffering from the condition; racial groups such as Hispanic, African American, and Asians are prone to obesity further increasing their risks of chronic diseases. Overall, visceral obesity is most associated with life-threatening chronic diseases especially within specific marginalized groups.