Tackling overweight and obesity in the youth with the PAS GRAS project

Abstract

It is a startling reality that today, over 245 million children aged 5–14, 249 million adolescents and young adults aged 15–24, and 2.1 billion adults are overweight or obese, with substantial increases for all age groups predicted for 2050^1,2. The younger cohorts in particular are consigned to a lifetime of obesity-related comorbidities, whose treatment will consume an increasingly larger fraction of healthcare resources, with estimated costs reaching US$4.32 trillion by 2035³.

Youth obesity is particularly concerning because of the unique vulnerabilities of this age group and requires early intervention and decades of management⁵. Indicators of early onset metabolic complications, such as redox and energy imbalances, DNA methylation and transcriptional alterations, are already present in pre-pubertal children with obesity, resulting in greater adulthood metabolic risks. Many, if not most, of the determinants of lifetime obesity and metabolic sequelae are established during early stages of life. Investment in early childhood, from preconception to adolescence, can yield a 10:1 benefit:cost ratio in health and socioeconomic outcomes during later life⁵.