Obesity in the Inuit - Adipose tissue and ischaemic heart desease

Abstract

Obesity is a major, and growing, health problemin many regions of the world. It is not, however, obesity per se that matters from a health perspective, but rather the diseases which are associatedwith it. These include type 2 diabetes, heartdisease and certain cancers. Obesity is a concernin the Inuit, as in many other groups, and datafrom the International Obesity Task Force haveindicated that Inuit men are in the top half ofnearly 80 countries and territories in the extentof overweight and obesity (1). The position isworse for Inuit women in that they rank on thesemeasures in the top quintile of over 100 countries/territories (1) .