Obesity
Obesity is a chronic, progressive disease characterized by excess adiposity that adversely affects health.
Obesity is a chronic, progressive disease characterized by excess adiposity that adversely affects health. Clinically, it is commonly defined using body mass index (BMI), with obesity typically corresponding to BMI ≥30 kg/m², although body-fat distribution and obesity-related complications are increasingly recognized as important for risk stratification. Obesity is associated with insulin resistance, low-grade systemic inflammation, dyslipidemia, hypertension, type 2 diabetes, metabolic dysfunction-associated steatotic liver disease (MASLD), cardiovascular disease, heart failure, sleep apnea, infertility, and several pregnancy-related complications.
Biologically, obesity reflects a complex interaction among genetic susceptibility, epigenetic regulation, diet, physical activity, endocrine signaling, gut microbiota, and adipose tissue dysfunction. Recent research has emphasized pathways involving GLP-1 receptor signaling, GIP/GLP-1 co-agonism, Leptin (LEP) and Adiponectin (APN) biology, AMPK/TBK1, NF-κB, toll like receptor 4 (TLR4)/MyD88, and other metabolic and inflammatory circuits. Because obesity influences multiple organ systems, it is both a disease entity in its own right and a major modifier of outcomes across surgery, transplantation, cardiometabolic disease, reproductive health, and cancer.
Where the papers sit
25 papers from the last 6 months study obesity directly · updated from PubMed 1 Oct 2026
Study type 3 clinical trials · 12 observational · 7 human data · 3 unclassified
Themes one subject · 1 paradigm shift
Those 25 are all about one subject.
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Obesity Epidemiology and Outcomes
Obesity research is mapping how genetic, epigenetic, socioeconomic and dietary factors shape risk across childhood and adulthood. Studies repeatedly link excess weight and low muscle mass with mortality, cardiometabolic risk, respiratory burden, neurological disability and poorer outcomes in chronic disease. New definitions, real-world tirzepatide use and metabolic bariatric surgery broaden attention from prevalence to treatment effectiveness and mental health. The field remains focused on refining risk assessment and clarifying which patients benefit from specific interventions.
Obesity is not uniformly an adverse state across outcomes
The nationwide cohort of cancer patients examining low muscle mass and obesity found that obesity alone was associated with lower all-cause, cancer-specific, cardiovascular, and respiratory mortality than non-obesity, although the combination of low muscle mass and obesity carried the greatest risk 42700202Sep; the cross-sectional study of intestinal permeability, diet, and serum retinol found lower lactulose/mannitol permeability in adults with overweight or obesity than in normal-weight adults, despite the proposed risk of obesity-related barrier dysfunction 42462420Jul. Together, these findings challenge treating obesity as uniformly harmful: its associations depend on the outcome and accompanying physiological context, with muscle depletion reversing the mortality pattern and obesity showing a lower measured permeability marker rather than the expected impairment.
Papers
The 25 papers from the last 6 months that study obesity directly, newest first, by theme and by study type. Study types come from PubMed publication types and MeSH headings.
By theme
Obesity Epidemiology and Outcomes (25)
- Multivariate GWAS framework for family trios with parental phenotypes to control dynastic effects. BMC bioinformatics · 28 Sept 2026 PMID 42806305
- Differential methylation at novel putative imprinting control regions on chromosome 20 associated with childhood obesity. Epigenetics · 25 Sept 2026 PMID 42789309
- The temporal relationship among socioeconomic vulnerability, dietary intake, and childhood obesity across six European countries: longitudinal results from the Feel4Diabetes-study. European journal of pediatrics · 16 Sept 2026 PMID 42747589
- Low muscle mass, obesity, and cause-specific mortality in cancer patients: a nationwide cohort study. Cancer causes & control : CCC · 5 Sept 2026 PMID 42700202
- The impact of new obesity definitions on prevalence and health outcomes. Diabetes research and clinical practice · 25 Aug 2026 PMID 42641806
- Mental health in individuals who have undergone metabolic bariatric surgery: a cross-sectional study using mediation analysis. Scientific reports · 17 Aug 2026 PMID 42608417
- Real-World Effectiveness and Treatment Patterns of Tirzepatide in a Large UK Digital Health Cohort. Diabetes, obesity & metabolism · 6 Aug 2026 PMID 42560020
- Obesity in pediatric type 1 diabetes: an underestimated health problem. Diabetes research and clinical practice · 25 Jul 2026 PMID 42501805
- Defining the associations between weight, obesity and outcomes of posterior fossa decompression for Chiari malformation in adolescents. Child's nervous system : ChNS : official journal of the International Society for Pediatric Neurosurgery · 24 Jul 2026 PMID 42498796
- Oxygen cost of breathing and its association with dyspnea in older patients with heart failure with preserved ejection fraction and obesity. Journal of applied physiology (Bethesda, Md. : 1985) · 21 Jul 2026 PMID 42479445
- Overweight and obesity in youth with type 1 diabetes. Journal of pediatric endocrinology & metabolism : JPEM · 20 Jul 2026 PMID 42473143
- Overweight and obesity and their association with intestinal permeability, usual dietary intake, and serum retinol concentrations. Clinical nutrition (Edinburgh, Scotland) · 16 Jul 2026 PMID 42462420
- Machine Learning Analysis of Sex Differences in Cardiovascular-Kidney-Metabolic Risk Factors and Prognosis Among Patients With Moderate-to-Severe Coronary Artery Calcification: Prospective Cohort Study. Journal of medical Internet research · 16 Jul 2026 PMID 42462211
- Metabolic Mechanisms of Modified Lingguizhugan Decoction in Obesity and Lipid Metabolism Disorders: A Multi-Omics Approach. Obesity science & practice · 14 Jul 2026 PMID 42445565
- Overweight and obesity: A second functional burden that amplifies gait vulnerability in early multiple sclerosis. Multiple sclerosis and related disorders · 13 Jul 2026 PMID 42442023
- Mediating role of depression medication on association between Body Mass Index and cigarette smoking among US adults: Insights from the NHIS. PloS one · 8 Jul 2026 PMID 42418420
- Heterogeneous associations of socioeconomic status with metabolic disease in racial and ethnic subgroups in the United States: A cross-sectional cohort study in NHANES and All Of Us. PloS one · 8 Jul 2026 PMID 42418390
- Navigating the challenge: does obesity compromise outcomes in single-port robot-assisted pyeloplasty? Journal of robotic surgery · 21 Jun 2026 PMID 42324413
- Anatomy and patient comorbidity in robotic partial nephrectomy: predictors of complexity and outcomes. Journal of robotic surgery · 19 Jun 2026 PMID 42319664
- Preeclampsia and Eclampsia: A Complex Interplay Between Prepregnancy Obesity, Race, and Ethnicity. Journal of the American Heart Association · 15 Jun 2026 PMID 42294754
- A cooking skills intervention for long-term weight loss in young adults with intellectual disabilities: Rationale and design for a randomized trial. Contemporary clinical trials · 13 Jun 2026 PMID 42288222
- Treatment With 9-mg Mazdutide for Weight Reduction in Chinese Adults With Obesity: The GLORY-2 Randomized Clinical Trial. JAMA · 7 Jun 2026 PMID 42251595
- Global Cancer Prevention: Current Approaches and Future Directions. American Society of Clinical Oncology educational book. American Society of Clinical Oncology. Annual Meeting · 26 May 2026 PMID 42190157
- Underdiagnosed and Undertreated: Obesity and Its Cardiometabolic Burden in Swedish Clinical Practice-Insights From the AROS Database. Diabetes, obesity & metabolism · 14 May 2026 PMID 42130082
- Experiences of families participating in a 10-week family-focused e-Health healthy lifestyle programme for school-aged children with overweight or obesity: a qualitative study. BMJ open · 5 May 2026 PMID 42086257
By study type
Clinical trials (3)
- A cooking skills intervention for long-term weight loss in young adults with intellectual disabilities: Rationale and design for a randomized trial. Contemporary clinical trials · 13 Jun 2026 PMID 42288222
- Treatment With 9-mg Mazdutide for Weight Reduction in Chinese Adults With Obesity: The GLORY-2 Randomized Clinical Trial. JAMA · 7 Jun 2026 PMID 42251595
- Experiences of families participating in a 10-week family-focused e-Health healthy lifestyle programme for school-aged children with overweight or obesity: a qualitative study. BMJ open · 5 May 2026 PMID 42086257
Observational studies and case reports (12)
- The temporal relationship among socioeconomic vulnerability, dietary intake, and childhood obesity across six European countries: longitudinal results from the Feel4Diabetes-study. European journal of pediatrics · 16 Sept 2026 PMID 42747589
- Low muscle mass, obesity, and cause-specific mortality in cancer patients: a nationwide cohort study. Cancer causes & control : CCC · 5 Sept 2026 PMID 42700202
- Mental health in individuals who have undergone metabolic bariatric surgery: a cross-sectional study using mediation analysis. Scientific reports · 17 Aug 2026 PMID 42608417
- Obesity in pediatric type 1 diabetes: an underestimated health problem. Diabetes research and clinical practice · 25 Jul 2026 PMID 42501805
- Defining the associations between weight, obesity and outcomes of posterior fossa decompression for Chiari malformation in adolescents. Child's nervous system : ChNS : official journal of the International Society for Pediatric Neurosurgery · 24 Jul 2026 PMID 42498796
- Overweight and obesity in youth with type 1 diabetes. Journal of pediatric endocrinology & metabolism : JPEM · 20 Jul 2026 PMID 42473143
- Overweight and obesity and their association with intestinal permeability, usual dietary intake, and serum retinol concentrations. Clinical nutrition (Edinburgh, Scotland) · 16 Jul 2026 PMID 42462420
- Machine Learning Analysis of Sex Differences in Cardiovascular-Kidney-Metabolic Risk Factors and Prognosis Among Patients With Moderate-to-Severe Coronary Artery Calcification: Prospective Cohort Study. Journal of medical Internet research · 16 Jul 2026 PMID 42462211
- Overweight and obesity: A second functional burden that amplifies gait vulnerability in early multiple sclerosis. Multiple sclerosis and related disorders · 13 Jul 2026 PMID 42442023
- Heterogeneous associations of socioeconomic status with metabolic disease in racial and ethnic subgroups in the United States: A cross-sectional cohort study in NHANES and All Of Us. PloS one · 8 Jul 2026 PMID 42418390
- Navigating the challenge: does obesity compromise outcomes in single-port robot-assisted pyeloplasty? Journal of robotic surgery · 21 Jun 2026 PMID 42324413
- Anatomy and patient comorbidity in robotic partial nephrectomy: predictors of complexity and outcomes. Journal of robotic surgery · 19 Jun 2026 PMID 42319664
Human data, design not indexed (7)
- Multivariate GWAS framework for family trios with parental phenotypes to control dynastic effects. BMC bioinformatics · 28 Sept 2026 PMID 42806305
- Differential methylation at novel putative imprinting control regions on chromosome 20 associated with childhood obesity. Epigenetics · 25 Sept 2026 PMID 42789309
- The impact of new obesity definitions on prevalence and health outcomes. Diabetes research and clinical practice · 25 Aug 2026 PMID 42641806
- Oxygen cost of breathing and its association with dyspnea in older patients with heart failure with preserved ejection fraction and obesity. Journal of applied physiology (Bethesda, Md. : 1985) · 21 Jul 2026 PMID 42479445
- Mediating role of depression medication on association between Body Mass Index and cigarette smoking among US adults: Insights from the NHIS. PloS one · 8 Jul 2026 PMID 42418420
- Preeclampsia and Eclampsia: A Complex Interplay Between Prepregnancy Obesity, Race, and Ethnicity. Journal of the American Heart Association · 15 Jun 2026 PMID 42294754
- Global Cancer Prevention: Current Approaches and Future Directions. American Society of Clinical Oncology educational book. American Society of Clinical Oncology. Annual Meeting · 26 May 2026 PMID 42190157
Unclassified: not yet indexed with MeSH (3)
- Real-World Effectiveness and Treatment Patterns of Tirzepatide in a Large UK Digital Health Cohort. Diabetes, obesity & metabolism · 6 Aug 2026 PMID 42560020
- Metabolic Mechanisms of Modified Lingguizhugan Decoction in Obesity and Lipid Metabolism Disorders: A Multi-Omics Approach. Obesity science & practice · 14 Jul 2026 PMID 42445565
- Underdiagnosed and Undertreated: Obesity and Its Cardiometabolic Burden in Swedish Clinical Practice-Insights From the AROS Database. Diabetes, obesity & metabolism · 14 May 2026 PMID 42130082
Written from 25 PubMed abstracts, each one listed by PMID above. Published: 2026-07-01. Last written: 2026-09-18 by GPT. Drafted by language models from published abstracts; not medical advice.