Holistic Approaches to Understanding Obesity and Metabolic Diseases in Urban Environments

Obesity has become a pandemic problem over the last 20-30 years, largely driven by the ongoing nutrition transition worldwide. Low- and Middle-Income Countries (LMICs) are experiencing this transition at a faster rate than High-Income Countries (HICs), primarily due to high urbanization rates that necessitate rapid, short-term adaptive strategies, which are often obesogenic. This transition is marked by changing dietary habits and sedentary lifestyles, particularly within rapidly urbanizing environments, leading to the development of Obesity-Related Metabolic Diseases (ORCDs) such as hypertension and type 2 diabetes. In sub-Saharan African populations, the prevalence of obesity and ORCDs is increasing more rapidly than in HICs, with an absolute annual increase of overweight/obesity at 1.3% in West African urban women. Despite the complex, multi-factorial etiology of obesity, most studies adopt a uni-disciplinary approach—psychological, sociocultural, physiological, or genetic—potentially contributing to the current failure to prevent obesity, whose prevalence has tripled since 1975 according to the WHO. The biocultural background of populations is often insufficiently considered, limiting our understanding of their adaptive capacity to new urban environments and their exposure to ORCD risks. While genetic determinants of obesity are well understood, their systemic interactions and effects on body weight regulation remain poorly explored. Additionally, the pathways predicting ORCDs between sociodemographic indirect determinants (age, sex, education, urban lifetime duration, etc.) and socio-ecological direct determinants (dietary intake and physical activity) are rarely studied, necessitating a more comprehensive approach to understanding the etiology of ORCDs.

This Research Topic aims to refocus the study of obesity from an anthropological perspective, considering the holistic characteristics of populations—both sociodemographic and socio-ecological—that influence their adaptation to obesogenic urban environments. The goal is to provide new insights for developing anthropologically relevant, targeted programs to prevent and treat obesity and ORCDs. By addressing the respective and cumulative contributions of various drivers and the multiple pathways leading to ORCDs, this Research Topic aims to explain the differences in prevalence and incidence of ORCDs between countries and better identify at-risk subgroups.

To gather further insights into the biocultural determinants of obesity-related cardiometabolic diseases, we welcome articles addressing, but not limited to, the following themes:

• Sociodemographic factors influencing obesity and ORCDs.
• Socio-ecological determinants such as dietary intake and physical activity.
• Interdisciplinary qualitative, quantitative, or mixed-methods approaches combining psychological, sociocultural, physiological, and genetic perspectives.
• Comparative studies between LMICs and HICs.
• Adaptive strategies in urban environments.
• Pathways linking sociodemographic and socio-ecological factors to ORCDs.
• Development of targeted prevention and treatment programs based on anthropological insights.