Obesity-related illness

The aim of this chapter is to review the current knowledge on dairy food consumption and obesity-related chronic illness. Recent articles published in PubMed and Medline databases were critically appraised to describe the current knowledge and propose directions for future research. 

Generally, the participation of youngsters in organized sports or other physical activities is considered to be desirable from a health point of view. Such behavior helps prevent the couch potato syndrome and obesity in children that have become health concerns in recent years. However, vigorous exercise in hot, humid weather can cause dehydration, which can lead to mild or severe heat-related illnesses such as heat cramps, heat exhaustion or heat stroke. 

Depression and Metabolic Syndrome. Abnormal serum albumin levels and lipid profiles have both been observed in patients with major depression, as well as cardiovascular disease, diabetes mellitus, and end-stage renal disease. Depressive symptoms are very common in patients with these chronic illnesses. Recent clinical data have shown that cardiovascular disease, diabetes mellitus, end-stage renal disease, and obesity are all related to metabolic syndromes [68-74], and especially insulin resistance [75, 76]. However, the data examining major depression without physical illness and insulin resistance are still scarce. In the future, the biological relationship between depression and physical illness needs to be more fully explored. 

The dynamical diseases with altered dynamical complexity and rhythms in comparison with those during the normal states have been identified in many illnesses including depression, schizophrenia, epilepsy, substance abuse, Parkinson s disease, age-related diseases, osteoporosis, and hyperparathyroidism [41-48], For instance, affective problems such as depressive disorders have shown fluctuating state variables at both biological and psychological levels, and the complex phenomena in such diseases may be represented with the nonlinear interactions of these variables [49]. In another example, a nonlinear relationship has been established between obesity and diurnal cortisol secretion [50], In addition, chronic lymphocytic leukemia (CLL) has been found to be a dynamical disease as it is closely associated with B cell cycles [51]. Recent studies of microRNAs (miRNAs), their associations with cell cycle regulations and their roles in complex diseases such as... 

In addition to the above discussed nutrients, diverse amoimt of phenolic molecules has been identified from seaweed and is classified imder different groups of phytochemicals. Those molecules virtually do not play the roles of nutrients and proven to have different bioactive properties associated with enhancing physical fitness to refrain from diseases or to exert therapeutic effects against certain illnesses. However, the medicinal effects of such molecules are not discussed in this chapter. Non-communicable diseases such as diabetes, obesity, and cardiovascular dieses have a strong relationship with dietary habits and nutritional profiles of the food. Therefore, next few sections of this chapter address the nutrition-related several health effects of seaweed fiber, other than previously mentioned, and its contribution to enhance digestive health. 

The obesity prevalence is growing in the workforce of the industrialized countries. Obesity has more than doubled since 1980 and, currently, more than 1.4 billion adults have overweight (WHO, 2012). Nevertheless, obesity is associated with psychological, social and physical problems, which can negatively affect the productivity. Subjects with overweight are absent from work due to illness for longer periods and more often than non-obese subjects, being this absenteeism frequently related to WMSD (Tier et al., 2009). 

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