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Obesity is on the rise in developed countries, affecting adults, children and pets. The World Health Organisation has deemed obesity as a global epidemic and it is now being increasingly focussed on in the media. Statistics vary, but near half the human population in developed countries such as Australia, the USA and Great Britain is overweight or obese. It is generally thought that the trend towards weight gain is environmental, a result of decreased physical activity and a preliminary indoor lifestyle without appropriate adjustment to dietary intake. Everywhere we look there are aids to help us save time and energy. Our cities and town are so big that we have to drive to get to our destinations instead of walking of cycling, and then we are further aided by elevators and escalators so that we don’t have to walk up the stairs. At home, the children are watching TV and playing computer games instead of playing in the yard or neighbourhood, and the dog is housebound, not getting the exercise he needs. Our lifestyle has changed drastically in the last couple of decades with emerging technologies, and they are literally causing our demise.
Definition and Cause
Weight gain, when nutritional, is a response to a positive energy balance, where the energy input (food intake) exceeds that of the energy output or maintenance energy requirement (MER). MER is resting energy requirement (RER) or basal metabolism plus energy expenditure due to work done; i.e. exercise, housework, walking to work etc. Surplus intake, energy exceeding MER, is stored by the body as fat or adipose tissue. This is an evolutionary safeguard to help us through leaner times and reduced food intake, such as winter when pickings are few and we experience a negative energy balance. However, humans and domestic dogs in developed countries rarely encounter a natural lean period, and the weight gain becomes chronic.
Prevalence
The modern lifestyle is also affecting our dogs, as the canine population is now displaying the same weight gain tendencies as their human companions. Studies in several countries and by several authors reveal that a great proportion of dogs are overweight and/or obese. The numbers vary between studies, so it is hard to estimate a true figure, but they all convey the same picture. Colliard et al. (2006) reports of 38.8% overweight dogs in France and McGreevy et al. (2005) reports 41% in Australia.
Risk Factors
Risk factors of obesity have been studied, and the most prevalent are inactivity, neutering, female gender, rural or semirural dogs, breed (esp. Retrievers and Hounds) (McGreevy et al.) and owner profile (Kienzle et al., 1998). Neutering is thought to contribute to weight gain due to altered basal metabolism and also altered behaviour in dogs. Neutering reduces a dog’s proneness to wandering and display of territorial behaviours, affecting both basal energy requirement and energy expenditure. Kienzle et al. found that owners of obese dogs were often obese themselves. Obese owners mostly belonged to a lower socioeconomic group, fed the dogs a lower cost prepared food, and displayed several behaviours associated with interaction, bonding and feeding of their dogs. They also found that owners of obese dogs had less interest in canine nutrition than did the owners of normal dogs. Several studies have also looked at owners perceptions of their dogs’ body condition and found that owners of overweight or obese dogs generally underestimate their dogs’ body condition with about one point on a 9 point scale, therefore rarely recognising that their dog is indeed overweight or obese (Robertson, 2003, Laflamme, 2005, and Colliard et al.).
Several studies have been done on the side effects of obesity. There is considerable evidence that above ideal weight in dogs contribute to the onset of diabetes, orthopaedic disease and injuries, endocrine and metabolic disease, cardiorespiratory problems, neoplasia and several others (German, 2006). Not only does obesity make clinical evaluation and examination of patients more difficult, it also increases risks associated with anaesthesia, which one is more likely to require if the dog is obese as it is more likely to suffer from a condition that may require surgery. Probably the largest study done on the effects of obesity on orthopaedic disorders and longevity was carried out by Nestle Purina, and Kealy et al. have written several papers on results obtained from the longitudinal, life-long trial. Diet restriction; maintaining dogs at an optimal body condition score, has been found to lower the incidence of hip dysplasia in growing dogs (Kealy et al., 1992), reduce prevalence and severity of OA in adult dogs (Kealy et al, 2000), increase the lifespan and delay the onset and degree of age-related changes and chronic conditions (Kealy et al., 2002).
top back weightloss program arthritis
References
Colliard L, Ancel J, Benet JJ, Paragon BM, Blanchard G (2006) Risk factors for obesity in dogs in France. Journal of Nutrition. 136(7 Suppl) pp 1951-1954
Flodmark CE, Marcus C, Britton M (2006) Interventions to prevent obesity in children and adolescents: a systematic literature review. International Journal of Obesity. 30(4) pp 579-589
German AJ (2006) The growing problem of obesity in dogs and cats. Journal of Nutrition. 136(7 Suppl) pp 1940-1946
Kealy RD, Lawler DF, Ballam JM, Lust G, Biery DN, Smith GK, Mantz SL (2000) Evaluation of the effect of limited food consumption on radiographic evidence of osteoarthritis in dogs. Journal of the American Veterinary Medical Association. 217(11) pp 1678-1680.
Kealy RD, Lawler DF, Ballam JM, Mantz SL, Biery DN, Greeley EH, Lust G, Segre M, Smith GK, Stowe HD (2002) Effects of diet restriction on life span and age-related changes in dogs. Journal of the American Veterinary Medical Association. 220(9) pp 1315-1320
Kealy RD, Olsson SE, Monti KL, Lawler DF, Biery DN, Helms RW, Lust G, Smith GK (1992) Effects of limited food consumption on the incidence of hip dysplasia in growing dogs. Journal of the American Veterinary Medical Association. 201(6) pp 857-863
Kienzle E, Bergler R, Mandernach A (1998) A comparison of the feeding behaviour and the human-animal relationship in owners of normal and obese dogs. Journal of Nutrition. 128(12 Suppl) pp 2779-2782
Laflamme DP (2005) Nutrition for aging cats and dogs and the importance of body condition. Veterinary Clinics of North America - Small Animal Practice. 35(3) pp 713-742
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