[Body composition and obesity]

Obesity is a disease that is characterised by a pathological excess of adipose tissue. Normally, this excess is measured according to its repercussion on weight and on the index of body mass. The methods for measuring body composition, some of which are of recent introduction, are showing the consequences on health of excess fat, especially visceral fat. A review is offered of the epidemiological markers of obesity, the techniques for evaluating fatty mass, the influence of the distribution of the adipose tissue and the factors that condition visceral fat, as well as the influence of this tissue on the metabolic profile of the obese patient.