[Obesity in adolescents: physical correlated pathologies, and therapeutic state of art]

Obese adolescents are prone to several pathologies, which may begin in this period of life and have a continuity in adult age. In this review the author tries first to explain the obesity definition in infants, children, and adolescents. Some pathologies may appear in adolescent age. First of all, some features of the so called metabolic syndrome; furthermore, hormonal alteration during and after puberty, genital appearance in the obese adolescent male, respiratory problems as apnea, asthma, and the Pickwick syndrome. The non alcoholic fat liver disease is also described, and the orthopedic problems as well, owing to the overweight: from abnormal body posture to structural consequences on the skeleton. Finally, some remarks concerning pharmacological and surgical approach are presented.