[Obesity, the price of survival]

The prevalence of obesity in Spain is at 15.5% and its cost is at some 2,000 million Euro. The evolutionary response to hunger was to create mechanisms for storing energy using diverse hormones: insulin, leptin, ghrelin, resistin, neuropeptide Y, AgRS, MCH, the carbaminoid system, and so on. These served to maximize ingestion or to create resistance to insulin and leptin. A 'saving' genotype was thus created and registered in our genome, with energy savings and reduced expenditure. But with the availability of more foods without physical effort, this savings genotype is no longer valid, as it gives rise to the metabolic syndrome, with increased cardiovascular risk. Current treatments are rather ineffective; we need to adapt our lifestyles to the conditions for which we were designed. We have set up an Obesity School with a 13-hour program, completed by some 64% of those registered (20% do not attend), with an average weight loss at four months of 5.9 kgs and a reduction of 2.26% in body fat. At 6-12 months from the completion of the course, 60% continue losing (-10 kgs), with only 26.5% re-gaining weight (+4.75 kgs).