The Health Problems of Obesity in Animals

Dear Colleagues,

It is common knowledge that obesity increases the risk of diabetes mellitus, joint and musculoskeletal problems, and cardiovascular problems, among others. While obesity in humans is a global epidemic and the prevalence of this problem is well accepted, the seriousness of obesity in animals is still not viewed under the same light. With the incidence of pet obesity following the same trend as in human obesity, it is imperative that research efforts be directed towards understanding the physiological consequences of obesity in animals. However, the complex and multifactorial nature of obesity makes developing successful interventions for the prevention and treatment difficult.

Despite the fact that close to 30% of dogs and cats seen by veterinarians in the United States are either obese or overweight, there is only one FDA approved pharmacological treatment for this problem. Pathological expansion of white adipose tissue combined with persistent chronic low-grade inflammation seen in obesity plays an important role in increasing the risk of obesity-associated diseases. Pharmacological treatments aimed at decreasing the adipogenesis and inflammation may have the potential for the treatment of health problems of obesity. The One Health approach is gaining recognition for identifying the root causes of multiple disease states in humans and animals. This approach may help develop novel strategies for the prevention and treatment of obesity and associated diseases.

The scope of the Special Issue ‘The Health Problems of Obesity in Animals’ is to explore and understand the physiology, pathogenesis, and epidemiology of obesity in animals. You are invited to submit either an original article or a review focusing on obesity or obesity-associated problems in animals. Articles highlighting pharmacological and non-pharmacological approaches for the prevention and treatment of health problems of obesity are welcome and will be taken into consideration for the publication.

Dr. Srujana Rayalam
Guest Editor

Manuscript Submission Information

Manuscripts should be submitted online at www.mdpi.com by registering and logging in to this website. Once you are registered, click here to go to the submission form. Manuscripts can be submitted until the deadline. All submissions that pass pre-check are peer-reviewed. Accepted papers will be published continuously in the journal (as soon as accepted) and will be listed together on the special issue website. Research articles, review articles as well as short communications are invited. For planned papers, a title and short abstract (about 250 words) can be sent to the Editorial Office for assessment.

Submitted manuscripts should not have been published previously, nor be under consideration for publication elsewhere (except conference proceedings papers). All manuscripts are thoroughly refereed through a single-blind peer-review process. A guide for authors and other relevant information for submission of manuscripts is available on the Instructions for Authors page. Animals is an international peer-reviewed open access semimonthly journal published by MDPI.

Please visit the Instructions for Authors page before submitting a manuscript. The Article Processing Charge (APC) for publication in this open access journal is 2400 CHF (Swiss Francs). Submitted papers should be well formatted and use good English. Authors may use MDPI's English editing service prior to publication or during author revisions.