Obesity in Humans and Dogs: Similarities, Links, and Differences

Obesity is defined as an excess of adipose tissue and is considered as one of the most pervasive, chronic diseases leading to morbidity and decreased lifetime expectancy in both humans and dogs. For these reasons and because the prevalence of obesity continues to increase, the societal burden of obesity is increasing worldwide. Dog ownership has been related with improved lifestyle and lower obesity rates. However, the possible relationship between owner and dog obesity has been reported, suggesting common causes of obesity in humans and dogs. In this line, the specialists of both fields, human and veterinary medicine, agree not only about the main common causes but also about dangerous consequences of the obesity. Nevertheless, some discrepancies between human and dog obesity have also been described. For this reason, in this chapter, we aimed to look more deeply at the similarities, links, and differences between human and canine obesity. Better understanding of this disease would not only help to design obesity treatment approaches, but also, and more importantly, to prevent it in humans and dogs taking advantage of marvelous human-dog relationship.