Ap il 2017 | Volume 4 | A icle 591
O iginal esea ch
published: 25 Ap il 2017
doi: 10.3389/ e s.2017.00059
F on ie s in Ve e ina y Science | www. on ie sin.o g
Edi ed by:
Pie o Celi,
DSM Nu i ional P oduc s, USA
Re iewed by:
Lyne e A nason Ha ,
Uni e si y o Cali o nia Da is, USA
Sungkwonk Pa k,
Sejong Uni e si y, Sou h Ko ea
*Co espondence:
As a T a ijona iciu e
[email p o ec ed]
Special y sec ion:
This a icle was submi ed o
Animal Nu i ion and Me abolism,
a sec ion o he jou nal
F on ie s in Ve e ina y Science
Recei ed: 12Decembe 2016
Accep ed: 06Ap il2017
Published: 25Ap il2017
Ci a ion:
Mon oya-AlonsoJA, Bau is a-
Cas añoI, PeñaC, Suá ezL,
Jus eMC and T a ijona iciu eA
(2017) P e alence o Canine Obesi y,
Obesi y-Rela ed Me abolic
Dys unc ion, and Rela ionship wi h
Owne Obesi y in an Obesogenic
Region o Spain.
F on . Ve . Sci. 4:59.
doi: 10.3389/ e s.2017.00059
P e alence o canine Obesi y,
Obesi y- ela ed Me abolic
Dys unc ion, and ela ionship
wi h Owne Obesi y in an
Obesogenic egion o spain
J. Albe o Mon oya-Alonso1, Inmaculada Bau is a-Cas año2, C is ina Peña1,
Lou des Suá ez1, M. Candela ia Jus e1 and As a T a ijona iciu e3*
1 In e nal Medicine, Facul y o Ve e ina y Medicine, Resea ch Ins i u e o Biomedical and Heal h Sciences (IUIBS), Las Palmas
de G an Cana ia Uni e si y, Las Palmas, Spain, 2 Depa men o Clinical Sciences, Facul y o Medicine, Resea ch Ins i u e o
Biomedical and Heal h Sciences (IUIBS), Las Palmas de G an Cana ia Uni e si y, Las Palmas, Spain, 3 Depa men o Animal
Medicine and Su ge y, Facul y o Ve e ina y Medicine, Uni e sidad Au ónoma de Ba celona, Ba celona, Spain
The main objec i e o his s udy was o e alua e he p e alence o canine obesi y and
obesi y- ela ed me abolic dys unc ion (ORMD) in he obesogenic a ea in Spain. The
p e alence o o e weigh /obesi y among owne s o obese pe s was also e alua ed.
In he sample popula ion s udied (93 clien -owned dogs), 40.9% o dogs p esen ed
obesi y (body condi ion sco e 7–9/9), 40.9% o dogs p esen ed hype ension, 20.4%
o dogs p esen ed as ing hype iglyce idemia, 20.4% as ing hype choles e olemia,
and 5.4% o dogs p esen ed as ing hype glycemia. The o e all p e alence o ORMD
was o 22.6%. Se en y-eigh pe cen o o e weigh /obese owne s had o e weigh /
obese dogs (P<0.001) including all dogs diagnosed wi h ORMD. In conclusion, in he
s udied obesogenic egion o Spain, he p e alence o canine obesi y and ORMD was
shown o be ele a ed and ela ed o he p esence o o e weigh /obesi y in owne s. All
dogs wi h ORMD we e owned by o e weigh /obese pe sons. These esul s p o ide
new inpu s o u u e s udies highligh ing he ela ionship be ween owne and pe obe-
si y and indica ing he need o u he e o s o con ol and educe obesi y p e alence
in bo h.
Keywo ds: body condi ion, body mass index, dog, epidemiology, me abolic synd ome, obesi y, owne –dog
ela ionship
inT ODUcTiOn
Obesi y is de ined as an accumula ion o excessi e amoun s o adipose issue in he body, and i is
he mos common nu i ional diso de in companion animals. Obesi y is usually he esul o ei he
excessi e die a y in ake o inadequa e ene gy u iliza ion, which causes a s a e o posi i e ene gy
balance (1). In humans, he medical impo ance o obesi y lies in he e ec on mo ali y and mo bid-
i y o associa ed diseases. Simila ly, obesi y has de imen al e ec s on he heal h and longe i y o
dogs (1, 2). Fu he mo e, di e en s udies indica e ha , simila ly as occu s in human medicine, he
p e alence o o e weigh /obesi y in he canine popula ion is inc easing (1, 3).
Table 2 | The equency o he O MD c i e ia in s udied popula ion.
O MD c i e ia numbe o animals
Obesi y: BCS 7–9/9 38/93
Hype ension: SBP >160mmHg 38/93
Hype choles e olemia: TChol >300mg/dL (7.8mmol/L) 19/93
Hype iglice idemia: Tg >200mg/dL (2.3mmol/L) 19/93
Hype glycemia: glucose >100mg/dL (5.6mmol/L) 5/93
ORMD, obesi y- ela ed me abolic dys unc ion; SBP, sys olic blood p essu e; TChol,
o al choles e ol; Tg, iglyce ides; BCS, body condi ion sco e.
Table 1 | gene al cha ac e is ics o he pa icipan s.
Men (n=51) Women (n=42) P
Age 38.4±16.4 38.4±14.1 0.798a
Body mass index (BMI) 27.3±6.8 26.0±5.7 0.628a
≥20 12% (n=6) 5% (n=2) 0.022b
20–25 39% (n=20) 57% (n=24)
≥25 49% (n=25) 38% (n=16)
aMann–Whi ney es .
bChi-squa e es .
2
Mon oya-Alonso e al. Canine Obesi y and ORMD P e alence
F on ie s in Ve e ina y Science | www. on ie sin.o g Ap il 2017 | Volume 4 | A icle 59
The Cana y Islands is conside ed o be an obesogenic a ea,
since people he e exhibi s one o he highes excess weigh a es
in Spain (4) wi h p e alence o mo e han 53% o o e weigh /
obese adul s (5). Fu he mo e, he p e alence o me abolic
synd ome (Me S) among adul s in he Cana y Islands is high
eaching up o 24.4% (6). Howe e , no da a abou p e alence
o canine obesi y and obesi y- ela ed me abolic dys unc ion
(ORMD) a e a ailable. Fo his eason, he main objec i e o
his s udy was o e alua e he p e alence o canine obesi y and
ORMD in he G an Cana ia Island. The seconda y objec i e was
o e alua e he possible ela ionship be ween owne and pe -dog
obesi y.
MaTe ials anD MeThODs
This s udy was a desc ip i e obse a ional mul icen e s udy.
Dogs we e ec ui ed o and assessed du ing ou ine e e ina y
isi s in 10 e e ina y clinics/hospi als ep esen a i e o he whole
island. All dogs we e heal hy, wi h excep ion o he p esence o
obesi y, as de e mined by ou ine examina ion.
Body condi ion sco e (BCS) was assessed using a 9-poin scale
(7). The BCS was de e mined by one o he au ho s L.S. in all cases
in o de o a oid possible bias. Blood samples we e collec ed a e
a leas 12-h as ing om a jugula o saphenous enipunc u e
in o ubes con aining hepa in (LH/Li Hepa in, Aquisel). The ime
be ween he blood sample collec ion and analyses was <30min
in all cases.
P e iously desc ibed c i e ia o canine ORMD we e used
in his s udy. In b ie , o a dog o be classi ied as p esen ing
ORMD, he dog had o p esen obesi y (BCS 7–9/9) and any wo
o he ollowings: iglyce ides (Tg) >200mg/dL (2.3mmol/L),
o al choles e ol (TChol) >300 mg/dL (7.8 mmol/L), sys olic
blood p essu e >160 mmHg, and/o as ing plasma glucose
>100 mg/dL (5.6 mmol/L), o p e iously diagnosed ype 2
diabe es melli us (8).
Blood p essu e was assessed using he oscillome ic me hod
(memoPRINT®) wi h an app op ia ely sized cu applied on he
on pa o he le o eleg, mediop oximal be ween he elbow
and ca pal join (senso o e adial a e y), wi h he pa ien lying
down up igh in en al ecumben posi ion (dog in a elaxed
posi ion). Th ee measu es we e aken e e y 10min.
To al choles e ol, Tg, and glucose we e measu ed using
enzyma ic comme cially a ailable me hods in he au o-analyze
(SPOTCHEM EZ SP-4430®, A k ay, Inc., Kyo o, Japan).
Body mass index (BMI) was calcula ed as weigh /heigh 2 (in
kilog am pe me e squa e) o all owne s. The clinical e alua-
ion o he owne s was ca ied ou by I.B.C. in all cases. Weigh
and heigh we e measu ed du ing he i s isi o he e e ina y
medical cen e s, wi h subjec s ligh ly clo hed and wi hou shoes
on a Roman balance, SECA model 712 wi h a capaci y o 200kg
in 100g. Heigh was measu ed wi hou shoes using a me e ed
scale SECA 221 wi h a ange o 6–230cm in di isions o 1mm.
Owne s we e conside ed o e weigh /obese i hei BMIs we e
>25kg/m2 (9).
Da a analyses we e pe o med using SPSS 19.0 (SPSS Inc.,
Chicago, IL, USA). Desc ip i e s a is ical analysis included he
calcula ion o means, SDs, and p opo ions. The Chi-squa e
es was pe o med o compa e p opo ions. In all he cases, he
signi icance le el was es ablished a P<0.05.
esUlTs
Finally, 93 owne s ag eed o pa icipa e in he s udy. The owne s
we e 51 men and 42 women be ween 16 and 70yea s old wi h
he BMI be ween 20 and 44 (Table 1). Al hough no s a is ically
signi ican di e ences we e obse ed be ween men and women
in e ms o age o BMI, Chi-squa e analysis e ealed signi ican
di e ences be ween he wo gende s when hese we e subdi ided
acco ding o he BMI in o lean (BMI ≤20), no mal (BMI 20–25),
and o e weigh /obese (BMI ≥25) (P<0.05).
Dogs we e be ween 2 and 14.7 yea s (mean ± SD,
6.77±3.36yea s) old. Thi y- wo dogs we e males (34.4%), o
which 96% we e en i e, and 61 dogs we e emales (65.6%), o
which 85% we e en i e. Twen y- h ee dogs we e o mixed b eeds
and 70 dogs we e om 25 ecognized b eeds, mos commonly
Yo kshi e Te ie , Ge man Shephe d, Minia u e Poodle, Cocke
Spaniel, Bulldog, and Cana ian Dogo. All dogs we e ed comme -
cial pe ood and ecei ed canine snacks and le o e s o ki chen/
able sc aps.
In he sample popula ion s udied, he mos equen ly p esen
ORMD c i e ia we e obesi y and hype ension (41% in bo h
cases), ollowed by as ing hype choles e olemia and hype i-
glyce idemia (20.4% in bo h cases), and hype glycemia (5.4%)
(Table2).
Consequen ly, in he sample o dogs s udied, he p e alence o
22.6% (21/93) o a Me S was obse ed. No s a is ically signi ican
di e ences be ween dogs p esen ing and no p esen ing Me S
we e ound in e ms o sex (P=0.380) o age g oup (P=0.460),
classi ied as being younge o olde han 6yea s o age.
Rela ionship be ween p esences o no o o e weigh /obesi y
among owne s and hei pe -dogs obesi y is p esen ed in Table3.
Se en y-eigh pe cen o o e weigh /obese owne s had o e -
weigh /obese dogs (P<0.001); including all dogs diagnosed wi h
Table 3 | Owne and pe -dogs da a ela ed o p esence [body mass
index (bMi)≥25] o absence (bMi<25) o o e weigh /obesi y.
g oup bMi<25
(n=52)
bMi≥25
(n=41)
P
BMI 22.2±1.3 32.5±5.4 <0.001a
Gende (M/F) 26/26 16/25 0.291b
Age (yea s) 37.9±14.6 39.0±16.3 0.873a
Pe -dog da a
No mal/obese 46/6 9/32 <0.001b
Obesi y- ela ed me abolic
dys unc ion
0 21
Age g oup: <6yea s/>6yea s 16/36 25/16 0.004b
aMann–Whi ney es .
bChi-squa e es .
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Mon oya-Alonso e al. Canine Obesi y and ORMD P e alence
F on ie s in Ve e ina y Science | www. on ie sin.o g Ap il 2017 | Volume 4 | A icle 59
ORMD. Fu he mo e, owne s wi h BMI ≥25 had younge dogs
han hose wi h BMI <25.
DiscUssiOn
Canine obesi y is conside ed as a majo heal h issue in mos de el-
oped coun ies nowadays o i s con ibu ion o he de elopmen
o diseases, as well as dec eased li espan (2). A numbe o s ud-
ies ha e been published epo ing he p e alence o he canine
obesi y in di e en coun ies, including F ance, England, he
Ne he lands, USA, Aus alia, China, and among o he s (10, 11).
Howe e , no s udies ha e been epo ed e alua ing he p e alence
o canine obesi y in Spain.
In his s udy, he p e alence o he canine obesi y in he
Cana y Islands, Spain, was ound o exceed 40% o he e alu-
a ed popula ion. These indings a e in acco dance wi h hose
epo ed in ecen obesi y p e alence s udies ha ound i o
be 41.1% in Aus alia and 44.4% in China (3, 10). On he o he
hand, a conside ably lowe incidence (18.6%) o canine obesi y
was epo ed by Co bee (12) among show dogs, p obably due o
he ac ha hese dogs needed o be in a good condi ion o he
awa d achie emen .
Mo e han 22% o dogs included in his s udy we e classi-
ied as ha ing he ORMD. Howe e , i he p esence o ORMD
is calcula ed only among obese dogs, he pe cen age o e passes
55.3. The obse ed ORMD p e alence is wice as high as p e i-
ously epo ed in an obese dog popula ion in England (8). The
mul iple ac o s con ibu ing o obesi y could be esponsible
o he obse ed di e ences in p e alence. Howe e , he mos
impo an causes o canine obesi y, and hus ORMD, we e
conside ed as owne - ela ed (12). Thus, he obse ed p e alence
o canine ORMD in his obesogenic a ea, whe e qui e simila
Me S p e alence (o 24.4%) was epo ed in humans in he same
s udy egion, he Cana y Islands esul s (6), could be ela ed wi h
he local nu i ional cus oms. This hypo hesis would be also sup-
po ed by ou obse a ions ha o e weigh /obese owne s had
signi ican ly mo e o e weigh /obese dogs and ha all dogs wi h
ORMD we e owned by o e weigh /obese pe sons. One o he
limi a ions o his s udy was ha he p esence o Me S could no
been e alua ed in pe sons and hus no possible ela ionships
could be de e mined among occu ence o Me S in dogs and
hei owne s.
In humans, he p esence o Me S is conside ed as a high isk
o su e ing om ca dio ascula diseases and diabe es melli us
(9, 13). Howe e , cu en ly pa hogene ic mechanisms and he
heal h signi icance o dogs, in e ms o disease associa ions
and ou comes o weigh loss, a e no known and need o be
e alua ed, al hough i was desc ibed ha canine ORMD cou ses
wi h dec eased ci cula ing adiponec in, he p o ein ha possess
insulin-sensi izing and an i-in lamma o y p ope ies (8). Thus,
he hypoadiponec inemia could be associa ed wi h he inc eased
isk o su e obesi y- ela ed diseases in dogs (8) as i was desc ibed
in human medicine (14). Fu he mo e, obese dogs wi h ORMD
showed al e ed le els o p o eins in ol ed in lipid me abolism,
immune esponse, and an ioxidan s a us (15).
This wo k has a numbe o limi a ions including he lack o
he in o ma ion ela ed wi h he ea ing/ eeding and exe cising
beha io o he pa icipan s, al hough hese we e no he objec-
i es o he p esen s udy. Fu he mo e, because o he ela i ely
low numbe o dogs ec ui ed oge he wi h he la ge a iabili y
in ages and b eeds, he esul s ha e o be in e p e ed wi h cau ion.
Ne e heless, hese p esen a ue clinical pic u e o a small Island.
Howe e , u he long-scale s udies would be needed o u he
con i m he ela ionship be ween owne and pe -dog obesi y and
o iden i y causal ac o s o bo h species.
In conclusion, in he s udied obesogenic egion o Spain,
he p e alence o canine obesi y and ORMD we e shown o be
ele a ed eaching 40 and 22%, espec i ely. O e weigh /obese
owne s had signi ican ly mo e o e weigh /obese dogs han he
lean/no mal weigh pe sons; and all dogs wi h ORMD we e
owned by o e weigh /obese pe sons. These esul s p o ide new
inpu s o u u e s udies highligh ing he ela ionship be ween
owne and pe obesi y and indica ing he need o u he e o s
o con ol and educe obesi y p e alence in bo h.
eThics sTaTeMenT
The s udy p inciples we e accep ed by he Resea ch Uni o he
Ve e ina y Medicine Se ice o Las Palmas de G an Cana ia
Uni e si y and we e in acco dance wi h good clinical p ac ice
and wi h he guidelines o he Helsinki Decla a ion o s udies
conduc ed using human subjec s and in acco dance wi h deon-
ological ules and he exis ing legisla ion on animal p o ec ion
in Spain (law RD53/2013). In o med consen s we e also signed by
he owne s. Pa ien s’ da a we e codi ied o gua an y anonymi y.
aUThO cOnT ibUTiOns
JM-A and IB-C designed he s udy, pe o med da a analysis and
in e p e a ion, and d a ed, e ised, and app o ed he manusc ip .
CP and LS pe o med sample collec ion and analysis. AT, JM-A,
and IB-C d a ed he wo k and e ised c i ically. All au ho s
app o ed he inal e sion.
FUnDing
Financial suppo was p o ided by he P og am “Juan de la
Cie a” o “Minis e io de Economia y Compe i i idad,” Spain,
h ough a pos doc o al g an .
4
Mon oya-Alonso e al. Canine Obesi y and ORMD P e alence
F on ie s in Ve e ina y Science | www. on ie sin.o g Ap il 2017 | Volume 4 | A icle 59
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Con lic o In e es S a emen : The au ho s decla e ha he esea ch was conduc ed
in he absence o any comme cial o inancial ela ionships ha could be cons ued
as a po en ial con lic o in e es .
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