Obesity is currently a major public health problem. Its incidence is increasing, and it affects persons of all ages. According to the World Health Organization (WHO, 2015), worldwide obesity has more than doubled since 1980. In 2013, 42 million children under the age of 5 were overweight or obese. Overweight and obesity are risk factors for type 2 diabetes, cardiovascular diseases, cancers, and other health problems with substantial direct and indirect health care costs. The etiology of obesity is multifactorial, involving genetic and environmental factors, and can be defined because of a prolonged imbalance between the calorie intake and energy utilization.

Our research is aimed at the study of this pathology through the integration of different omics data, such as genomics, metabolomics, proteomics and microbiomics targeted to the investigation of the biological basis of obesity. The omics approach makes it possible to then go on to study the pathways involved and then focus on the use of natural molecules, such as olive tree polyphenols, that are contained in typical plants of the Mediterranean diet and that may play an important role in this pathology.