Preliminary investigation on the incidence of obesity in a canine population in the USA

Obesity represents the most common nutritional pathology in companion animals, with an estimated prevalence of overweight or obese dogs of at least one third of the canine population. Aim of the present study was to evaluate the nutritional status of a canine population in the USA and assess its correlation with some specific individual factors. During a period of about two months, data were collected concerning nutritional status, dietary management and clinical situation of a group of 158 adult dogs. Half of the animals resulted overweight or obese and the average BCS was 3.5 (on a 5-points scale). Factors such as age, neutering, hormone and chronic arthritic disorders, as well as the belonging to specific breeds showed a positive significant correlation with BCS. On the contrary, gender, presence of other animals and type of food offered did not show any correlation with BCS. Despite the relatively low number of dogs involved, present results confirm that overweight affects a large portion of the canine population in the USA and is influenced mainly by endogenous factors.