[img_inline align=”right” src=”http://padnws01.mcmaster.ca/images/arya.jpg” caption=”Arya Sharma, Venus of Willendorf”]She's slightly more than 11 centimetres (four inches) high, but the tiny Venus of Willendorf statuette represents much more to Arya Sharma.

Sharma, a professor of medicine and Canada Research Chair in Cardiovascular Obesity Research and Management pulls up the image on his computer screen to illustrate that obesity has been a problem in society a long, long time.

“The Venus of Willendorf dates back to almost 25,000 BCE and is one of the earliest, most realistic representations of obesity — it's not a new problem,” he notes.

For Sharma, this age-old problem is one that is accelerating at an alarming rate, reaching epidemic proportions among Canadians. He estimates that almost half of our population is overweight and one-third of Canadians are obese.

Sharma, one of the world's top researchers in obesity, will be discussing his latest research at tomorrow's (February 10) Science in the City lecture, Muscling in on Obesity: or How Fatty Muscles Can Increase Your Risk for Diabetes and Heart Disease .

Sharma's research shows that rather than the total amount of body fat, it is where this excess fat is stored that determines the risk for diabetes and heart disease. Abdominal fat is a greater risk factor than fat stored in the hips, buttocks or thighs.

In an interview with the Hamilton Spectator, Sharma also discusses the greater problem of fat that gets stored directly in the cells of other tissues, an area of his research that will also be covered in tomorrow's lecture.

Arya Sharma's talk takes place in the Hamilton Spectator Auditorium Tuesday, Feb. 10 at 7 p.m. (doors open at 6:30 p.m.). The lecture is free and all are welcome. To reserve your seat e-mail sciencecity@mcmaster.ca or by voice mail: 905-525-9140, ext. 24934

Photo captions: Arya Sharma, left, and Venus of Willendorf.