| Bariatric Surgery.info Obesity and Overweight Definitions |
What is obesity? How is Obesity measured?
Health Risks |
What is Overweight?Overweight means having an excess of body weight, by comparison with set standards. This excess weight may come from too much muscle, bone or body-fat. What is Obesity?Being obese means having an abnormally high proportion of body-fat. So, someone can be overweight without being obese, as in the example of a bodybuilder or other athlete who has a lot of muscle. However, in practice, many people who are overweight are also obese. How is Overweight and Obesity Measured?Various methods are used to determine if someone is overweight or obese. Some measurement systems are based on the relation between height and weight; others are based on measurements of body fat. The most commonly used method today is body mass index The body mass index is used to measure both overweight and obesity in adults. It is the measurement of choice for many obesity researchers and is the definition used in most data on overweight and obesity. Rise in Obesity LevelsAt present, 64 percent of US adults are overweight, while one third of the US adult population are obese. About 300,000 adult deaths in the United States each year are obesity-related. See also Obesity Levels Worldwide This obesity epidemic was first publicised by the US surgeon general in a 2001 report which included alarming statistics concerning the rise in childhood obesity. Health Risks of ObesityObesity is associated with significantly increased risks of type 2 diabetes, hypertension, dyslipidemia, types of cancer, sleep apnea, and osteoarthritis. In addition, obesity is a key feature of other complex health conditions such as insulin resistance syndrome (metabolic syndrome x) and insulin insensitivity. Source: Weight-control Information Network See also: ------------------------------------------------ Obesity Surgery Information |