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Weight Loss

What is Obesity?

Obesity occurs when a person's body has too much fat (adipose tissue). It is common to think of a person who is obese as someone who weighs too much. However, to fit the medical definition of obesity, the person's extra weight must come from having too much fat. A person can weigh more than what is thought to be healthy but not be obese. For example: 
A person may weigh too much because his or her body retains too much water (edema). While this is not a healthy situation, the person is not obese.
 
Some athletes, such as football players, may weigh more than what is normally considered a healthy weight, but their weight is due to muscle, not fat.

Until recently, a person was thought to be obese if he or she weighed at least 20% more than his or her ideal body weight. However, tables that give a person's ideal body weight based on his or her height (ideal body weight tables) are no longer commonly used by doctors. Ideal body weight tables have been replaced by the body mass index (BMI). The BMI is also based on your height and weight, but it gives a better (but not perfect) estimate than the older ideal body weight tables of whether a person has too much body fat. 

Many people in the United States have too much fat on their bodies. However, they may not have enough extra fat to be obese. The BMI can estimate whether you have a healthy weight, are overweight, or are so overweight that you are obese. 
People who have BMIs of 19 up to 24.9 are in a healthy weight range. 
People who have BMIs of 25 up to 29.9 are overweight. 
People who have BMIs of 30 or higher are obese. 
People's attitudes about the causes and treatment of obesity are changing as more is learned about the condition. People who are obese were once thought to lack self-control and have poor eating habits. While it is true that many Americans eat too much and exercise too little, recent research has shown that genetic factors also play a role in causing obesity. Because of this research, obesity is now thought to be an ongoing (chronic) disease. This means dieting once in a while is not enough to take care of the problem. Obesity must be treated for the rest of the person's life if it is to be controlled.

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