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Obesity

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Summary

What is obesity?

Obesity is a disease that means having too much body fat. It is different from being overweight, which means weighing too much. Both terms mean that your weight is greater than what's considered healthy for your height.

Body Mass Index (BMI) measures how much you weigh compared to how tall you are. An adult who has a BMI of 30 or more is considered to have obesity. Severe obesity is having a BMI of 40 or higher. Obesity increases your risk for many other diseases and health problems, especially if the extra body fat is carried around the waist.

What raises your risk of obesity?

Obesity happens over time from taking in more calories (through food and drinks) than used up from physical activity and daily living. Your body stores the extra calories as fat. The right balance between calories and activity is different for everyone.

There are many different factors that can affect your body weight. Certain medicines or medical conditions may affect your weight. Other factors include your:

Genetic makeup
Eating habits
Sex
Race or ethnicity
Physical activity level

How is obesity diagnosed?

To find out if you have obesity, your health care provider may:

Ask about your health history, which may include reviewing your weight history, weight-loss efforts, and how physically active you are.
Do a physical exam, which may include checking your height, weight, and vital signs, as well as listening to your heart and lungs.
Order blood tests or other imaging tests, which may include checking any known health problems, as well as for other weight-related diseases and health conditions.
Calculate your BMI, to check your risk for certain diseases. The higher your BMI, the higher your risk. BMI does not distinguish between fat, muscle, and bone mass. It may also overestimate body fat in athletes or those with a muscular build, or underestimate body fat in older persons, or others who have lost muscle.
Check your waist size, since a large waistline, with more body fat around your abdomen (belly) rather than your hips, increases your risk for weight-related health problems.

What health problems can obesity cause?

Having a larger body size can make your heart work harder, put extra pressure on your joints, and may increase your risk for many health conditions, including:

If you have obesity, losing even 5 to 10% of your weight can delay or prevent some of these diseases. For example, that means losing 10 to 20 pounds if you weigh 200 pounds.

What are the treatments for obesity?

Treatment plans for obesity may depend on your overall weight, other health conditions, and your willingness to participate in a weight-loss plan.

Your provider can tell you what a healthy weight is for you, help you set goals, and give you tips on how to lose weight. They may refer you to other providers that specialize in nutrition or weight loss to help you make realistic goals and provide support.

Possible treatments may include:

Dietary changes and exercise goals to help you learn how to adopt healthy nutrition, exercise, and lifestyle changes to lose weight safely and keep it off long term.
Counseling or support groups can give you encouragement and help you understand what's behind weight changes.
Weight-loss medicines to treat obesity.
Weight loss procedures or surgery if you have severe obesity or serious obesity-related health problems and have not been able to lose enough weight.

A healthy lifestyle that includes healthy eating patterns and regular physical activity can help you lose weight and lower your chance of developing complications related to obesity.

NIH: National Institute of Diabetes and Digestive and Kidney Diseases

Start Here

About Obesity (Centers for Disease Control and Prevention)
Obesity (Endocrine Society)
Obesity (Mayo Foundation for Medical Education and Research)
What Are Overweight and Obesity? (National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute) Also in Spanish

Diagnosis and Tests

Bioimpedance Scale (Johns Hopkins Medicine)
Body Mass Index Table (National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute)
How Well Does Body Mass Index Correlate with Excess Fat? (Harvard Medical School)
Obesity Screening (National Library of Medicine) Also in Spanish

Prevention and Risk Factors

Heart-Healthy Living - Aim for a Healthy Weight (National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute)
Overweight and Obesity: Causes and Risk Factors (National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute)
Staying Active at Any Size (National Institute of Diabetes and Digestive and Kidney Diseases) Also in Spanish
Weight Management and Healthy Living Tips (National Institute of Diabetes and Digestive and Kidney Diseases)

Treatments and Therapies

Obesity and Exercise (Obesity Medicine Association)
Understanding the Dietary Inflammatory Index and Its Uses (Obesity Medicine Association)
Weight Control: MedlinePlus Health Topic (National Library of Medicine) Also in Spanish
Weight Loss Surgery: MedlinePlus Health Topic (National Library of Medicine) Also in Spanish

Related Issues

Disability and Obesity (Centers for Disease Control and Prevention) Also in Spanish
Obesity and Anesthesia (American Society of Anesthesiologists)
Obesity and Cancer (National Cancer Institute) Also in Spanish
Obesity and Hypertension: Mechanisms, Risks, and Treatment (Obesity Medicine Association)
Obesity and Sleep Apnea: Understanding the Connection (Obesity Medicine Association)
Obesity and Your Digestive Health (American College of Gastroenterology) - PDF

Specifics

Health Risks of Overweight and Obesity (National Institute of Diabetes and Digestive and Kidney Diseases) Also in Spanish
Obesity (American Psychological Association) Also in Spanish
Obesity Hypoventilation Syndrome (National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute) Also in Spanish
Sarcopenic Obesity: Causes, Diagnosis and Treatment (Obesity Medicine Association)

Genetics

Congenital leptin deficiency: MedlinePlus Genetics (National Library of Medicine)
Leptin receptor deficiency: MedlinePlus Genetics (National Library of Medicine)
Proopiomelanocortin deficiency: MedlinePlus Genetics (National Library of Medicine)

Health Check Tools

Adult BMI Calculator (Centers for Disease Control and Prevention) Also in Spanish
Calculate Your BMI (National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute)

Test Your Knowledge

Test Your Weight Loss Knowledge (Medical Encyclopedia) Also in Spanish
Weight Loss Myths & Facts Quiz (Medical Encyclopedia) Also in Spanish

Statistics and Research

Adult Obesity Prevalence Maps (Centers for Disease Control and Prevention)
Diet--Not a Lack of Exercise--Is Main Driver of Obesity, Study Finds (Harvard School of Public Health)
FastStats: Obesity and Overweight (National Center for Health Statistics)
Obesity and Severe Obesity Prevalence in Adults: United States, August 2021--August 2023 (Centers for Disease Control and Prevention)
Overweight and Obesity Statistics (National Institute of Diabetes and Digestive and Kidney Diseases)

Clinical Trials

ClinicalTrials.gov: Obesity (National Institutes of Health)
ClinicalTrials.gov: Overweight (National Institutes of Health)

Journal Articles References and abstracts from MEDLINE/PubMed (National Library of Medicine)

Find an Expert

Find a Nutrition Expert (Academy of Nutrition and Dietetics)
National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute
National Institute of Diabetes and Digestive and Kidney Diseases

Children

Heart-Healthy Living - For Children (National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute)
Obesity in Children: MedlinePlus Health Topic (National Library of Medicine) Also in Spanish

Teenagers

Dealing with Feelings When You're Overweight (Nemours Foundation) Also in Spanish

Men

Belly Fat in Men: Why Weight Loss Matters (Mayo Foundation for Medical Education and Research) Also in Spanish

Women

Belly Fat in Women: Taking -- and Keeping -- It off (Mayo Foundation for Medical Education and Research) Also in Spanish
Pregnancy and Obesity: Know the Risks (Mayo Foundation for Medical Education and Research)
Weight and Obesity (Department of Health and Human Services, Office on Women's Health)

Older Adults

Obesity Care and Treatment (National Council on Aging)

Patient Handouts

Body mass index (Medical Encyclopedia) Also in Spanish
Health risks of obesity (Medical Encyclopedia) Also in Spanish
Obesity (Medical Encyclopedia) Also in Spanish
Obesity hypoventilation syndrome (OHS) (Medical Encyclopedia) Also in Spanish

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MEDICAL ENCYCLOPEDIA

National Institutes of Health

The primary NIH organization for research on Obesity is the National Institute of Diabetes and Digestive and Kidney Diseases

Disclaimers

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