WHAT IS OBESITY?

• Overweight and obesity are defined as abnormal or

excessive fat accumulation that presents a risk to health.

• Obesity is a complex, multifactorial disease that

develops from the interaction between genotype and the
environment.

• Increased consumption of more energy-dense, nutrient

poor foods with high levels of sugar and saturated fats,
combined with reduced physical activity, have led to
obesity rates.

• The foods taken daily contribute to the well-being and

the nutrients needed for healthy bodies and the calories
needed for energy. If excess calories are consumed than
the calories burnt, the extra food turns to fat and is stored
in the body.

• If overeaten regularly, the weight of an individual

increase, and the condition precipitates to obesity.

• Obesity is traditionally defined as an increase in body

weight that is greater than 20 percent of an individual’s
ideal body weight—the weight is associated with the
 lowest risk of death, as determined by certain factors,
such as age, height, and gender.
• Based on the factors of obesity, overweight is defined as
a 15–20 percent increase over ideal body weight.

• Overweight and obesity are based primarily on measures

of height and weight—not morbidity.

• These measures are used to calculate a number known as

body mass index (BMI). This number is central to
determining whether an individual is clinically defined
as obese, parallels fatness but is not a direct measure
body fat.

• Interpretation of BMI numbers is based on weight status

groupings, such as underweight, healthy weight,
overweight, and obese.

• BMI numbers correlate to the same weight status

designations; for example, a BMI between 25.0 and 29.9
equates with overweight and 30.0 and above with
obesity. Morbid obesity (also known as extreme, or
severe, obesity) is defined as a BMI of 40.0 or higher.