Obesity is a BMI greater than or equal to 30. Dietary modification and decreased physical activity are believed to be the two most important causes of the recent increase in the rate of obesity.
Obesity
is also associated with some types of cancer, such as endometrial, breast, ovarian, prostate, liver, gallbladder, kidney and colon cancers. The National Institute of Health (NIH) now uses BMI to define a person as underweight, normal weight, overweight or obese, rather than the traditional comparison between height and obesity.The vast majority of children who are overweight or obese live in developing countries, where the rate of increase has been more than 30% higher than in developed countries. Normal-weight obesity is a condition of having a normal body weight but high percentages of body fat, with the same health risks as obesity. Obesity classification is a classification of obesity, the medical condition in which excess body fat has accumulated to the point of having an adverse effect on health. Although various classifications and definitions of degrees of obesity are accepted, the most widely accepted are those of the World Health Organisation (WHO), based on BMI.
The cut-off points underestimate the risk of obesity in Asian and South Asian populations, so their classification is slightly altered. There are several means of measuring obesity, but the most widely used method for measuring and identifying obesity is the Body Mass Index (BMI). Obesity due to melanocortin 4 receptor (MC4R) deficiency is associated with increased linear growth and final height, fasting hyperinsulinaemia and incomplete growth hormone secretion. Studies have shown that, without intervention, children and adolescents with obesity are likely to remain obese into adulthood.
Roundtable on Obesity Solutions, Food and Nutrition Board, Division of Health and Medicine, National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine. Association of changes in body mass index during early and later adulthood with circulating obesity biomarker concentrations in middle-aged men and women. A controlled pharmacogenetic trial of sibutramine on weight loss and body composition in overweight and obese adults. Despite the increasing prevalence of overweight and obesity in children, responses to address the range of the problem are inadequate in many countries.
Obesity is a medical condition in which a large amount of body fat increases the likelihood of developing medical problems.
