What Is Obesity?
Obesity is a term used to describe a person who has too much body fat, based on their height. Overweight can mean you have too much body fat and/or other factors, such as higher bone and muscle density.
The most commonly used measure of overweight and obesity is the Body Mass Index (BMI), which estimates body fat based on a person’s height and weight. It is important to know your BMI because it is an indicator of health risk. The higher your BMI and the more body fat you have means you are at higher risk developing the following health problems:
- Coronary heart disease
- Heart attack
- Blocked arteries
- Stroke
- High blood pressure
- Type 2 diabetes
- Certain cancers
There are many factors that determine your BMI, weight and body fat. This includes genetics and family history, environmental factors (such as where you live and work) and lifestyle behaviors. While factors like family history cannot be changed, there are many simple ways to begin to change your eating and physical activity behaviors to reduce your risk for health problems and disease.
The terms "overweight" and "obesity" refer to a person's overall body weight and whether it's too high. Overweight is having extra body weight from muscle, bone, fat, and/or water. Obesity is having a high amount of extra body fat. Source Fuente National Heart, Blood and Lung Institute, part of the National Institutes for Health and the U.S. Department of Health & Human Services.
The most common way to find out whether you're overweight or obese is to figure out your body mass index (BMI). BMI is an estimate of body fat, and it's a good gauge of your risk for diseases that occur with more body fat. The higher your BMI, the higher your risk of disease. Source Fuente National Heart, Blood and Lung Institute, part of the National Institutes for Health and the U.S. Department of Health & Human Services.
Being overweight is among the top three preventable factors for early death in the U.S. Source Source Harvard School of Public Health. “Press Release: Smoking, High Blood Pressure and Being Overweight Top Three Preventable Causes of Death in U.S.,” April 27, 2009. March 24, 2011.
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