What does obese means?

Answer 1

Simply stated: Obesity means having too much body fat. It is being too overweight and it is unhealthy. Some define it as being 20 percent over the ideal body weight for their stature.

Technically speaking in the medical community: Obesity is a condition where there is excess body weight due to an abnormal accumulation of fat. Defined objectively as a Body Mass Index (BMI) of 30 or more, obesity is associated with markedly increased health risks.

The BMI test is the medically accepted method of determining presence of obesity. It is the most accurate measurement to take into account probable differences in bone weight versus muscle weight versus the weight associated strictly with fat. It is not a perfect measure, but it is the industry standard, as its formula makes it certainly accurate enough to determine presence of increased health risk.

In some demographic groups like the elderly, very muscular people like weight lifters, and of course pregnant women it is less accurate since the tissue composition present in those patients is not of the average density, e.g., the low density bone common in the elderly and higher density muscle in athletes. As is obvious, the mix of tissue types in a pregnant woman's body is also not "average". But the BMI is accurate enough to give cause for concern and lifestyle changes based on those results.

Some of the many increased serious health risks associated with obesity are:

• Heart disease and heart attacks
• Strokes and high blood pressure
• Colon cancer (now associated with excess fat consumption in the diet)
• Degenerative Joint Disease (Arthritis), sometimes crippling and leading to a need for joint replacement
• Diabetes Mellitus (high blood sugars), with a long list of related complications in the circulatory (heart), renal (kidney), neurological (nerves), retinal (visual) systems and with Infectious Diseases and problems with healing.
• Depression (obese patients are typically inactive which can lead to increased incidences of chronic clinical depression that could be treated and greatly improved with exercise).

Answer 2

Simply stated: Obesity means having too much body fat. It is being too overweight and it is unhealthy. Some define it as being 20 percent over the ideal body weight for their stature.

Technically speaking in the medical community: Obesity is a condition where there is excess body weight due to an abnormal accumulation of fat. Defined objectively as a Body Mass Index (BMI) of 30 or more, obesity is associated with markedly increased health risks.

The BMI test is the medically accepted method of determining presence of obesity. It is the most accurate measurement to take into account probable differences in bone weight versus muscle weight versus the weight associated strictly with fat. It is not a perfect measure, but it is the industry standard, as its formula makes it certainly accurate enough to determine presence of increased health risk.

In some demographic groups like the elderly, very muscular people like weight lifters, and of course pregnant women it is less accurate since the tissue composition present in those patients is not of the average density, e.g., the low density bone common in the elderly and higher density muscle in athletes. As is obvious, the mix of tissue types in a pregnant woman's body is also not "average". But the BMI is accurate enough to give cause for concern and lifestyle changes based on those results.

Some of the many increased serious health risks associated with obesity are:

• Heart disease and heart attacks
• Strokes and high blood pressure
• Colon cancer (now associated with excess fat consumption in the diet)
• Degenerative Joint Disease (Arthritis), sometimes crippling and leading to a need for joint replacement
• Diabetes Mellitus (high blood sugars), with a long list of related complications in the circulatory (heart), renal (kidney), neurological (nerves), retinal (visual) systems and with Infectious Diseases and problems with healing.
• Depression (obese patients are typically inactive which can lead to increased incidences of chronic clinical depression that could be treated and greatly improved with exercise).