Definition of Obesity

What Does It Really Mean To Be Overweight Or Obese? In their most basic form, the words "overweight" and "obese" are ways to describe excess body fat. The most widely used measure of weight status today is body mass index or BMI. BMI uses a simple calculation based on the relationship between a person's height and weight (BMI = kg/m2). Decades of research have shown that BMI provides a good estimate of “fat” and is also well correlated with important health outcomes such as heart disease, diabetes, cancer, and overall mortality. Healthy BMI Ranges for Adults and Children What Is A Healthy BMI? For adult men and women, a BMI between 18.5 and 24.9 is considered healthy. Overweight is defined as a BMI between 25.0 and 29.9, and a BMI of 30 or more is considered obese. As in adults, obesity is also a growing problem in children and adolescents. Because children grow at different rates depending on their age and gender, definitions of overweight and obesity in children and adolescents differ from those in adults. In children and adolescents between the ages of 2 and 20, a BMI between the 85th and 94th percentile for age and sex is considered overweight; a BMI in the 95th percentile or higher is considered obese. Waist Circumference Matters: Abdominal Obesity An important category of obesity that is not reflected in BMI is what is known as "abdominal obesity":