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Obesity is defined as having a body mass index (BMI) greater than or equal to 30 kg/m 2, and in June 2013 the American Medical Association classified it as a disease. [5] In countries of the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD), one child out of five is overweight or obese. [6]
The AMA officially recognized obesity as a disease in 2013 in an attempt to change how the medical community approaches the issue. [69] In 2015, the AMA declared there is no medically valid reason to exclude transgender individuals from serving in the U.S. military. The Human Rights Campaign lauded the decision. [70]
Obesity increases a person's risk of developing various metabolic diseases, cardiovascular disease, osteoarthritis, Alzheimer disease, depression, and certain types of cancer. [36] Depending on the degree of obesity and the presence of comorbid disorders, obesity is associated with an estimated 2–20 year shorter life expectancy.
The United States spends $1.5 billion on nutrition research every year compared to around $60 billion on drug research. Just 4 percent of agricultural subsidies go to fruits and vegetables. No wonder that the healthiest foods can cost up to eight times more, calorie for calorie, than the unhealthiest—or that the gap gets wider every year.
Share of adults that are obese, 1975 to 2016. Obesity is common in the United States and is a major health issue associated with numerous diseases, specifically an increased risk of certain types of cancer, coronary artery disease, type 2 diabetes, stroke, and cardiovascular disease, as well as significant increases in early mortality and economic costs. [1]
Overweight and obesity pose many potential risks and consequences: psychological; cardiovascular disease; among additional risks including asthma, hepatic steatosis, sleep apnea, and type 2 diabetes. [18] Today nearly one in five children in the U.S. between ages 6–19 are obese, and one in three are overweight.
Overweight is defined as a BMI of 25 or more, thus it includes pre-obesity defined as a BMI between 25 and 29.9 and obesity as defined by a BMI of 30 or more. [ 4 ] [ 5 ] Pre-obese and overweight however are often used interchangeably, thus giving overweight a common definition of a BMI of between 25 and 29.9.
Research to date has produced conflicting results with respect to cardiovascular disease and mortality. [16] MHO individuals are at a higher risk of cardiovascular disease compared to metabolically healthy non-obese individuals, but they are also at a lower risk thereof than individuals who are both unhealthy and obese.