Johns Hopkins University researchers have found that nearly all adults identified as having obesity based on body mass index (BMI) also had confirmed excess adiposity.
Johns Hopkins University-led research has found that obesity, particularly severe obesity, is strongly associated with the incidence of 16 common health outcomes. Associations remained consistent across sex and racial groups. ...
The mammalian immune system is an evolutionary wonder. It's capable of recognizing and destroying cancer cells, and it can deploy armies of antibodies against viruses, bacteria, parasites and fungi.
Children's Hospital of Philadelphia, the University of Pennsylvania, Harvard Medical School and the Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health found no significant changes in pediatric weight outcomes two years after implementing ...
A study by the University of Pennsylvania and researchers from 26 U.S. children's hospitals has linked elevated body mass index (BMI) to a significantly higher risk of developing post-acute sequelae of SARS-CoV-2 infection ...
Disrupted connections between memory and appetite regulating brain circuits are directly proportional to body mass index (BMI), notably in patients who suffer from disordered or overeating that can lead to obesity, such as ...
Aug 30, 2023
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A combined team of medical scientists from Huazhong University of Science and Technology and Hubei University of Medicine, both in China, has found that the ratio of people living in the U.S. with "metabolically healthy obesity" ...
A study finds that factors beyond a person's control, like socioeconomic status and whether their mom smoked or was obese, can influence whether they are overweight or obese as teenagers or adults. Glenna Nightingale of the ...
Mar 26, 2025
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A large majority of older Americans feel that health insurance—including Medicare—should cover anti-obesity medications, according to a new University of Michigan study.
Mar 26, 2025
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Researchers studying British Labrador retrievers have identified multiple genes associated with canine obesity and shown that these genes are also associated with obesity in humans. The results are published in the journal ...
Mar 6, 2025
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Obesity is a medical condition in which excess body fat has accumulated to the extent that it may have an adverse effect on health, leading to reduced life expectancy and/or increased health problems. Body mass index (BMI), a measurement which compares weight and height, defines people as overweight (pre-obese) if their BMI is between 25 and 30 kg/m2, and obese when it is greater than 30 kg/m2.
Obesity increases the likelihood of various diseases, particularly heart disease, type 2 diabetes, obstructive sleep apnea, certain types of cancer, and osteoarthritis. Obesity is most commonly caused by a combination of excessive food energy intake, lack of physical activity, and genetic susceptibility, although a few cases are caused primarily by genes, endocrine disorders, medications or psychiatric illness. Evidence to support the view that some obese people eat little yet gain weight due to a slow metabolism is limited; on average obese people have a greater energy expenditure than their thin counterparts due to the energy required to maintain an increased body mass.
Dieting and physical exercise are the mainstays of treatment for obesity. Moreover, it is important to improve diet quality by reducing the consumption of energy-dense foods such as those high in fat and sugars, and by increasing the intake of dietary fiber. To supplement this, or in case of failure, anti-obesity drugs may be taken to reduce appetite or inhibit fat absorption. In severe cases, surgery is performed or an intragastric balloon is placed to reduce stomach volume and/or bowel length, leading to earlier satiation and reduced ability to absorb nutrients from food.
Obesity is a leading preventable cause of death worldwide, with increasing prevalence in adults and children, and authorities view it as one of the most serious public health problems of the 21st century. Obesity is stigmatized in much of the modern world (particularly in the Western world), though it was widely perceived as a symbol of wealth and fertility at other times in history, and still is in some parts of the world.
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