What is Obesity

Obesity refers to an excess of body fat which results in a vital impairment of health. It is an early sign of a spectrum of different disorders, environmental or genetic. As the number of fat cells in a person's body increases, chances of becoming obese also strengthens. A normal sized person has 30 to 35 billion fat cells. When the person begins to gain weight the fat cells increase in size and in number. A pound of body fat represents about 3500 calories.

Listed are some of the basic health related jargons

Clinically severe obesity
It is a condition in which patients are at a risk of suffering serious medical problems some times resulting in death.

Overweight
A person with a BMI of 25 to 29.99

Obese
The condition of being obese refers to a person with a BMI of 30 or greater

BMI
BMI is a common method of evaluating people to see if they are under or overweight. It compares weight to the height, dividing the weight measurement by the square of the height.

The 1998 Clinical Guidelines on the Identification, Evaluation and Treatment of Overweight and Obesity in Adults, developed by the National Heart, Lung and Blood Institute, recommend the following classifications for BMI:

	CLASS
Underweight		BMI less than 18.5
Healthy weight		BMI between 18.5 - 24.99
Overweight		BMI between 25.0 - 29.99
Obese	I	BMI between 30.0 - 34.99
Obese	II	BMI between 35 - 39.99
Morbid Obesity	III	BMI greater than 40

Healthy range of Body Fat

Age	Healthy body fat range[m]	Healthy body fat range[f]
18-39	8-19%	21-32%
40-59	11-21%	23-33%
60-79	13-24%	24-35%