About Obesity

Obesity is an excess of total body fat. Medically speaking, a person is morbidly obese when he or she is so heavy that their fat tissue load creates damage to their health. The excess fat creating the health problem results from an intake of calories that exceeds the number of calories the body needs for the amount of activity undertaken.

Obesity is emerging as a health epidemic around the world and is particularly a problem in western countries. Obesity effects people across all demographic groups and has significant health and social implications. As an obese individual you can expect to experience an increased risk of diabetes, cardiac disease, high blood pressure, stroke, depression, joint problems and joint disease, cancer, asthma and breathing difficulties, and reduced life expectancy. For more information on the risks associated with being seriously overweight see Obesity Consequences. Surgery as a treatment for obesity is usually considered appropriate if the risk of the excess weight is greater than the risk of surgery.