Obesity: epidemiology, diagnosis, complications
Big picture
Obesity is a chronic, relapsing, multifactorial disease characterized by excess adipose tissue that impairs health. For the Internal Medicine exam, obesity is important because it is not only “increased body weight”; it is a major driver of:
Insulin resistance → type 2 diabetes mellitus → metabolic syndrome → hypertension → dyslipidemia → atherosclerosis → fatty liver disease → sleep apnea → osteoarthritis → cancer risk.
The examiner usually wants four things:
- Define obesity using body mass index.
- Classify obesity severity.
- Recognize android/visceral obesity as more dangerous than gynoid obesity.
- List systemic complications.
WHO defines overweight and obesity as abnormal or excessive fat accumulation that presents a health risk; BMI >25 kg/m² is overweight and BMI ≥30 kg/m² is obesity. Worldwide, obesity has increased markedly, and WHO reported that about 16% of adults were obese in 2022. ([World Health Organization][1])
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