Obesity Information

Sixty-six percent of U.S. adults are either overweight or obese. Thirty-four million are considered obese. Obesity is the most common form of malnutrition in the Western world, and some researchers consider it to be the second leading preventable cause of death in North America.

View WSTM (Channel 3) news story on obesity surgery

What is severe clinical obesity?

Severe clinical, or morbid obesity, is a chronic condition that is difficult to treat through dietary modification and exercise alone. It can be defined as being about 100 pounds over the “ideal weight” (for ideal body weight estimates, click here). To determine if someone is a candidate for surgery, we use a Body Mass Index (BMI) greater than 35 .

When a person becomes morbidly obese, lifestyle is compromised. Secondary illnesses related to severe obesity occur, such as high blood pressure, heart disease, diabetes, kidney failure, asthma, sleep apnea, heartburn, and esophageal and stomach cancer. These conditions put the severely obese person at risk for premature death. Pain from other conditions such as osteoarthritis and joint destruction are prevalent, and significantly impact one’s ability to function daily.

The ability to walk and move about decreases, along with the experience of enjoying life to the fullest. Social acceptance diminishes, and obese people begin to isolate themselves from others. They may become depressed. All of these issues become exaggerated because severely obese people have a very low probability of losing weight long term.

Obesity continues to increase in our country. The causes of obesity are complex and call for involvement from several fields of expertise, such as science, medicine, psychiatry, and behavioral medicine.