Today, 97 million Americans – nearly 70% of American adults – are overweight or obese. According to the National Institutes of Health, excess weight becomes a health risk if you are 20 percent heavier than your ideal body weight.
Are you morbidly obese?
You’re likely to be morbidly obese if any of the following conditions apply:
- You’re more than 100 pounds over your ideal body weight.
- Your Body Mass Index, or BMI, is greater than 40.
- Your BMI is 35 and you’re experiencing severe negative health effects related to your weight, such as high blood pressure or diabetes.
- You’re unable to achieve a healthy body weight for a sustained period of time, even with medically supervised dieting.
Resources
The more you know about your health, the better choices, and changes, you can make. Please use the following educational resources to learn more about obesity – what causes it, how it can harm your health and how to best reach and maintain a healthy weight.
- Calculate your BMI.
- Understand the causes of obesity.
- Know the health risks associated with obesity.
- Review weight loss tips.