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Obesity is a common health concern among various nations although it is more widely manifested in highly industrialized countries. Statistics show that over thirty percent of Americans are obese and there have been a lot of studies conducted on this issue and the most dominant causes of this illness. It has already been considered a medical condition that merits innovative treatment methods. In fact, there are specific researches that are geared towards finding a more sustainable medication for this problem. And if the increasing number of overweight people is any indication, it seems that the world is in dire need of this medication as soon as possible.

Simply put, obesity is defined in terms of the individual’s body mass index (BMI). At this point, it’s important to clearly differentiate obesity from overweight. An overweight individual will have a BMI of 25-29.9 while one who is obese will have 30 or higher. Overweight generally means that you are heavier for your height. Obesity is more of a medical condition with being radically overweight as one of the symptoms.

Waist circumference

Aside from BMI, there is one other way of defining this condition. Waist circumference is another measure used to determine whether a person is obese or not. In this definition, the waist-hip ratio (or the ratio of the circumference of your waist to your hips) is used. For women, a WHR of 0.9 is considered healthy while 0.9 is the recommended measurement for men. For some experts, they are more inclined to use WHR for defining obesity because this takes into consideration the body’s fat distribution and other key indicators of cardiovascular complications.

Body fat measurement

When speaking of obesity, it is also important to include a measure of body fat distribution. Studies show that men with more than twenty-five percent body fat are obese. With women, those who have thirty percent more body fat are diagnosed with this condition. The only complaint about this measure is that there really is no way to accurately determine body fat composition. The most common methods used by specialist include the underwater weighing test and the skinfold test. The former is restricted to laboratories and clinics with state-of-the-art equipment. The latter is much simpler as it only entails measuring a pinch of skin to determine the thickness of your subcutaneous fat layer.

Increased risks for the obese

Obesity is a condition that can lead to more serious health issues including the development of heart diseases, diabetes and sleep apnea. This is one reason why it’s important to address this condition on the onset.