Abstract

A disorder involving excessive body fat that increases the risk of health problems.

Obesity often results from taking in more calories than are burned by exercise and normal daily activities. Obesity occurs when a person's body mass index is 25 or greater. The excessive body fat increases the risk of serious health problems. The mainstay of treatment is lifestyle changes such as diet and exercise. Obesity occurs when a person's body mass index is 25 or greater. The excessive body fat increases the risk of serious health problems Pain areas: in the back or joints Also common: overweight, binge eating, fatigue, pot belly, or snoring.
Obesity is generally caused by eating too much and moving too little. If you consume high amounts of energy, particularly fat and sugars, but do not burn off the energy through exercise and physical activity, much of the surplus energy will be stored by the body as fat.

Facts about overweight and obesity. Some recent WHO global estimates follow.
In 2016, more than 1.9 billion adults aged 18 years and older were overweight. Of these over 650 million adults were obese.
In 2016, 39% of adults aged 18 years and over (39% of men and 40% of women) were overweight.
Overall, about 13% of the world’s adult population (11% of men and 15% of women) were obese in 2016.
The worldwide prevalence of obesity nearly tripled between 1975 and 2016.
In 2019, an estimated 38.2 million children under the age of 5 years were overweight or obese. Once considered a high-income country problem, overweight and obesity are now on the rise in low- and middle-income countries, particularly in urban settings. In Africa, the number of overweight children under 5 has increased by nearly 24% percent since 2000. Almost half of the children under 5 who were overweight or obese in 2019 lived in Asia.
Over 340 million children and adolescents aged 5-19 were overweight or obese in 2016.The prevalence of overweight and obesity among children and adolescents aged 5-19 has risen dramatically from just 4% in 1975 to just over 18% in 2016. The rise has occurred similarly among both boys and girls: in 2016 18% of girls and 19% of boys were overweight.
While just under 1% of children and adolescents aged 5-19 were obese in 1975, more 124 million children and adolescents (6% of girls and 8% of boys) were obese in 2016.
Overweight and obesity are linked to more deaths worldwide than underweight. Globally there are more people who are obese than underweight – this occurs in every region except parts of sub-Saharan Africa and Asia.