Obesity Defined
Overweight and obesity refer to an excess of total body fat. Overweight generally refers to a body mass index (BMI) between 25 and 30. Obese generally refers to a BMI > 30. Previously, obesity was thought to stem from an excess of eating and lack of exercise and shadowed by a stigma suggesting this discrepancy and resulting weight gain stemmed entirely from poor self-restraint or a lack of personal willpower. For those struggling with overweight and obesity, such myths have been fortunately debunked.
Since 1985 obesity has been recognized as a chronic medical condition caused by a complex set of inter-relating factors. Among those involved in the interplay include contributions from genetic, biological, psychological, social, cultural, and economic factors. Importantly, obesity is also now recognized in association with a multitude of serious health risks including type 2 diabetes, high cholesterol, high blood pressure, cardiovascular diseases, metabolic syndrome, sleep apnea, knee osteoarthritis, and more.
The good news is two-fold. First, under our guidance at Jumpstart, patients safely and comfortably achieve remarkable weight loss results they never thought previously possible. Second, many of the health risks associated with obesity are reversible or markedly improved by sustained significant weight loss. We can help.