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Everything about Overweight
Above a weight considered healthy
Being overweight is having more body fat than is considered healthy. The World Health Organization (WHO) classifies people as overweight when their body mass index (BMI)—a person's weight divided by the square of the person's height—is between 25–30 kg/m2; BMIs above 30 kg/m2 are defined as obese. Being overweight is especially common where food supplies are plentiful and lifestyles are sedentary. Wikipedia →
🧠Start here: a 6-step reading path
- Read the overview: OverweightA 5-minute orientation
- Skim a recent paper: Global, regional, and national prevalence of adult overweight and obesity, 1990–2021, with forecasts to 2050: a forecasting study for the Global Burden of Disease Study 2021Influential work since 2022
- Pick up a classic book: BlubberThe most-reprinted book on the subject
- Read the landmark paper: Establishing a standard definition for child overweight and obesity worldwide: international surveyCited 11,500 times
- Go sideways: Body mass indexA closely related topic
- Go sideways: Classification of obesityA closely related topic
đź“– Definitions
Adjective Having a higher weight, especially body fat, than what is generally considered healthy for a given body type and height.
Adjective Weighing more than what is allowed for safety or legal commerce.
Adjective Having a portfolio relatively heavily invested in.
Noun An excess of weight.
🗂️ The subject at a glance
🏆 Landmark papers (most cited)
Establishing a standard definition for child overweight and obesity worldwide: international survey
Global, regional, and national prevalence of overweight and obesity in children and adults during 1980–2013: a systematic analysis for the Global Burden of Disease Study 2013
Health Effects of Overweight and Obesity in 195 Countries over 25 Years
Maternal and child undernutrition and overweight in low-income and middle-income countries
Effect of intensive blood-glucose control with metformin on complications in overweight patients with type 2 diabetes (UKPDS 34)
Prevalence of Overweight and Obesity in the United States, 1999-2004
Overweight, Obesity, and Mortality from Cancer in a Prospectively Studied Cohort of U.S. Adults
Worldwide trends in body-mass index, underweight, overweight, and obesity from 1975 to 2016: a pooled analysis of 2416 population-based measurement studies in 128·9 million children, adolescents, and adults
🆕 Influential since 2022
Global, regional, and national prevalence of adult overweight and obesity, 1990–2021, with forecasts to 2050: a forecasting study for the Global Burden of Disease Study 2021
Effect of Weekly Subcutaneous Semaglutide vs Daily Liraglutide on Body Weight in Adults With Overweight or Obesity Without Diabetes
Two-year effects of semaglutide in adults with overweight or obesity: the STEP 5 trial
Global prevalence of non-alcoholic fatty liver disease and non-alcoholic steatohepatitis in the overweight and obese population: a systematic review and meta-analysis
Economic impacts of overweight and obesity: current and future estimates for 161 countries
đź“š Books worth reading
BlubberJudy Blume · 1972
Will Grayson, Will GraysonJohn Green, David Levithan · 2009
When Zachary Beaver Came to TownKimberly Willis Holt, Kimberly Willis Holt · 1999
Holding Up the UniverseJennifer Niven · 2016
The Fat Woman's JokeFay Weldon · 1967
She's come undoneWally Lamb · 1992
13 ways of looking at a fat girlMona Awad, Alicia Frieyro Gutiérrez · 2016
The upside of unrequitedBecky Albertalli · 2017
Ranked by number of editions on Open Library, a rough measure of how lasting a book is.
đź”— Related topics
- Body mass index Body mass index (BMI) is a value derived from the mass (weight) and height of a person. BMI is calculated as the body mass, in kilograms (kg), divided…
- Classification of obesity Obesity classification is a ranking of obesity, the medical condition in which excess body fat has accumulated to the extent that it has an adverse effect…
- Obesity Obesity is a medical condition, considered a disease by multiple organizations, in which excess body fat has accumulated to such an extent that it can…
- Childhood obesity Childhood obesity is a condition where excess body fat negatively affects a child's health or well-being. As methods to determine body fat directly are…
- Obesity paradox The obesity paradox is the finding in some studies of a lower mortality rate for overweight or obese people within certain subpopulations. The paradox…
- Social stigma of obesity Social stigma of obesity is bias or discriminatory behaviors targeted at overweight and obese individuals because of their weight and high body fat percentage…
- Body fat percentage The body fat percentage of an organism is the fraction of its body mass that is fat, given by the total mass of its fat divided by its total body mass;…
- Underweight Underweight is a term describing a person whose body weight is considered too low to be healthy. The definition usually refers to people with a body mass…