Weight Loss & Obesity Medical Reference

Think you might be obese or overweight? Learn the basics on finding out where you are, and how to get -- and stay -- where you want to be.

Maintaining a healthy weight not only makes you feel good -- it can literally save your life. Learn about 10 major health conditions that are caused by, or linked to, obesity.

ByHealthwise StaffPrimary Medical ReviewerAdam Husney, MD - Family MedicineSpecialist Medical ReviewerRhonda O'Brien, MS, RD, CDE - Certified Diabetes EducatorLast RevisedMay 17, 2012

A list of contributors to the topic on Dawn's Story: From Dieting to Healthy Eating Habits.

Your body needs a certain number of calories each day for you to function and keep doing your daily activities. After your body meets its needs,it stores extra calories as fat. Your weight remains steady when your body takes in the same amount of calories that it burns. To lose weight,you have to use up more calories than you take in. Here are some tips for cutting back on calories: Fill up ...

A new mind-set Dawn is no stranger to dieting. Over the years,she followed many different weight-loss plans. Each plan worked for a while,but eventually she would go back to her old eating habits and her weight would go back up. She says that with dieting "There is a mind-set that this is a diet. And when I get to my goal weight,then I don't have to do the diet anymore." She found that ...

Dieting is hard. But avoiding empty calories helps you reach a healthy weight without feeling like you're dieting.Your body needs a certain amount of energy each day. Energy comes from food in the form of calories. Calories let you function and keep doing your daily activities. But after your body meets its needs, it stores extra calories as fat. Most of us get plenty of calories in our diet—often too many.Foods with empty calories have lots of calories but very few nutrients like vitamins and minerals. Convenience foods, like packaged snacks, chips, and sodas, are common sources of empty calories. Nutrient-rich foods, on the other hand, have a lot more nutrients in relation to their calories. A few examples are vegetables, peanut butter, bran cereal with fruit, and fish.Tips for avoiding empty caloriesInstead of this:Choose this:Sugar-sweetened drinks like soda, energy drinks, and sweetened coffee drinksWater, no-sugar-added fruit juices, tea or coffee, tomato juice, and other

Picture of apple-shaped and pear-shaped body fat distribution; Body fat distribution varies. Some people may be apple-shaped and carry most of their excess body fat around the stomach. Other people may be pear-shaped and carry most of their excess body fat around the hips,buttocks,and thighs. You can check to see if you are apple- or pear-shaped by dividing your waist measurement by your hip measurement. This will give you your waist-to-hip ratio. ...

What is weight-loss surgery?Weight loss surgery helps people lose weight. There are two types of surgeries. They can be restrictive or a combination of restrictive and malabsorptive.Restrictive: This type of surgery makes the stomach smaller. It limits the amount of food the stomach can hold. Malabsorptive: This surgery changes the path of the intestine. Food goes around (or bypasses) part of the intestine. Since nutrients are normally absorbed in the intestine, bypassing a part of it reduces how much it can absorb. This can lead to weight loss. Weight-loss surgery is usually only done if your body mas index (BMI) is at least 40. Surgery may also be an option if your BMI is at least 35 and you have other health problems related to your weight, such as type 2 diabetes that is hard to control with diet, exercise, and medicine. With a BMI of at least 35 or higher, surgery may be done if you have tried for at least 6 months to lose weight with diet and exercise. Weight-loss surgery is

AuthorEllie RodgersAuthorCynthia TankEditorGeri MetzgerAssociate EditorTerrina VailPrimary Medical ReviewerAdam Husney, MD - Family MedicinePrimary Medical ReviewerCaroline S. Rhoads, MD - Internal MedicinePrimary Medical ReviewerKathleen Romito, MD - Family MedicineSpecialist Medical ReviewerWilliam Jody Wilkinson, MD, MS - Weight/FitnessLast UpdatedMay 27, 2005 ...

Health Tools help you make wise health decisions or take action to improve your health.Interactive tools are designed to help people determine health risks, ideal weight, target heart rate, and more.Interactive Tool: Do Your BMI and Waist Size Increase Your Health Risks?Interactive Tool: What Is Your Child's BMI?

Treatment for obesity will be most successful if you create a long - term plan with your doctor. A reasonable goal might be to begin making lifestyle changes by increasing physical activity and limiting calories.Your initial goal should be to improve your health, not to achieve an ideal weight. Although the “formula” for weight loss-to burn more calories than you take in-is not complicated, it

What helps one person lose weight may not work for you. You need to find the right balance of eating and physical activity that you can stick with or a program that works with your lifestyle.A recent study suggests that the type of diet you follow is less important than choosing one that you can stay with. Most diets or programs can help you lose weight initially. But you will lose more and have .

Most weight - loss medicines for obesity work by making you feel less hungry or making you feel full sooner. They are used together with diet and exercise.Medicine is generally only used for those who have a body mass index (BMI) of 30 or higher. However, they sometimes are used for those with a BMI of 27 or higher who are at risk for high blood pressure, high cholesterol, coronary artery disease,

How obesity affects your health depends on many things, including your age, gender, where you carry your body fat, and how physically active you are. For example, if you are an older woman who gets regular physical activity, you may be at less risk for other weight - related health problems than a younger man who is not physically active.Risk for diseasesIf you are obese, you are more likely to ..

Children Doctors weigh children at routine checkups. They plot measurements on a growth chart to see how your child compares physically to other children of the same age. Doctors update the chart at each routine exam to document your child's growth pattern. "Overweight" and "obese" are terms sometimes used when referring to children who weigh more than expected. Doctors use growth charts or ...

CitationsNational Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute, National Institutes of Health (2000). The Practical Guide: Identification, Evaluation, and Treatment of Overweight and Obesity in Adults (NIH Publication No. 00 - 4084). Available online: http://www.nhlbi.nih.gov/guidelines/obesity/prctgd_c.pdf. American Gastroenterological Association (2002). AGA technical review on obesity. Gastroenterology, ..

A list of resources for information on Screening for Weight Problems.

Obesity is a complex disease for which no single cause or cure exists. You gain weight when you take in more calories than you burn off. But obesity is influenced by many other factors as well: family history, the type of work you do, race, and environment. Overeating is easy in our culture today. Portions at fast - food and other restaurants are "supersized" to the point that one meal can provide

Surgery may be an option if you have a body mass index (BMI) of 40 or more. (Use the Interactive Tool: Weight and Health Risks to calculate your BMI.) It may also be an option if you have a BMI of 35 and another health problem related to your weight, such as diabetes or arthritis. The goal of surgery is to cause significant weight loss. This should reduce obesity - related health problems, ...

Along with a regular medical checkup, you may have some tests to monitor your health. Your doctor may want to do blood tests to check for type 2 diabetes, thyroid or liver problems, and high cholesterol or high triglyceride levels. Your doctor will check your blood pressure, ask about any medicines you are taking and discuss your medical history and your family's medical history. He or she will ..

Research shows the following health benefits for weight loss:Weight loss may improve survival in those who have an obesity - related disease, especially type 2 diabetes.2A modest weight loss of to resulted in a significant lowering of blood pressure.7People with asthma who lost an average of over 1 year showed improved lung function and overall health, and with weight loss, the number of severe ..

What is obesity?Being obese means having so much body fat that your health is in danger. Having too much body fat can lead to type 2 diabetes, heart disease, high blood pressure, arthritis, sleep apnea, and stroke.Because of these risks, it is important to lose weight even if you do not feel bad now. It is hard to change eating habits and exercise habits. But you can do it if you make a plan. How

WebMD describes some of the sneaky reasons it's hard to drop pounds, like skipping breakfast or not getting enough sleep.

ByHealthwise StaffPrimary Medical ReviewerAnne C. Poinier, MD - Internal MedicineSpecialist Medical ReviewerRhonda O'Brien, MS, RD, CDE - Certified Diabetes EducatorCurrent as ofMarch 12, 2014