Obesity

Obesity is a chronic disease characterized by excessive body fat accumulation, posing significant health risks, including heart disease, diabetes, and some types of cancer. Obesity can cause shortness of breath, fatigue, joint and back pain, difficulty with physical activity, and low self-esteem. Treatments for obesity involve lifestyle changes like following a healthy diet, exercise, managing stress, and prioritizing sleep. Sometimes medication or surgery may be needed.

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What Causes Obesity?
overweight woman standing on scale in living room
What Causes Obesity?
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Common Questions & Answers

What causes obesity?
A number of factors can cause obesity, including genetics, an unhealthy diet, hormonal imbalance, and lack of exercise. Chronic stress, poor sleep, certain medications, and health conditions like metabolic syndrome and polycystic ovary syndrome can also contribute to weight gain.
Health risks of obesity include high blood pressure, high cholesterol, heart disease, diabetes, liver disease, sleep apnea, and certain cancers.

Obesity is diagnosed by calculating body mass index (BMI) — a measure of weight relative to height. Waist circumference, muscle mass, fat distribution, and other health factors may also be considered.

Lifestyle changes like a balanced diet, regular physical activity, prioritizing sleep, and managing stress can help with obesity.
Some medications can treat obesity, though they are typically used when lifestyle changes haven’t worked. The FDA has approved six drugs for long-term weight management: orlistat (Xenical, Alli), phentermine-topiramate (Qsymia), naltrexone-bupropion (Contrave), liraglutide (Saxenda), semaglutide (Wegovy), and tirzepatide (Zepbound).
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Resources
  1. Obesity. Cleveland Clinic. September 10, 2024.