Obesity is classified according to body mass index (or BMI) as



Obesity has been under-diagnosed or misdiagnosed in and by millions of people. Children, teenagers, and adults are obese and their condition has not been considered and approached as a disease. The worst part is that these people go to medical offices with primary care physicians, and even specialists, who treat their aches, symptoms and complications, without correcting or even diagnosing the underlying cause, which is obesity. If you are overweight or obese, how many times have you heard from your doctor: “You need help!”. Obesity is a progressive, chronic disease and is a disease that predisposes to at least 40 aches, symptoms, diseases and their complications, 12 of which are lethal. If you don’t lose weight, sooner or later you are going to develop one or several complications, and die sooner than you think! Maybe that is the reason! With so many things to go bad, you will constantly require a doctor, for one complication or another, and you represent a constant income.

Obesity can be classified in several ways. Considering its onset, it is classified as childhood (lifelong), or adult onset obesity. In terms of the distribution of the excess of body fat, it can be upper body obesity (shoulder girdle, or trunkal), or lower body obesity (pelvic girdle). However, for prognosis and therapeutic considerations, obesity is classified according to body mass index (or BMI) as Class I (moderate), Class II (severe), and Class III (lethal). A BMI between 25 and 29 is considered to be overweight, except in persons with a height of 5ft (150cm) or less, where Class I obesity is reached with a BMI of 27 and Class III at a BMI of 35 (instead of 40). There is no single ratio of increased weight to height, or a fixed body mass index (BMI) or age at which we can say that the associated diseases that will limit life and shorten it, begin. Obviously the higher the BMI is, the greater the risk of developing disease and its complications, and the sooner obesity is corrected, the more associated diseases will be avoided and prevented.

Even this classification is subjective. Some people in Class I experience the aches, symptoms, and complications associated with Class II or Class III, while some Class III patients have developed none. This last example is closely related to age, and happens commonly among youngsters. However, once obesity appears, the development of complications is “just a matter of time.” For this reason, every case has to be diagnosed, studied on an individual basis, and the prognosis has to be explained to the patient along with treatment options. Regardless the symptoms, aches and complications, the person suffering from overweight and obesity needs a diagnosis as soon as possible. Without this, no prognosis is discussed and it is difficult to start the appropriate treatment. Without the appropriate treatment, there is no constant weight loss.