What is Obesity?
Having a body weight that is higher than what is considered as healthy for a given height is described as overweight or obesity. There are many methods of measuring body fat, some of which are expensive and time consuming. Body mass index (BMI), which is inexpensive and easy to calculate, is typically used as a proxy. Health officials recommend that individual health assessments should consider other factors as well. Research has demonstrated that a high BMI is strongly correlated with the same negative health consequences as high body fat, although the association between BMI does vary among ethnic groups.
BMI is a person’s weight in kilograms divided by his or her height in meters squared. For measurements in pounds and inches, BMI is calculated using the following formula: