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Diagnosis of Obesity

The doctor will ask about your symptoms and health history. A physical exam will be done. Your weight and height will be measured.

Obesity is defined as a body mass index (BMI) of 30 kg/m² or greater in an adult. BMI is a person's weight in kilograms divided by the square of their height in meters. Morbid obesity is a BMI that is higher than 40.

Since children are still growing, BMI is a percentile of a child's weight and height when compared to other children who are their gender and age. Obesity in children is a BMI in the 95th percentile or higher. Severe obesity is when it is in the120th percentile or higher.

Obesity can also be diagnosed by measuring a person's waist. Having a large waist can raise the risk of health problems even if a person's total weight is not high.

REFERENCES:

Endocrine Society clinical practice guideline on pharmacological management of obesity can be found in J Clin Endocrinol Metab 2015 Feb;100(2):342.

Obesity in adults. EBSCO DynaMed website. Available at:https://www.dynamed.com/condition/obesity-in-adults. Updated November 30, 2018. Accessed January 31, 2020.

Obesity in children and adolescents. EBSCO DynaMed website.https://www.dynamed.com/condition/obesity-in-children-and-adolescents. Updated October 30, 2019. Accessed January 31, 2020.

Obesity. Merck Manual Professional Version website. Available at: http://www.merckmanuals.com/professional/nutritional-disorders/obesity-and-the-metabolic-syndrome/obesity. Updated January 2020. Accessed January 31, 2020.

Treatment. National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute website. Available at: https://www.nhlbi.nih.gov/health/health-topics/topics/obe/treatment. Accessed January 31, 2020.

Last reviewed November 2019 by EBSCO Medical Review Board Daniel A. Ostrovsky, MD