What Does It Actually Mean to Be Overweight or Obese?
At their most basic, the words “overweight” and “obesity” are ways to describe having too much body fat.
The most commonly used measure of weight status today is the body mass index, or BMI.
• BMI uses a simple calculation based on the ratio of someone’s height and weight (BMI = kg/m2). Decades of research have shown that BMI provides a good estimate of “fatness” and also correlates well with important health outcomes like heart disease, diabetes, cancer, and overall mortality.