Synonyms
Introduction
Obesity is defined and identified in a number of ways, depending on whether it is in a medical, social, public health, or other context. Most commonly used medically is the body mass index (BMI) scale, which uses a formula based on the relationship of height to weight. On this scale, 19–24 is normal, 25–29 is overweight, and a BMI of 30 and above is defined as obese. A BMI of 40 and above is defined as extreme (also called morbid) obesity.
Medical and public health experts consider obesity to be a major health problem. More than 500 million people worldwide are obese, with more than 1.9 million considered overweight (Finucane et al. 2011). Obesity is a major risk factor for type 2 diabetes, and it is also linked to hypertension, cardiovascular disease, sleep apnea, infertility, and osteoarthritis, among other conditions (CDC 2011).
Although the standard medical account of obesity explains it as an energy...
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Womack, C.A. (2019). Gender, Obesity, and Stigmatization. In: Kaplan, D.M. (eds) Encyclopedia of Food and Agricultural Ethics. Springer, Dordrecht. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-94-024-1179-9_496
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