OBESITY

What is obesity?
Obesity is a medical condition involving an excessive amount of body fat. Obesity isn't just a cosmetic issue but a medical problem that increases your risk of other diseases and health problems, such as heart disease, diabetes, high blood pressure and certain cancers.
An individual with a BMI of 26 to 27 is about 20 percent overweight, which is generally believed to carry moderate health risks. A BMI of 30 and higher is considered obese.
Similarly, a person is considered morbidly obese if he or she is 100 pounds over his/her ideal body weight, has a BMI of 40 or more, or 35 or more and experiencing obesity-related health conditions, such as high blood pressure or diabetes.
Obesity treatment
The known treatments of obesity are listed below:

• Healthy eating plan and regular physical activity.
• Changing habits.
• Special diets.
• Weight-loss medicines.
• Weight-loss devices.
• Bariatric surgery.

Bariatric Surgery (Weight Loss Surgery)
Bariatric surgery is an operation on the stomach and/or intestines to help a person with morbid obesity lose weight. Bariatric surgery is usually performed on individuals who have a body mass index (BMI) above 40.
Weight loss surgery operations cause weight loss by restricting the amount of food the stomach can hold, which is called volume reduction operations, by causing malabsorption of nutrients, which is called absorbtion disturbance operations, or by a combination of both. Most weight loss surgeries are performed using minimally invasive techniques (laparoscopic surgery).
The most common treatments for obesity are gastric bypass, gastric sleeve, adjustable gastric band and biliopancreatic diversion with duodenal switch. Each surgery has its own advantages and disadvantages.
How to qualify for weight loss surgery?
Even though a BMI higher than 40 is considered the standard criteria to be eligible for bariatric surgery, research supports the benefits of weight loss surgery for those with a BMI between 35 and 39.9 with obesity related health conditions such as type 2 diabetes, obstructive sleep apnea, high blood pressure, osteoarthritis and other obesity related conditions. You could be a qualified candidate for surgical weight loss if you meet any of the following criteria:

• You are more than 100 lbs. over your ideal body weight.
• You have a Body Mass Index (BMI) of over 40.
• You have a BMI of over 35 and are experiencing severe negative health effects, such as high blood pressure or diabetes, related to being severely overweight.
• You are unable to achieve a healthy body weight for a sustained period of time, even through medically-supervised dieting.