What is Obesity?

Obesity is a medical word that describes a level of overweight that can or is seriously affecting health.

Obesity has become a major health problem in Australia. Nearly 60% of adult Australians are overweight or obese. It is rapidly becoming the single most important cause of preventable illness and death – even more significant than smoking!

What is Morbid Obesity

Obesity becomes "morbid" when it reaches the point of significantly increasing the risk of one or more obesity-related health conditions or serious diseases (also known as co-morbidities) that result either in significant physical disability or even death. As you read about morbid obesity you may also see the term "clinically severe obesity" used. Both are descriptions of the same condition and can be used interchangeably.

Morbid obesity is typically defined as being 45 kilos. or more over ideal body weight or having a Body Mass Index of 40 or higher. According to the National Institutes of Health Consensus Report, morbid obesity is a serious disease and must be treated as such. It is a chronic disease, meaning that its symptoms build slowly over an extended period of time.

Am I Morbidly Obese

Answering this question may give you the courage you need to take the first step. To the right is a tool you can use to determine if you are morbidly obese and potentially a candidate for weight loss surgery.

There are several medically accepted criteria for defining morbid obesity. You are likely morbidly obese if you are:

more than 45 kilogram’s. over your ideal body weight, or have a Body Mass Index (BMI) of over 40, or 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

Click here to find out more about Body Mass Index BMI.