What is overweight?

    Last Updated: October 25, 2023

    Overweight refers to weighing more than what is considered normal or healthy for a given height. People with overweight are at a higher risk of negative health outcomes such as cardiovascular disease, diabetes, and mortality.[1][2][2] As of 2017–2018, approximately 31.1% of adults in the United States have overweight.[3] Worldwide, 39% of adults are estimated to have overweight as of 2016.[4]

    References

    1. ^Khan SS, Ning H, Wilkins JT, Allen N, Carnethon M, Berry JD, Sweis RN, Lloyd-Jones DMAssociation of Body Mass Index With Lifetime Risk of Cardiovascular Disease and Compression of Morbidity.JAMA Cardiol.(2018-04-01)
    2. ^Global BMI Mortality Collaboration, Emanuele Di Angelantonio, Shilpa Bhupathiraju, David Wormser, Pei Gao, Stephen Kaptoge, Amy Berrington de Gonzalez, Benjamin Cairns, Rachel Huxley, Chandra Jackson, Grace Joshy, Sarah Lewington, JoAnn Manson, Neil Murphy, Alpa Patel, Jonathan Samet, Mark Woodward, Wei Zheng, Maigen Zhou, Narinder Bansal, Aurelio Barricarte, Brian Carter, James Cerhan, George Smith, Xianghua Fang, Oscar Franco, Jane Green, Jim Halsey, Janet Hildebrand, Keum Jung, Rosemary Korda, Dale McLerran, Steven Moore, Linda O'Keeffe, Ellie Paige, Anna Ramond, Gillian Reeves, Betsy Rolland, Carlotta Sacerdote, Naveed Sattar, Eleni Sofianopoulou, June Stevens, Michael Thun, Hirotsugu Ueshima, Ling Yang, Young Yun, Peter Willeit, Emily Banks, Valerie Beral, Zhengming Chen, Susan Gapstur, Marc Gunter, Patricia Hartge, Sun Jee, Tai-Hing Lam, Richard Peto, John Potter, Walter Willett, Simon Thompson, John Danesh, Frank HuBody-mass index and all-cause mortality: individual-participant-data meta-analysis of 239 prospective studies in four continentsLancet.(2016 Aug 20)
    3. ^Fryar CD, Carroll MD, Afful JPrevalence of overweight, obesity, and severe obesity among adults aged 20 and over: United States, 1960–1962 through 2017–2018(2021=01)
    4. ^Obesity and overweight