Definition and diagnostic criteria of clinical obesity
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Authors
Rubino, Francesco
Cummings, David E
Eckel, Robert H
Cohen, Ricardo V
Wilding, John P H
Brown, Wendy A
Stanford, Fatima Cody
Batterham, Rachel L
Farooqi, I Sadaf
Farpour-Lambert, Nathalie J
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Issue Date
2025
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Article
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Abstract
Current BMI-based measures of obesity can both underestimate and overestimate adiposity and provide inadequate information about health at the individual level, which undermines medically-sound approaches to health care and policy. This Commission sought to define clinical obesity as a condition of illness that, akin to the notion of chronic disease in other medical specialties, directly results from the effect of excess adiposity on the function of organs and tissues. The specific aim of the Commission was to establish objective criteria for disease diagnosis, aiding clinical decision making and prioritisation of therapeutic interventions and public health strategies. To this end, a group of 58 experts—representing multiple medical specialties and countries—discussed available evidence and participated in a consensus development process. Among these commissioners were people with lived experience of obesity to ensure consideration of patients’ perspectives. The Commission defines obesity as a condition characterised by excess adiposity, with or without abnormal distribution or function of adipose tissue, and with causes that are multifactorial and still incompletely understood. We define clinical obesity as a chronic, systemic illness characterised by alterations in the function of tissues, organs, the entire individual, or a combination thereof, due to excess adiposity. Clinical obesity can lead to severe end-organ damage, causing life-altering and potentially life-threatening complications (eg, heart attack, stroke, and renal failure). We define preclinical obesity as a state of excess adiposity with preserved function of other tissues and organs and a varying, but generally increased, risk of developing clinical obesity and several other non-communicable diseases (eg, type 2 diabetes, cardiovascular disease, certain types of cancer, and mental disorders). Although the risk of mortality and obesity-associated diseases can rise as a continuum across increasing levels of fat mass, we differentiate between preclinical and clinical obesity (ie, health
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The Lancet Diabetes & Endocrinology
Volume
13
Issue
3