What is Obesity?
Obesity is an excess of body fat.
Many people determine if they are overweight by relying
solely on how much they weigh. They may think they are fat
simply because they don’t like the numbers on the scale.
However, the scale does not always tell you if you are
overweight, because it cannot tell you how much excess body
fat you have. Body builders, for example, may weigh a lot,
yet they have very little body fat. Their muscle mass makes
them weigh more.
So, although there are exceptions, overweight means
“over-fat” for most people. The greater the amount of body
fat you have above the level considered to be normal, the
greater the risk to your health. That’s why an estimate of
how much body fat you have is important.
