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Weight can be a very delicate issue for just anyone, be it over weight or under weight. Every person requires some minimum amount of body fat for the proper mechanism of the body but some people have higher amount of fat stored in the body than required which increases the health risks of these individuals making them susceptible to a range of health problems like type2 diabetes, hypertension, cardiovascular diseases etc.
"Overweight" is defined as an excess amount of body weight, including fat, muscle, bone and water. Overweight refers to the excess weight than known body standards. On the other hand "obesity" specifically refers to an excess amount of body fat. Some people, such as bodybuilders or other athletes with a lot of muscle, can also be overweight without being obese. Obesity according to the medical dictionaries is "abnormal amount of fat on the body . . . the term is not usually employed unless the person is 20 to 30% over average weight for his or her age, sex, and height."
Overweight and BMI: The BMI stands for the body mass index. The BMI is basically the ratio of a person's weight in kilograms and the square of his height in meters. If a person's BMI lies in between 24-29.9 he can be termed as overweight and anything above 29.9 falls in the category of obesity. A BMI of 40 and above falls into the category of morbid obesity. As already mentioned the sportspersons, weight-lifters and body builders may fall under the category of being overweight because of their high muscle weight, whereas obese people have a high BMI because of their excess body fat stored in their body.
Risk of Overweight and Obesity: If a person is just a few pounds overweight it is not a matter of too much concern for him because it does not pose any health risk but an obese person has a high risk for a number of diseases like heart disease, hypertension, diabetes, cancer, osteoarthritis etc..
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