Overweight is a condition where a person weighs more than is considered adequate for their height, age, and sex, while obesity is a condition in which body fat is deposited and accumulated in various parts of the body excessively.
Difference between Overweight and obesity in tabular form
| Overweight is the condition in which a person weighs more than what is considered normal for their age, height, and gender. | Obesity is a condition in which body fat is deposited and accumulated in an excessive and generalized way. |
| An overweight person has a BMI between 25 and 29.9. | A person with obesity has a BMI greater than 30. |
Overweight
It is the increase in body weight above a given pattern. Being overweight is a problem caused by the excessive accumulation of body fat and is common in countries where the food supply is abundant and the lifestyle is sedentary. To assess whether a person is overweight, experts use a formula known as a body mass index or BMI. At present this formula is beginning to be in disuse because it has been shown that it is not 100% effective as a standard and other studies are used to evaluate the level of body fat, which represents a much more reliable standard.
The body mass index establishes a pattern between height and weight, establishing that a normal BMI is between 18.5 to 24.9. The problem occurs when healthy people are below or above this pattern, such as athletes or people who are outside the average size of the population.
Obesity
It is a chronic disease that has various origins and can be preventable. It is characterized by the excessive accumulation of body fat or the hypertrophy of the body’s adipose tissue, which functions as a natural energy reserve in humans and mammals. This reserve, when increased by large levels, can put health and life at risk due to the consequences it generates. According to the WHO, we are in the presence of obesity when the BMI is equal to or greater than 30 or when the abdominal girth in men is greater than 102 cm and in women greater than 88 cm.
