Obesity as a Disease: The Obesity Society 2018 Position Statement
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The emerging obesity epidemic and accompanying health consequences led The Obesity Society (TOS) in 2008 to publish a position paper defining obesity as a disease. Since then, new information has emerged on the underlying mechanisms leading to excess adiposity and the associated structural, cardiometabolic, and functional disturbances. This report presents the updated TOS 2018 position statement on obesity as a noncommunicable chronic disease.
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Obesity is a relapsing, remitting chronic disease.
“In light of the burden obesity places on human health and a growing understanding of the physiologic processes underlying weight regulation, scientific organizations including the American Medical Association, the National Institutes of Health, and others now recognize it as a relapsing, remitting chronic disease.”
From Effectiveness and safety of drugs for obesity (2024) · cites this paper as [8]
The Position Statement (p. 7–9) calls obesity a chronic disease, and the Overview says multiple organizations have issued statements recognizing it as a disease. Our copy does not say that obesity is relapsing and remitting, or identify the American Medical Association and National Institutes of Health as endorsing that characterization. The References list a different statement describing obesity as ‘chronic relapsing progressive,’ not remitting. (LLM, conf=0.86)
Experimental — accuracy not yet measuredObesity is a disease of energy regulation with complex underlying pathophysiology in which the energy homeostasis system defends an elevated fat mass set point.
“This is driven, in part, by the understanding of obesity as a disease (1) of energy regulation with complex underlying pathophysiology whereby the energy homeostasis system defends an elevated fat mass set point (2).”
From New Frontiers in Obesity Treatment: GLP-1 and Nascent Nutrient-Stimulated Hormone-Based Therapeutics (2023) · cites this paper as [1]
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“” Instead, obesity is a disease when [3,21]: The patient has excessive body fat as assessed by reliable measures.”
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“All of these can negatively impact a person’s life expectancy and quality of life and may influence one’s reproductive and sexual health [4].”
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“Rather, obesity is a chronic disease with a complex underlying pathophysiology and serious consequences on health (1).”
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“19 With differences seen by age, race and sex, in populations with a high prevalence of obesity, as much as one-third of hypertension is reportedly due to obesity.”
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“As a debilitating condition, excessive fat accumulation can lead to physical and psychological problems, like gastrointestinal reflux, obstructive sleep apnea, anxiety and depression [8].”
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“In recent decades, obesity has emerged as a global health concern, and its prevalence is increasing dramatically worldwide [1–3].”
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“Overweight and obesity are associated with a range of health complications: cardiovascular disease (CVD), type 2 diabetes, hypertension, respiratory problems, and depression (Jastreboff et al., 2019).”
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“Obesity develops as the result of long-term positive energy balance with accumulation of excess adipose tissue and its stored fat, mainly triglycerides (1-3).”
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Effectiveness of a Very Low Calorie Ketogenic Diet on Testicular Function in Overweight/Obese Men
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“Obesity is often associated with comorbidities such as essential hypertension, type 2 diabetes mellitus (DM2), cerebro-cardiovascular disease, obstructive sleep apnea, hypogonadism, polycystic ovary syndrome, and various types of cancers [4,5].”
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“Overweight and obesity are recognized as chronic conditions that are associated with several comorbidities, namely type 2 diabetes (T2D), hypertension, dyslipidemia, cardiovascular diseases (mainly coronary heart disease and stroke), and some cancers [1–3].”
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Obesity induces male mice infertility via oxidative stress, apoptosis, and glycolysis
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“can occur throughout the life- span (12).”
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Analysis of Serious Weight Gain in Patients Using Alectinib for ALK-Positive Lung Cancer
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The Obesity Pandemic—Whose Responsibility? No Blame, No Shame, Not More of the Same
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“No one doubts the economic costs of obesity, estimated at 5–14% of health expenditure for 2020–2050 (1), but there is disagreement whether fatness is considered a disease (2) or a behavioral risk factor, similar to smoking, alcohol and substance abuse that may lead to a disease (3).”
BackgroundFood as Medicine for Obesity Treatment and Management
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Obesity stigma and its impact on health: A narrative review
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Treating the Chronic Disease of Obesity
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“Obesity is as a metabolic disease with major implications for the development and progression of several chronic diseases, including cardiovascular diseases and type 2 diabetes mellitus [1].”
BackgroundThe evolution of the understanding of obesity over the last 100 years
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“This moralistic perspective perpetuated stigma and discrimination, hindering people from seeking appropriate healthcare and support [94, 95].”
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“Persistent adipose tissue (AT) growth promotes obesity, a chronic disease [1] with extremely complex management, and which is widely recognized as the largest and fastest growing public health problem in the developed and developing world [2,3].”
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“Overweight and obese children have lower CRF levels, which increases the risk of CVD in adulthood [9].”
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Obesity: A Doorway to a Molecular Path Leading to Infertility
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“Because of the structural, physiologic, and functional abnormalities that result from excess adiposity, obesity can lead to increased morbidity, mortality, and diminished quality of life (QOL) [2].”
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Relationship between the Plasma Proteome and Changes in Inflammatory Markers after Bariatric Surgery
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Key Causes and Contributors of Obesity
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Multidisciplinary Team in Bariatric Surgery: Structure and Role
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Pediatric Obesity Pharmacotherapy: State of the Science, Research Gaps, and Opportunities
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Obesity and Male Reproduction: Do Sirtuins Play a Role?
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“An increased BMI is associated with an elevated premature mortality risk [2], as well as several comorbidities including cardiovascular diseases, diabetes mellitus (DM), musculoskeletal disorders, sleep apnea syndrome, nonalcoholic fatty liver disease (NAFLD), and some cancers [3].”
BackgroundEl estigma de la obesidad y su impacto en la salud: una revisión narrativa
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Intermittent fasting favorably modulates adipokines and potentially attenuates atherosclerosis
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“Obesity is a chronic, progressive, and relapsing metabolic disease caused by multiple factors resulting from a dysregulation of energy balance [1].”
BackgroundInfluentialAdipose Tissue Dysfunction in Obesity: Role of Mineralocorticoid Receptor
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“In recent decades, its prevalence has grown to epidemic proportions [5,6], thereby becoming a major public health issue and a leading cause of morbidity and mortality worldwide [2,7].”
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- Authors
- Jastreboff, A. M., Kotz, C. M., Kahan, S., Kelly, A. S., & Heymsfield, S. B.
- Affiliations
- Yale University (US)
- University of Minnesota (US)
- Johns Hopkins University (US)
- Pennington Biomedical Research Center (US)
- Corresponding author
- Heymsfield, Steven B.
- Venue
- Obesity
- Publisher
- Wiley
- Published
- 2018-12-20
- Volume
- 27
- Issue
- 1
- Pages
- 7-9
- ISSN
- 1930-7381 (ISSN-L)
- 1930-739X
- OpenAlex
- W2906628236
- Semantic Scholar
- 03482c978e86a1b0c2460f74bea09ee72ff4ff32
- Cited by
- 457
- References
- 11
- Citations by year
- 2026: 45 · 2025: 64 · 2024: 65 · 2023: 92 · 2022: 65 · 2021: 64 · 2020: 34 · 2019: 26 · 2014: 1
- FWCI
- 61.45
- Type
- journal article
- Language
- en
- Open access
- bronze
- doi.org
- Locations
- Obesity (publishedVersion)
- PubMed (publishedVersion)
- Funders
- U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs (I01 BX003687)
- Amgen
- Novo Nordisk
- Janssen Pharmaceuticals
- Topics
- Health Sciences › Health Professions › Pharmacy › Obesity and Health Practices
- Health Sciences › Medicine › Public Health, Environmental and Occupational Health › Obesity, Physical Activity, Diet
- Health Sciences › Medicine › Epidemiology › Adipokines, Inflammation, and Metabolic Diseases
- Keywords
- obesity as a disease, obesity epidemic, excess adiposity, non-communicable diseases, obesity pathophysiology, health consequences of obesity
- MeSH terms
- Humans, Obesity, Risk Factors, History, 21st Century
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