Perspective: Obesity is not a disease
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A blanket attribution of disease status to obesity (as currently defined and measured) poses an objective risk of overdiagnosis, resulting in unwarranted use of drugs, technologies, and surgical procedures, with staggering costs for society, and negative ramifications at clinical, economic, and political levels.
“In this context, a blanket attribution of disease status to obesity (as currently defined and measured [ie, BMI >30 kg/m2, or 27·5 kg/m2 for Asian populations]) poses an objective risk of overdiagnosis, resulting in unwarranted use of drugs, technologies, and surgical procedures, with staggering costs for society, and negative ramifications at clinical, economic, and political levels.”
From Definition and diagnostic criteria of clinical obesity (2025) · cites this paper as [14]
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Definition and diagnostic criteria of clinical obesity
Rubino, F., Cummings, D. E., Eckel, R. H., Cohen, R. V., Wilding, J. P. H., Brown, W. A., Stanford, F. C., Batterham, R. L., Farooqi, I. S., Farpour-Lambert, N. J., et al. (2025) · The Lancet Diabetes & Endocrinology · doi:10.1016/s2213-8587(24)00316-4 · Cited by 1,811 · see citing works
- Authors
- Katz, D. L.
- Affiliations
- Yale University (US)
- Corresponding author
- Katz, D. L.
- ORCID
- Katz, D. L.
- Venue
- Nature
- Published
- 2014-04-16
- Volume
- 508
- Issue
- 7496
- Pages
- S57-S57
- ISSN
- 0028-0836 (ISSN-L)
- 1476-4687
- OpenAlex
- W2059669514
- Cited by
- 46
- References
- 0
- Citations by year
- 2026: 2 · 2025: 5 · 2024: 4 · 2023: 3 · 2022: 3 · 2021: 6 · 2019: 3 · 2018: 5 · 2017: 3 · 2016: 7 · 2015: 3 · 2014: 2
- FWCI
- 11.67
- Type
- journal article
- Language
- en
- Open access
- bronze
- doi.org
- Locations
- Nature (publishedVersion)
- PubMed (publishedVersion)
- RePEc: Research Papers in Economics (submittedVersion)
- Topics
- Health Sciences › Health Professions › Pharmacy › Obesity and Health Practices
- Health Sciences › Medicine › Public Health, Environmental and Occupational Health › Obesity, Physical Activity, Diet
- Social Sciences › Psychology › Clinical Psychology › Eating Disorders and Behaviors
- Keywords
- obesity, disease classification, pathologization, obesity prevention, public health policy
- MeSH terms
- Animals, Chronic Disease, Humans, Obesity, Body Mass Index, Weight Reduction Programs
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