Although the terms obese and overweight are often used interchangeably, they have very different meanings. The National Institutes of Health defines overweight as having an excess of body weight (compared to set standards), with a Body Mass Index (BMI) of 25 or higher. The excess weight may come from muscle, bone, fat, and/or water weight. When a person is overweight it doesn’t necessarily mean that they are unhealthy. For example, many body builders and athletes are considered overweight, but the extra pounds come from muscle, not fat.

Obesity, on the other hand, can be defined as having a high proportion of body fat with a BMI of 30 or higher. According to a report by the American Heart Association, more than 64 million Americans are considered obese. In 2005, approximately 112,000 Americans died as a result of obesity-related conditions such as cardiovascular disease and diabetes.

“Obesity is a tremendous burden in our society,” says Paul Ratté, ND, a naturopathic practitioner at Northwestern Health Sciences University’s Woodwinds Natural Care Center in Woodbury, Minn. “Americans spend more money on fad diets and weight loss products than any other country but are still losing the battle with obesity.”

According to the National Institutes of Health, as the prevalence of obesity has increased in the United States, so have related health care costs—both direct and indirect. Direct health care costs include preventive, diagnostic, and treatment services (such as physician visits, medication, and hospital and nursing home care). Indirect costs refer to the value of wages lost by people unable to work because of illness or disability, as well as the value of future earnings lost by premature death. More than $117 billion in health care costs can be attributed to obesity ($61 billion coming from direct costs and $56 billion from indirect costs).

Obesity is a serious issue because it can lead to the occurrence of cardiovascular disease, diabetes and other metabolic and chronic conditions. Depression, fatigue and anxiety may also coincide with obesity and have a significant effect on health.

Sources: National Institutes of Health; American Heart Association