Lancet Diabetes & Endocrinology Commission on the Definition and Diagnosis of Clinical Obesity

Obesity was first recognised as a disease by WHO in 1948, then between 2013 and 2022 by several medical societies and countries. 1 WHO ConsultationAppropriate body-mass index for Asian populations and its implications for policy and intervention strategies. Lancet. 2004; 363: 157-163 Summary Full Text Full Text PDF PubMed Scopus (8214) Google Scholar , 2 Obesity: preventing and managing the global epidemic. Report of a WHO consultation. World Health Organ Tech Rep Ser. 2000; 894: 1-253 Google Scholar , 3 Carruba MO Busetto L Bryant S et al. The European Association for the Study of Obesity (EASO) endorses the milan charter on urban obesity. Obes Facts. 2021; 14: 163-168 Crossref PubMed Scopus (4) Google Scholar , 4 American Society for Metabolic and Bariatric SurgeryConsensus statement on obesity as a disease. https://asmbs.org/resources/consensus-statement-on-obesity-as-a-diseaseDate: 2022 Date accessed: February 20, 2023 Google Scholar , 5 Bray GA Kim KK Wilding JPH World Obesity FObesity: a chronic relapsing progressive disease process. A position statement of the World Obesity Federation. Obes Rev. 2017; 18: 715-723 Crossref PubMed Scopus (626) Google Scholar , 6 Jastreboff AM Kotz CM Kahan S Kelly AS Heymsfield SB Obesity as a disease: the Obesity Society 2018 position statement. Obesity (Silver Spring). 2019; 27: 7-9 Crossref PubMed Scopus (166) Google Scholar , 7 Pollack A NY TimesA.M.A. recognizes obesity as a disease. https://www.nytimes.com/2013/06/19/business/ama-recognizes-obesity-as-a-disease.htmlDate: 2013 Date accessed: February 26, 2023 Google Scholar , 8 Mechanick JI Garber AJ Handelsman Y et al. American Association of Clinical Endocrinologists' position statement on obesity and obesity medicine. Endocr Pract. 2012; 18: 642-648 Summary Full Text Full Text PDF PubMed Scopus (96) Google Scholar However, the notion that obesity is a disease and not merely a risk factor for other illnesses remains highly controversial, both within and beyond medical circles. This debate constitutes far more than arcane semantics, and seriously affects the provision of therapeutic strategies to improve health among people living with obesity.