Obesity is stigmatized in much of the modern world (particularly in the Western world), though it was widely seen as a symbol of wealth and fertility at other times in history and still is in some parts of the world.
Debelost povečuje verjetnost raznih bolezni, zlasti bolezni srca, sladkorne bolezni tipa 2, obstruktivne apneje med spanjem, nekaterih vrst raka in osteoartritisa.