Disorders of Nutrition and Metabolism Chapter 140 Obesity Obesity is the accumulation of excessive body fat. Obesity is severe in only 0.5 percent of obese people.
Obesity is twice as common among older people as among younger people.
The prevalence of obesity is about the same among black and white men, slightly higher among Hispanic men than among black and white men, and much higher among black and Hispanic women than among white women. For example, about 60 percent of middle-aged black women are obese compared with 33 percent of white women. Causes Obesity results from consuming more calories than the body uses. Genetic and environmental factors influence body weight, but precisely how they interact to determine a person's weight is still unclear. One proposed explanation is that body weight is regulated around a set point, similar to a thermostat setting.