Losing weight lowers blood pressure in most people who have high blood pressure and allows over half the people who develop diabetes as adults to discontinue insulin or other drug treatment. Menstrual disorders are also more common and gallbladder disease occurs three times more often in the obese. Although obesity is self-evident, its extent is determined by measuring height and weight. A value higher than 27 indicates mild obesity, and a value of 30 or higher indicates the need for treatment. Paradoxically, women who have lower-body obesity, which has a far lower risk of health problems, seek treatment for obesity eight times more often than men.
Untreated obesity tends to worsen, but the long-term effects of treatment are disappointing.
Although considerable progress has been made in helping people lose weight, they usually regain it within 3 years. Concerns about whether regaining weight, called weight cycling, causes various health problems are unfounded, so such concerns should not prevent obese people from trying to lose weight. To lose weight, obese people must consume fewer calories than they expend. Most weight management programs are based on behavior modification. Dieting is usually considered less important than making permanent changes in eating and exercise habits.