We live in a world filled with paradox. Ours is a world in which some persons have famine while others deal with obesity—an epidemic that threatens their health. Obesity is increasing worldwide; currently, more than 2 billion persons worldwide are now overweight or obese (1).
The terms underweight, normal weight, overweight, obesity, and severe obesity refer to a clinical continuum. The Metropolitan Life Insurance Company tables were once used to characterize obesity. Now there are several anthropometric measures to assess adiposity. Presently, body mass index (BMI) and waist circumference (WC) are 2 recommended clinical measures to evaluate patients' obesity-related health ...
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Author, Article, and Disclosure Information
Paul Poirier,
From Institut Universitaire de Cardiologie et de Pneumologie de Québec, Université Laval, Québec, Canada.
Disclosures: The author has disclosed no conflicts of interest. Form can be viewed at www.acponline.org/authors/icmje/ConflictOfInterestForms.do?msNum=M15-2435.
Corresponding Author: Paul Poirier, MD, PhD, Institut Universitaire de Cardiologie et Pneumologie de Québec, Université Laval, 2725 Chemin Ste-Foy, Québec G1V 4G5, Canada; e-mail, paul.
This article was published online first at www.annals.org on 10 November 2015.
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