A status with BODY WEIGHT that is grossly above the recommended standards, usually due to accumulation of excess FATS in the body. The standards may vary with age, sex, genetic or cultural background. In the BODY MASS INDEX, a BMI greater than 30.0 kg/m2 is considered obese, and a BMI greater than 40.0 kg/m2 is considered morbidly obese (MORBID OBESITY).
    

concept

Three people drinking punch as a cure for (right to left) gout, colic, and phthisis. Coloured etching by J. Gillray, 1799.

Edward Bright, a man weighing forty three and a half stone. Line engraving.

Gentlemen round a table at their club, smoking and drinking punch. Coloured mezzotint, late 18th century.

A man administers a clyster to a greedy little boy who is laying across his mothers lap, his two siblings watch the scene with amusement. Engraving by J. Ouvrier after J.E. Schenau.

An obese man talking to a tall lean woman. Pen drawing, 1796.

Obesity: the indications for reduction cures / translated from the German by A.C. Croftan.

Four Georgian gentlemen at their club seriously engaged in smoking. Stipple print by H. Bunbury, c. 1794.

Bagnigge Wells, London: a family group, the Dumplings, on a day out. Mezzotint.

Health care matters : pharmaceuticals, obesity, and the quality of life / Richard D. Miller, Jr. and H.E. Frech, III.

Dr Sangrado taking the pulse of a sick clergyman. Engraving by Thurston, 1802, after C. Warren after A. Le Sage.

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Obesity: the indications for reduction cures / translated from the German by A.C. Croftan.

Four Georgian gentlemen at their club seriously engaged in smoking. Stipple print by H. Bunbury, c. 1794.

Bagnigge Wells, London: a family group, the Dumplings, on a day out. Mezzotint.

Health care matters : pharmaceuticals, obesity, and the quality of life / Richard D. Miller, Jr. and H.E. Frech, III.

Dr Sangrado taking the pulse of a sick clergyman. Engraving by Thurston, 1802, after C. Warren after A. Le Sage.