ABSTRACT
We start with the premise that we all want to have a healthy weight, and that no one wants to be labeled obese. One reason for this is self-image and another is that excessive weight is a harbinger of ill-health. In this chapter, I will develop the historical context for this understanding and then provide ideas about how fatness produces these problems. Overweight will refer to any individual whose body weight is above 25kg/m2 (see Chapter 1). Some individuals who are overweight are not at risk from this weight-athletes and naturally muscular people. However, for most of the population, the rise in body weight with age is associated with increased fatness and the ill health it produces if the BMI exceeds 30 kg/m2 (see Chapter 2).
