Morbid obesity is a diagnosis used for people who are 75 to 100 lbs. over ideal body weight. The Metropolitan Life Table is the standard used to determine ideal body weight. The term morbid means unhealthy or diseased. Excess weight can severely impact a person’s health, which may lead to premature death. Medical professionals view morbid obesity as a disease with serious medical, physical, social, and psychological consequences, not as a lack of will power or self-control.

Morbid obesity increases health risks and causes physical limitations for many patients. Health risks include heart disease, cancer, diabetes, hypertension, and many other illnesses. Social limitations include discrimination, inability to find clothing, and limited access to chairs in theaters, restaurants, and airplanes. The economic impact can be an inability to gain employment, cost of weight loss programs, and denial of insurance coverage. Psychiatric concerns include poor self-esteem, depression, guilt, social withdrawal, and other problems.


What Is The Solution?

You have probably experienced a great deal of stress and frustration with unsuccessful dieting, exercise, and weight loss programs. Depending on your specific situation, you may be a candidate for a surgical approach to weight loss. Dieting and exercise fail to provide long-term weight control in 95 percent of severely obese patients. For those who have attempted dieting and exercise without success, gastric bypass surgery is recognized as an effective treatment for long-term weight control. Weight reduction surgery dramatically improves the quality of life for most patients. In many cases it improves weight-associated diseases, such as diabetes, hypertension, pulmonary disease, and high cholesterol levels.

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