Obesity is a state where the body accumulates excess fat to the extent that the person’s health is affected. Based on the World Health Organisation’s (WHO) classification, a person with Body Mass Index (BMI) of more than 30 is considered obese. Physically, obesity causes conditions that affect the functioning of all major body systems. It also affects a person’s mental health and psychosocial wellbeing. Patients with obesity tend to have a shorter life expectancy of compared to a patient with normal body weight and BMI.
For patients with a much higher BMI, interventions like diet modification, exercise therapy and lifestyle modifications are less effective in achieving and maintaining long-term weight loss. Bariatric or metabolic surgery can be performed on the digestive system to help patients lose weight and improve medical conditions linked to obesity such as Type 2 Diabetes and Obstructive Sleep Apnoea (OSA).
