Overview

How obesity affects your health depends on many things, including your age, your sex, where you carry your body fat, and how physically active you are.

Obesity raises your risk for many conditions, including:

In some people, fat builds up mostly around the stomach. (This is sometimes called central obesity.) Those people are at greater risk for type 2 diabetes, high blood pressure, high cholesterol, and coronary artery disease than people who are lean or people with fat around their hips or thighs.

With healthy habits and weight loss, you may be able to lower your risk for these conditions.