Managing obesity in individuals with type 2 diabetes

Obesity is the accumulation of excess fat to a degree where this has an adverse impact on health. There are various means to measure obesity but body mass index (BMI = weight in kg/(height in meters)² ) is the most commonly used parameter to identify the overweight individual and WHO categorisation of BMI is summarised in table 1. For adults in a Caucasian population overweight corresponds to a BMI of 25 kg/m² to 29.9 kg/m² and obesity is defined as BMI of 30 kg/m² or above. The prevalence of obesity in the UK (and worldwide) has risen steeply over the last 30 years.¹