Overweight refers to excessive body weight. Obesity refers to an excessive amount of body fat. The body mass index (BMI) is a measure of body fat based on height and weight that is used to measure obesity. An adult with a BMI between 25 and 29.9 is considered overweight. An adult with a BMI of 30 or higher is considered obese.

Serious medical conditions have been linked to obesity, including heart disease, high blood pressure, stroke and type 2 diabetes. Certain types of cancer have also been linked.

Contributing environmental factors to obesity include more Americans eating on the run or dining at restaurants, eating larger serving sizes and having less physical activity.

The food industry is responding by providing nutrition information. Since 1994, the Nutrition Facts label has been mandatory for almost all processed foods. The label includes the calories, fats, protein and nutrients in one individual serving size of a food product, along with total servings.

The National Restaurant Association and Healthy Dining, with partial funding from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, launched HealthyDiningFinder.com in 2007. The Web site provides consumers with a centralized resource for healthier food choices and corresponding nutrition information from restaurants. Some restaurants post nutritional information of their entrees at their stores and on their Web sites.

Sources

Food Labeling, Food and Nutrition Information Center, National Agricultural Library, USDA.

Healthy Dining Finder.

Understanding Adult Obesity, Weight-control Information Network, National Institute of Diabetes and Digestive and Kidney Diseases.

Other Information

• Ask the Dietitian SM - This is an informational site by a licensed and registered dietitian with an extensive background in nutrition counseling. The site offers an online calculator to tabulate healthy weight and calories.
• Center for Nutrition Policy and Promotion, USDA - This site includes links to a healthy eating index, nutrient content of the U.S. food supply and dietary guidelines for Americans.  
• Dietary Guidelines for Americans, USDA, 2005 - This online guide outlines recommendations on food choices.
• Diet & Nutrition, American Heart Association - This site includes sections on dietary recommendations and its food certification program.
• Fast-food Culture Serves up Super-size Americans, Monitor on Psychology, 2001 - The underlying reason for the nation’s obesity crisis is the abundance of unhealthy, heavily advertised, low-cost food.
• Food & Nutrition Center, MayoClinic.com - This Web site provides information on nutrition guidelines, weight control, serving sizes, organic foods and food safety.
• Food and Nutrition Information Center, National Agricultural Library, USDA - This Web site has sections on dietary guidelines, food composition and dietary supplements.
• Food, Nutrition and Metabolism Topics, MEDLINEplus, a service of the U.S. National Library of Medicine and the National Institutes of Health - This site offers an index of topics related to food, nutrition and health.
• Food, Nutrition, Physical Activity and the Prevention of Cancer: a Global Perspective, American Institute for Cancer Research and World Cancer Research Fund, 2007 - This comprehensive report on cancer prevention links cancer risk to diet, physical activity and weight. According to the international team of medical experts who conducted the five-year study, one of the strongest findings was the link between carrying excess body fat and certain types of cancer. The report includes ten recommendations for preventing the disease.  
• Food Pyramids, Harvard School of Public Health - Faculty members at Harvard created the Healthy Eating Pyramid.
• Fruit & Vegetable Research Summaries, www.5aday.org - This site provides information on how fruit and vegetable intake may be linked to health issues.
• Grains of Truth About Fad Diets & Obesity, Wheat Foods Council - Information sheets on wheat foods and nutrition.
• Healthy Dining Finder - In collaboration with the National Restaurant Association, this online directory allows diners to locate healthy eating options at participating restaurants.   
• Nutri-Facts.com - This commercial site has converted the USDA Nutrient Database for Standard Reference, Release 13, into a searchable database. It contains nutrition information on nearly 6,000 different foods.
• Nutrition - This United Kingdom site offers well-balanced diet information. It includes an interactive quiz to test how healthy your diet is.
• Nutritional Information on 12 of the Largest U.S. Fast-food Chains, Wake Forest University Baptist Medical Center - This site allows you to see what a burger, fries or slice of pizza contains in terms of fat grams and calories.
• Obesity, MayoClinic.com, special to CNN.com - This article reports one in three U.S. adults is considered to be obese.
• The Obesity Crisis: Challenge to the Food Industry, The Food Industry Center, University of Minnesota, 2003 - This paper addresses how the food industry may contribute to the promotion of healthier living habits.
• Overweight and Obesity, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention - This site includes obesity trends, contributing factors and health consequences. 
• Trends in the Marketing of Fresh Produce and Fresh-cut Products, Roberta Cook, Agricultural Issues Center, University of California, 2007.
• Understanding Adult Obesity, National Institute of Diabetes & Digestive and Kidney Diseases, National Institutes of Health, 2001 - This site indicates Americans tend to eat high-fat foods and put convenience and taste ahead of nutrition.
• What's NOT on the Menus? Research Frontiers, University of Arkansas, 2005 - Meals eaten away from home have contributed to the rise in obesity.

Links checked June 2008.