简而言之，肥胖（Obesity）就是机体存在太多的脂肪。评估机体脂肪含量的最常用、最方便之方法是测量腰围和（或）体重指数（BMI）【BMI（kg/m²)＝体重（kg）/身高（m²）】。如若个体的BMI≥24者为超重，≥28者可诊断为肥胖。研究表明，人体体重超过自身的标准体重之10～20%即可增加患心血管病的危险性。多数超重（Overweight）和（或）肥胖的个体是因进食过多的热量或太多的饱和脂肪酸、反式脂肪及胆固醇和（或）极少参加体育锻炼的结果，仅有极少数的肥胖属病理性。肥胖症的患者血胆固醇水平常常升高，其结果是增加了患心脏病的危险性（Obesity is mainly caused by taking in more calories than are used up in physical activity and daily life. When people eat too many calories, or too much saturated fat, trans fat and cholesterol, their blood cholesterol levels often rise. That raises their risk of heart disease）。超重或肥胖不仅可以治疗，更可以、且需要预防。

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