Metabolically Healthy Overweight
Olivia Davis
2026-03-17
7 min. read
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Overweight can undoubtedly be considered an epidemic in the 21st century. More and more people are talking about its negative health consequences, but the percentage of overweight individuals is still increasing every year. Among these adverse effects are carbohydrate metabolism disorders, cardiovascular diseases, dyslipidemia, and many others. However, do all overweight individuals experience these effects? It turns out that there are cases where these complications do not develop. This type of overweight is called metabolically healthy overweight (MHO), which is widely discussed in medical circles, but also often emphasized by advocates of the body positivity movement and activists fighting against weight discrimination.
Obesity: Comprehensive medical definition and classification per global diagnostic standards
Pursuant to the 11th Revision of the International Statistical Classification of Diseases and Related Health Problems (ICD-11), obesity constitutes a chronic, multifactorial disorder of complex etiology characterized by an excessive accumulation of adipose tissue within the body. The underlying causes may be environmental—including poor dietary habits and sedentary lifestyle—as well as psychological (e.g., emotional eating disorders) or biological (such as genetic predispositions or endocrine imbalances). The primary diagnostic tool remains the body mass index (BMI), with a threshold value of 30 kg/m² or higher serving as the definitive criterion for obesity diagnosis. Within this pathological spectrum, two predominant phenotypes of fat distribution are distinguished: the gluteofemoral (gynoid) type, more common in females, and the abdominal (android) type, predominantly observed in males. The latter is associated with a substantially elevated risk of metabolic complications, including insulin resistance, hyperglycemia, dyslipidemia, and arterial hypertension. Nonetheless, a subset of individuals with a BMI ≥ 30 kg/m² exhibits no detectable metabolic derangements despite significant excess weight; this phenomenon is termed "metabolically healthy obesity," though its long-term health implications continue to be scrutinized in ongoing clinical research.
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