Vicente Sanhueza Osses¹, Manuel Alvarez Vaccaro² and Alejandro Alvarez Jara³

¹Medical Intern, Faculty of Medicine, University of Concepción, Chile
²Third-Year Medical Student, Faculty of Medicine, Universidad del Desarrollo Santiago de Chile
³Pediatrician, Pediatric and Fetal Cardiologist. Pediatric Service and Fetal Examination Unit, Guillermo Grant Benavente Hospital, Concepción, Chile

*Corresponding Author: Alejandro Alvarez Jara, Pediatrician, Pediatric and Fetal Cardiologist. Pediatric Service and Fetal Examination Unit, Guillermo Grant Benavente Hospital, Concepción, Chile.

Received: March 19, 2025; Published: April 11, 2025

Abstract

Obesity was first recognized as a disease in 1948, when the World Health Organization (WHO) included it in its International Classification of Diseases. Traditionally, its diagnosis has been based on the body mass index (BMI). In the case of children and adolescents (CHI), growth charts recommended by the WHO have been used, considering age, sex, weight, and height. However, the definition of obesity has recently undergone significant changes. It is proposed that a BMI ≥30 kg/m² should not be the sole diagnostic criterion, in order to avoid classifying all people with a high BMI as “sick,” reduce social stigma, and thus protect mental health.

References

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Citation

Citation: Alejandro Alvarez Jara., et al. “The Silent Pandemic: Obesity"Acta Scientific Nutritional Health 9.5 (2025): 38-40.

Copyright

Copyright: © 2025 Alejandro Alvarez Jara., et al. This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License, which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original author and source are credited.