Jones & Bartlett Learning (JBL) Module 3 Practice Exam

Understanding obesity in this context means looking at how much weight a person has beyond their ideal weight. The guideline used here defines obesity as having a weight that is 30% or more above the ideal weight. You determine this with percent excess weight = (actual weight − ideal weight) ÷ ideal weight × 100%. For example, if the ideal weight is 100 pounds, reaching 130 pounds is a 30% excess and would be classified as obese. A weight of 120 pounds would be a 20% excess (overweight, not obese), and 115 pounds would be a 15% excess (not obese). Ideal weight is often estimated using formulas that take height and sex into account, such as the Hamwi method.