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Obese is a medical term used to describe a person with a high excess of body fat compared to lean body tissue, ie muscle.

A person is said to be obese if they have such a high excess of body fat that their health might be affected. An obese person is at greater risk of:

• type 2 diabetes
• heart disease
• some types of cancer

A person becomes obese by eating food that supplies more energy than they need.

On average, a 13-year old girl needs about 9,000 kilojoules (KJ) of energy each day. Boys the same age need around 10,000 KJ/day. Adult women need roughly 8,400 KJ/day and adult men need roughly 10,500 KJ/day. Increased exercise will increase the amount of energy the body needs.

If people consistently eat food that supplies more energy than their bodies need, this is stored by the body and they might eventually become obese.

Obese individuals are advised to adjust their diet in order to limit:

• fats which have a high calorific value
• free sugars which require no energy to be expended in order to digest them