Abstract

Early evaluation of obesity is important. Obesity is defined as an excessive accumulation of fat that causes harm to health. Among patients who visit a hospital for weight-related issues, diseases other than body fat gain may be present; however, people often cannot distinguish between these issues and concerns. Therefore, among patients who visit the hospital with weight gain concerns, it is necessary to determine whether the weight gain is actually the result of excessive fat accumulation. After being diagnosed with obesity, the cause and degree of obesity, the amount and distribution of body fat, and the degree of risk should be evaluated. Additionally, obesity-related complications should be identified and, even if there are no complications, all related risk factors should be evaluated and managed. In all these processes, diagnostic methods such as history taking, physical examination, body fat measurement, blood tests, and imaging tests are necessary, but history taking and physical examination, which can provide a lot of information from the beginning, should not be overlooked.