title: Metabolically healthy obesity: epidemiology, mechanisms, and clinical implications.
abstract: Obesity has become a worldwide epidemic that poses substantial health problems for both individuals and society. However, a proportion of obese individuals might not be at an increased risk for metabolic complications of obesity and, therefore, their phenotype can be referred to as metabolically healthy obesity. This novel concept of metabolically healthy obesity might become increasingly important to stratify individuals in the clinical treatment of obesity. However, no universally accepted criteria exist to define metabolically healthy obesity. Furthermore, many questions have been raised regarding the biological basis of this phenotype, the transitory nature of metabolically healthy obesity over time, and predictors of this phenotype. We describe the observational studies that gave rise to the idea of metabolically healthy obesity and the key parameters that can help to distinguish it from the general form of obesity. We also discuss potential biological mechanisms underlying metabolically healthy obesity and its public health and clinical implications.
authors.affiliation: Department of Internal Medicine IV, University Hospital Tübingen, Tübingen, Germany; Institute of Diabetes Research and Metabolic Diseases, Tübingen, Germany; German Center for Diabetes Research, Neuherberg, Germany.
authors.forename: Norbert
authors.initials: N
authors.lastname: Stefan
authors.affiliation: Department of Internal Medicine IV, University Hospital Tübingen, Tübingen, Germany; Institute of Diabetes Research and Metabolic Diseases, Tübingen, Germany; German Center for Diabetes Research, Neuherberg, Germany.
authors.forename: Hans-Ulrich
authors.initials: HU
authors.lastname: Häring
authors.affiliation: Department of Nutrition, Harvard School of Public Health, Boston, MA, USA; Channing Division of Network Medicine, Department of Medicine, Brigham and Women's Hospital and Harvard Medical School, Boston, MA, USA; Department of Epidemiology, Harvard School of Public Health, Boston, MA, USA.
authors.forename: Frank B
authors.initials: FB
authors.lastname: Hu
authors.affiliation: German Center for Diabetes Research, Neuherberg, Germany; Department of Molecular Epidemiology, German Institute of Human Nutrition Potsdam-Rehbruecke, Nuthetal, Germany. Electronic address: mschulze@dife.de.
authors.forename: Matthias B
authors.initials: MB
authors.lastname: Schulze
mesh_terms: D050110:Bariatric Surgery; D050218:Body Fat Distribution; D006262:Health; D006801:Humans; D007333:Insulin Resistance; D008019:Life Style; D009765:Obesity / Q000175:diagnosis / Q000453:epidemiology* / Q000378:metabolism* / Q000628:therapy*; D064887:Observational Studies as Topic; D011379:Prognosis; D013534:Survival; D061217:Weight Reduction Programs