title: Invited commentary: limitations and usefulness of the metabolically healthy obesity phenotype.
abstract: The fraction of the obese population who appear to be free of the metabolic abnormalities that usually accompany excess adiposity has garnered a great deal of attention recently. The so-called "metabolically healthy obesity" concept is thought to offer a refinement of the traditional obesity definitions that are based solely on anthropometry. The commentary by Rey-López et al. (Am J Epidemiol. 2015;182(9):737-741) in this issue of the Journal highlights several limitations of the "metabolically healthy obesity" concept and calls into question its usefulness as a public health metric. We discuss several of the issues raised by these authors and offer some perspective on why the utility of this concept remains unresolved.
authors.forename: Patrick T
authors.initials: PT
authors.lastname: Bradshaw
authors.forename: June
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Stevens
mesh_terms: D050154:Adiposity; D000886:Anthropometry; D015992:Body Mass Index; D006801:Humans; D009765:Obesity / Q000453:epidemiology*; D000067329:Obesity, Metabolically Benign; D010641:Phenotype
keywords: metabolic syndrome; metabolically healthy obesity; obesity