Health Information

Find out the facts about eating disorders, including what they are, who’s affected by them and what to do if you need help.

Sudden, noticeable weight loss can happen after a stressful event, although it can also be a sign of a serious illness. It's normal to lose a noticeable amount of weight after the stress of changing jobs, divorce, redundancy or bereavement. Weight often returns to normal when you start to feel happier, after you've had time to grieve or get used to the change.

Obesity is a term used to describe somebody who is very overweight, with a lot of body fat. It's a common problem, estimated to affect around one in every four adults and around one in every five children aged 10 to 11 in the UK.

Weight loss surgery, also called bariatric surgery, is used to treat people who are dangerously obese. This type of surgery is only available on the NHS to treat people with potentially life-threatening obesity when other treatments, such as lifestyle changes, haven't worked.

Being very overweight, or obese, which is usually defined as having a body mass index (BMI) of more than 30, is increasingly common.

Obesity hypoventilation (HI-po-ven-tih-LA-shun) syndrome (OHS) is a breathing disorder that affects some obese people. In OHS, poor breathing results in too much carbon dioxide (hypoventilation) and too little oxygen in the blood (hypoxemia).

The terms "overweight" and "obesity" refer to body weight that's greater than what is considered healthy for a certain height.

A very low-calorie diet (VLCD) is not just any diet that is low in calories. It is a special type of diet that replaces all of your meals with prepared formulas, often in the form of liquid shakes.

Discusses the links between excess weight and many health conditions and explains how reaching and maintaining a normal weight may help with staying healthy later in life.

Binge eating means eating a large amount of food in ?a short period of time. Most of us may overeat during a special occasion, like a holiday. But people who have this disorder binge eat on a regular basis and feel a lack of control over their eating.

Bariatric surgery is an operation on the stomach and/or intestines that helps patients with extreme obesity to lose weight. This surgery is an option for people who cannot lose weight by other means or who suffer from serious health problems related to obesity.

Reaching and maintaining a healthy weight is important for overall health and can help you prevent and control many diseases and conditions.