Diagnosis and Staging

Treatment and Setting Realistic Goals

Treatment

Health care professionals use an approach known as obesity staging to describe the impact of obesity on a person's health. Obesity staging goes beyond numbers such as weight and body mass index to account for any weight-related medical complications you may have.

Obesity can be classified as stage 1, 2, or 3:

  • Stage 1: Obesity with no obesity-related complications
  • Stage 2: Obesity with one or more mild to moderate obesity-related complications
  • Stage 3: Obesity with one or more severe obesity-related complications

Determining your stage of obesity can help guide the discussions you and your health care professional have about your weight-management goals and treatment plan. Below are treatment recommendations for each stage of obesity.

Stage 1 Planning and Treatment

Treatment plans for stage 1 obesity focus on making lifestyle changes to manage your weight or prevent additional weight gain. Here's why: While you have no weight-related complications now, you could develop them down the line. Shedding excess weight — or staying at your current weight — can reduce your risk of future complications and weight-related cancers.

Learn more about stage 1 treatment recommendations:

Treatment Options

 

Stage 2 Planning and Treatment

The treatment goals for stage 2 obesity are to:

  • Manage your weight.
  • Improve your obesity-related health condition(s).
  • Prevent other chronic health conditions from occurring in the future.

Learn more about stage 2 treatment recommendations:

Treatment Options

 

Stage 3 Planning and Treatment

The treatment goals for stage 3 obesity are to:

  • Reduce your weight.
  • Improve your obesity-related health condition(s).
  • Prevent other chronic health conditions from occurring in the future.

Learn more about stage 3 treatment recommendations:

Treatment Options

 

Did You Know?

Clinical Trials

  • Clinical trials help determine the effectiveness in screening for, diagnosing, treating, or preventing a certain disease or condition and are a critical part of the ongoing work of researchers to discover new medical therapies and improve existing ones. View links to clinical trials here.