Overfat and Underfat: New Terms and Definitions Long Overdue

Abstract

For the first time in human history, the number of obese people worldwide now exceeds those who are underweight. However, it is possible that there is an even more serious problem—an overfat pandemic comprised of people who exhibit metabolic health impairments associated with excess fat mass relative to lean body mass. Many overfat individuals, however, are not necessarily classified clinically as overweight or obese, despite the common use of body mass index as the clinical classifier of obesity and overweight. The well-documented obesity epidemic may merely be the tip of the overfat iceberg. The counterpart to the overfat condition is the underfat state, also a common and dangerous health circumstance associated with chronic illness and starvation. Currently (and paradoxically), high rates of obesity and overweight development coexist with undernutrition in developing countries. Studies in cognitive linguistics suggest that accurate, useful, and unintimidating terminology regarding abnormal body fat conditions could help increase a person’s awareness of their situation, helping the process of implementing prevention and simple remedies. Our contention is that promoting the terms “overfat” and “underfat” to describe body composition states to the point where they enter into common usage may help in creating substantive improvements in world health.

Examination of muscle morphology and neuromuscular function in normal weight and overfat children aged 7‐10 years

“…Using the %BF reference curves, 14 children fit the normal criteria and were placed in the normal weight group (NW). Eight fit the obese criteria, and the remaining seven were slightly below the 95th percentile (overweight) and were included in the overfat group (OF) . It is important to note that the %BF reference curves by McCarthy et al were created using bioelectrical impedance analyses vs the 3‐C model used in the current study.…”

“…Eight fit the obese criteria, and the remaining seven were slightly below the 95th percentile (overweight) and were included in the overfat group (OF). 30 It is important to note that the %BF reference curves by McCarthy et al 29 were created using bioelectrical impedance analyses vs the 3-C model used in the current study. None of the subjects reported any neuromuscular, metabolic diseases, or current/recent musculoskeletal injuries.…”

The Impact of Body Mass Index on Disease Progression in Ankylosing Spondylitis

“…When the incidence of being overweight was included within obesity statistics, rates of excess weight have been shown to be dramatically greater. Indeed, the WHO reported that, as a group, the obese and overweight adult population is now approaching 40% of the world's population, with rates in the US now at~66% (Maffetone et al, 2017). The excess of adipose tissue in overweight and obese individuals (routinely expressed by BMI) may have immunodulating properties affecting the course of the disease (Gremese et al, 2014).…”

Obesity, sedentarism and TMD‐pain in adolescents

“…We used the BC‐558 Ironman Segmental Body Composition Monitor—Tanita Corp., Tokyo, Japan. The monitor can classify the individuals as underfat (fat level below to healthy range), healthy (healthy fat level), overfat (fat level above of the healthy range) and obese (fat level high above compared to the healthy range) . The cut‐off points to discriminate between the various BIA classes are dependent on the individual's age and gender and have been described in detail in a previous publication …”