The effects of obesity on orthopaedic foot and ankle pathology

Background: It is believed that obese individuals may have an increased number of foot and ankle problems. The World Health Organization recommends a standard classification of adult overweight and obesity using the following body mass index (BMI) calculations: a BMI of 25.0 to 29.9 kg per m2 is defined as overweight; a BMI of 30.0 kg per m2 or more is defined as obesity. The purpose of this paper was to report a survey of 1411 patients in an orthopaedic foot and ankle practice and compare the incidence of orthopaedic foot and ankle complaints with the BMI. Method: One thousand four hundred and eleven adults, including 887(62.4%) women and 535(37.6%) men, were evaluated in this study. The BMI was calculated for each subject using the standards of the World Health Organization. The subjects were divided into two groups: normal and overweight. The normal weight subjects had a BMI of 18.5 to 24.9 (n = 684; 48.1%) and the overweight or obese group had a BMI greater than or equal to 25 (n = 738; 51.9%). Result...