Back to top

Am I Morbidly Obese?

Answering this question may give you the courage you need to take the first step. Below are tools you can use to determine if you are morbidly obese and potentially a candidate for weight loss surgery. There are several medically accepted criteria for defining morbid obesity. You are morbidly obese if you:

1. have a Body Mass Index (BMI) of over 40, or
2. have a Body Mass Index (BMI) of over 35 and are experiencing severe negative health effects, such as diabetes or sleep apnea
3. are more than 100 lbs over your ideal body weight, and/or
4. are more than two times your ideal body weight

The most widely accepted criteria for defining Morbid Obesity is the Body Mass Index. In order to figure out if you are are more than 100 lbs. over your ideal body weight, and/or are more than two times your ideal body weight, you will have to figure out what your "ideal" body weight is. You can refer to a common standard table published by the Metropolitaln life insurance company down below.

Back to top

Calculating your Ideal Body Weight

Your Present Weight minus your Ideal Body Weight will give you your Excess Body Weight. In Weight Loss Surgery we often will follow your Excess Body Weight lost to keep track of your progress.

Back to top

“Do I Qualify for Surgery?” The criteria for weight loss surgery...

Now that you have calculated you Body Mass Index, you may wonder if you qualify for surgery.

The most commonly accepted criteria for Weight Loss Surgery come from the National Institutes of Health Consensus Conference. This was a group of physicians who met and looked at the world’s literature on obesity and the treatment of obesity. If you want read the complete report, it has a link on our WLS resources page, under National Institutes of Health and Gastric Surgery for Severe Obesity. This prestigious group came up with some very specific observations and recommendations on who should be candidates for Weight Loss Surgery.

To paraphrase, The NIH Consensus conference made the following recommendations:

1. Patients with BMI > 40 or > 35 with significant co-morbidities are candidates for surgery.
2. Patients should have a trial of medically supervised weight loss.
3. Surgeons performing Weight Loss Surgery should be dedicated & experienced in weight loss surgery
4. Surgeons performing Weight Loss Surgery should be associated with a multidisciplinary team
5. Lifelong surveillance of the patient is required.

Back to top

Your Insurance Company's Criteria

• Insurance carriers have required a wide variety of criteria to award their insured to have benefits for weight loss surgery, but most generally agree on #1 and #2 above. Some will calculate to assure that the patient is more than 100 lbs. over ideal body weight, and/or are more than two times over ideal body weight criteria.
• The Rocky Mountain Weight Loss Surgery Associates (Dr Fermelia and Dr. Parnell) adhere to these criteria.
• The American Society for Bariatric Surgery recommends Weight Loss Surgery according to these criteria.

Back to top