Why was class III obesity called morbid obesity?

Why was class III obesity called morbid obesity?

The term “morbid obesity” was coined by two healthcare providers in 1963 in order to justify insurance reimbursement for the cost of intestinal bypass surgery for weight loss in people with a BMI over 40.

In a medical setting, “morbidity” means illness or disease. Healthcare professionals also often use the term “comorbidity,” which means that an individual has more than one illness or disease occurring at the same time. The medical meaning of “morbid” is appropriate in describing this type of obesity since class III obesity is considered a disease and is often associated with other chronic health conditions.

The problem is that, like many words, “morbid” has another meaning. Outside of the medical setting, “morbid” means disturbing or unpleasant. Since most people aren’t familiar with the medical definition, they connected morbid (class III) obesity and people with obesity to those negative words. The use of “morbid” in describing obesity adds to the false and problematic societal stigma that suggests that people with obesity lack the willpower to lose weight, when this is almost always not the case.

Now, healthcare providers, researchers and health organizations, such as the World Health Organization (WHO), use the term “class III obesity” in place of “morbid obesity.”