For those with obesity, the answer to this question is pretty straightforward.
“If you have obesity, even if you’re metabolically healthy, it’s reasonable to try to lose weight,” Klein says.
Other experts echo his sentiments.
“Eventually, high weight takes its toll,” says Steven Heymsfield, MD, a professor of metabolism and body composition at Louisiana State University’s Pennington Biomedical Research Center in Baton Rouge. “People who have obesity their whole lives often need new hips and knees, or develop other functional problems, and healthy weight loss can prevent that to some extent.”
Everyone, at every size, benefits from eating a healthy diet with more whole foods and few ultra-processed foods. Likewise, getting regular exercise, a good night’s sleep, and generally moving more (and avoiding sedentary behaviors) are healthy behaviors. If adopting these healthy habits leads to weight loss in someone who has obesity, that’s almost always a good thing, he says.
But when it comes to people who are overweight, as opposed to those with obesity, the benefits of weight loss are less certain. Especially if a person who is overweight is living a generally healthy lifestyle, trying to drop weight may not always lead to health benefits, says Flegal.
Regardless of your body size, if your healthcare provider recommends that you lose weight, Klein says it’s helpful to ask a few questions.
“Ask what is the benefit of me losing weight, or why should I do this,” he says. “If they say your triglycerides are high, your blood pressure is on the edge of being abnormal, you have a family history of diabetes or you have prediabetes — all of those are major indications for weight loss benefits,” he says.
On the other hand, if your parents had obesity and “lived to 100 without major diseases,” and your body resembles their bodies — and you’re metabolically healthy — Klein says losing weight may not improve your metabolic health.