Carrying extra pounds may not look attractive from the outside, but it's been difficult to understand precisely the havoc it wreaks on your insides - until now.
Here, in a pair of astonishing pictures, we can see exactly what being overweight does to the organs, bones and muscles. These images of two women were taken by a magnetic resonance imaging (MRIRI) scanner and reveal in horrifying detail the obesity effect.
The woman on the left weighs just over 17 ½st, the one on the right just under 8 ½st. Their muscles (shown in red), bones (white), organs (black) and fat (yellow) are all clearly defined.
Spot the difference: The obese woman on the left has fat around her organs (shown by the yellow areas) and an enlarged heart which can have dire consequences on her health
As well as the fat sitting just under the skin (the fat you can pinch), these images reveal the fat inside the body wrapped around the organs.
To explain the impact of those extra pounds, we talked to Professor Jimmy Bell from Imperial College, London (the man who developed MRIRI to show body fat), and orthopaedic surgeon Mike Hayton and consultant radiologist Waqar Bhatti, both of Alexandra Hospital, Cheadle, Manchester.
Their comments make for alarming reading - for men as well as women. But the good news, says Professor Bell, is that you can change this picture through diet and exercise. These images provide a compelling incentive.
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