Do People Who Have Thyroid Disease Become Obese?

Posted on Mon, 2 Mar 2015

Medically reviewed by Ask A Doctor - 24x7 Medical Review Team

Mon, 2 Mar 2015 Answered on

Wed, 18 Mar 2015 Last reviewed on

Question : Do people with thyroid disease have to be obese?

Answered by Dr. Shehzad Topiwala (20 minutes later)

Brief Answer:
No

Detailed Answer:
This is a common misconception.

People tend to blame the thyroid for their excess body weight.

Now that being said, when a person has an underactive thyroid ('Hypothyroidism') then it can cause moderate weight gain or at least difficulty losing weight.
However it is extremely unlikely for that person to become severely obese.

Please bear in mind that if someone has hypothyroidism and is adequately treated with medication for it, then that person's excess weight cannot be attributed to thyroid problems.

Above answer was peer-reviewed by : Dr. Chakravarthy Mazumdar