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Obesity: Understanding and Achieving a Healthy Weight

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Nutrition Guide for Physicians and Related Healthcare Professions

Part of the book series: Nutrition and Health ((NH))

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Abstract

Obesity is a chronic, relapsing, stigmatized disease process that is increasing in prevalence, affecting both adults and children. It is the result of a small positive energy imbalance from too much food or too little activity. These underlying causes are influenced by many environmental factors. The food we eat is more than “calories,” and focusing on calories alone may not be as productive as focusing on patterns of eating and the role of sugar and fat in the diet. Obesity increases the risk of many diseases and shortens life span, and weight loss provides benefits in reducing health risks and improving the quality of life. Management of obesity must redress the energy imbalance using one of several strategies, including diet, lifestyle modification, exercise, medications, and, potentially, bariatric surgery. Five drugs are approved by the FDA for long-term treatment of obesity, and they can effectively improve health-related risks. Bariatric surgery has become a major treatment strategy and can reduce long-term health risks from obesity.

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Suggested Further Readings

  • Apovian CM, Aronne LJ, Bessesen DH, et al. Pharmacologic management of obesity: an endocrine society clinical practice guideline. J Clin Endocrinol Metab. 2015; https://doi.org/10.1210/jc.2014-3415.

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    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Bray GA, Heisel WE, Afshin A, Jensen MD, Dietz WH, Long M, et al. The science of obesity management: an endocrine society scientific statement. Endocr Rev. 2018 Apr 1;39(2):79–132.

    Article  PubMed  PubMed Central  Google Scholar 

  • Davis RAH, Plaisance EP, Allison DB. Complementary hypotheses on contributors to the obesity epidemic. Obesity (Silver Spring). 2018 Jan;26(1):17–21.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Ge L, Sadeghirad B, Ball GDC, da Costa BR, Hitchcock CL, Svendrovski A, et al. Comparison of dietary macronutrient patterns of 14 popular named dietary programmes for weight and cardiovascular risk factor reduction in adults: systematic review and network meta-analysis of randomised trials. BMJ. 2020;369:m696.

    Article  PubMed  PubMed Central  Google Scholar 

  • Jensen MD, Ryan DH, Donato KA, et al. Guidelines (2013) for managing overweight and obesity in adults. Obesity. 2014;22(S2):S1–S410.

    Google Scholar 

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Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Pennington Biomedical Research Center, Baton Rouge, LA, USA

    George A. Bray & Catherine M. Champagne

Authors
  1. George A. Bray
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  2. Catherine M. Champagne
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Correspondence to George A. Bray .

Editor information

Editors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Biology, Winona State University, Winona, MN, USA

    Ted Wilson

  2. Athabasca University Centre for Science, Athabasca, AB, Canada

    Norman J. Temple

  3. Pennington Biomedical Research Center, Baton Rouge, LA, USA

    George A. Bray

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Bray, G.A., Champagne, C.M. (2022). Obesity: Understanding and Achieving a Healthy Weight. In: Wilson, T., Temple, N.J., Bray, G.A. (eds) Nutrition Guide for Physicians and Related Healthcare Professions. Nutrition and Health. Humana, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-82515-7_9

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-82515-7_9

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  • Publisher Name: Humana, Cham

  • Print ISBN: 978-3-030-82514-0

  • Online ISBN: 978-3-030-82515-7

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