Managing And Preventing Obesity

Obesity is an increasing problem on a global scale, and strategies for its prevention involve experts from many disciplines including nutritionists, physicians, policy-makers and public health professionals. This book covers the latest advances in obesity development, management and prevention with specific focus on dietary interventions. Part one covers the development of obesity and key drivers for its continuation and increase. Part two looks at the role of specific dietary components in obesity management, and part three discusses the role of behavioural factors such as eating patterns in managing and preventing obesity. Part four focuses on structured dietary interventions for obesity treatment, and part five looks at public interventions and consumer issues. Reviews how different foods and diets can affect obesity management Examines various ways of preventing and treating obesity Explores how governments and industries are preventing and treating obesity

This report issues a call for urgent action to combat the growing epidemic of obesity, which now affects developing and industrialized countries alike. Adopting a public health approach, the report responds to both the enormity of health problems associated with obesity and the notorious difficulty of treating this complex, multifactorial disease. With these problems in mind, the report aims to help policy-makers introduce strategies for prevention and management that have the greatest chance of success. The importance of prevention as the most sensible strategy in developing countries, where obesity coexists with undernutrition, is repeatedly emphasized. Recommended lines of action, which reflect the consensus reached by 25 leading authorities, are based on a critical review of current scientific knowledge about the causes of obesity in both individuals and populations. While all causes are considered, major attention is given to behavioural and societal changes that have increased the energy density of diets, overwhelmed sophisticated regulatory systems that control appetite and maintain energy balance, and reduced physical activity. Specific topics discussed range from the importance of fat content in the food supply as a cause of population-wide obesity, through misconceptions about obesity held by both the medical profession and the public, to strategies for dealing with the alarming prevalence of obesity in children. "... the volume is clearly written, and carries a wealth of summary information that is likely to be invaluable for anyone interested in the public health aspects of obesity and fatness, be they students, practitioner or researcher." - Journal of Biosocial Science

Nearly one out of every three adults in America is obese and tens of millions of people in the United States are dieting at any one time. This has resulted in a weight-loss industry worth billions of dollars a year and growing. What are the long-term results of weight-loss programs? How can people sort through the many programs available and select one that is right for them? Weighing the Options strives to answer these questions. Despite widespread public concern about weight, few studies have examined the long-term results of weight-loss programs. One reason that evaluating obesity management is difficult is that no other treatment depends so much on an individual's own initiative and state of mind. Now, a distinguished group of experts assembled by the Institute of Medicine addresses this compelling issue. Weighing the Options presents criteria for evaluating treatment programs for obesity and explores what these criteria meanâ€"to health care providers, program designers, researchers, and even overweight people seeking help. In presenting its criteria the authors offer a wealth of information about weight loss: how obesity is on the rise, what types of weight-loss programs are available, how to define obesity, how well we maintain weight loss, and what approaches and practices appear to be most successful. Information about weight-loss programsâ€"their clients, staff qualifications, services, and success ratesâ€"necessary to make wise program choices is discussed in detail. The book examines how client demographics and characteristicsâ€"including health status, knowledge of weight-loss issues, and attitude toward weight and body imageâ€"affect which programs clients choose, how successful they are likely to be with their choices, and what this means for outcome measurement. Short- and long-term safety consequences of weight loss are discussed as well as clinical assessment of individual patients. The authors document the health risks of being overweight, summarizing data indicating that even a small weight loss reduces the risk of disease and depression and increases self-esteem. At the same time, weight loss has been associated with some poor outcomes, and the book discusses the implications for program evaluation. Prevention can be even more important than treatment. In Weighing the Options, programs for population groups, efforts targeted to specific groups at high risk for obesity, and prevention of further weight gain in obese individuals get special attention. This book provides detailed guidance on how the weight-loss industry can improve its programs to help people be more successful at long-term weight loss. And it provides consumers with tips on selecting a program that will improve their chances of permanently losing excess weight.

The World Health Organization estimates that there are 2.1 billion individuals with obesity globally. Nearly three quarters of adults in the United States are overweight or obese. The average individual with obesity cuts ten years off their life expectancy, yet less than 40% of physicians routinely counsel individuals concerning the adverse health consequences of obesity. Obesity Prevention and Treatment: A Practical Guide equips healthcare practitioners to include effective weight management counselling in the daily practice of medicine. Written by lifestyle medicine pioneer and cardiologist, Dr. James Rippe and obesity expert Dr. John Foreyt, this book provides evidence-based discussions of obesity and its metabolic consequences. A volume in the Lifestyle Medicine Series, it provides evidence-based information about the prevention and treatment of obesity through lifestyle measures, such as regular physical activity and sound nutrition, as well as the use of new medications or bariatric surgery available to assist in weight management. Provides a framework and practical strategies to assist practitioners in safe and effective treatments of obesity. Contains information explaining the relationship between obesity and increased risk of heart disease, diabetes, cancer, osteoarthritis, and other chronic conditions. Chapters begin with bulleted key points and conclude with a list of Clinical Applications. Written for practitioners at all levels, this user-friendly, evidence-based book on obesity prevention and treatment will be valuable to practitioners in general medicine or subspecialty practices.

Cardiovascular, respiratory, and related conditions cause more than 40 percent of all deaths globally, and their substantial burden is rising, particularly in low- and middle-income countries (LMICs). Their burden extends well beyond health effects to include significant economic and societal consequences. Most of these conditions are related, share risk factors, and have common control measures at the clinical, population, and policy levels. Lives can be extended and improved when these diseases are prevented, detected, and managed. This volume summarizes current knowledge and presents evidence-based interventions that are effective, cost-effective, and scalable in LMICs.

Nutrition in the Prevention and Treatment of Abdominal Obesity focuses on the important roles that exercise, dietary changes, and foods play in promoting as well as reducing visceral fat. Nutritionists, dieticians, and healthcare providers seeking to address the abdominal obesity epidemic will use this comprehensive resource as a tool in their long-term goal of preventing chronic diseases, especially heart, vascular, and diabetic diseases. Experts from a broad range of disciplines are involved in dealing with the consequences of excessive abdominal fat: cardiology, diabetes research, studies of lipids, endocrinology and metabolism, nutrition, obesity, and exercise physiology. They have contributed chapters that define a range of dietary approaches to reducing risk and associated chronic diseases. They begin by defining visceral obesity and its major outcomes; they also discuss the importance and the challenges of dietary approaches to reduce abdominal obesity, as compared to clinical approaches, with major costs and risks. Offers detailed, well-documented reviews outlining the various dietary approaches to visceral obesity with their benefits and failures Includes chapters on types of foods, exercise, and supplements in reducing obesity and its chronic clinical companions, especially diabetes and cardiovascular disease Helps nutritionists, dieticians, and healthcare providers approach patients in making decision about nutritional therapies and clinical treatments for abdominal obesity, from an evidence-based perspective

To battle the obesity epidemic in America, health care professionals and policymakers need relevant, useful data on the effectiveness of obesity prevention policies and programs. Bridging the Evidence Gap in Obesity Prevention identifies a new approach to decision making and research on obesity prevention to use a systems perspective to gain a broader understanding of the context of obesity and the many factors that influence it.

This book addresses the ever increasing problem of obesity in children and adolescents, the long-term health and social problems that arise from this, and approaches to prevention and management. Aimed at doctors, and all health-care professionals, it will be of interest to all those concerned with the increasing prevalence of obesity in both the developed and developing world. It covers all aspects of obesity from epidemiology and prevention to recent developments in biochemistry and genetics, and to the varied approaches to management which are influenced by social and clinical need. A foreword by William Dietz and a forward-looking 'future perspectives' conclusion by Philip James embrace an international team of authors, all with first-hand experience of the issues posed by obesity in the young. This comprehensive survey of an important and growing medical problem will help inform, influence and educate those charged with tackling this crisis.