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Obesity: Understanding and Achieving a Healthy Weight

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Book cover Nutrition Guide for Physicians

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

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Key Points

  • Obesity is a chronic problem that is increasing in prevalence, affecting both adults and children.

  • A small positive energy imbalance causes the problem, but focusing on calories may not be as productive as modulating some of the economic and societal factors.

  • Obesity increases risk of death and many diseases; weight loss provides benefits in reducing health risks and improving the quality of life.

  • Treatments must redress the energy imbalance. Diet, lifestyle modification, and exercise are the cornerstones of treatment.

  • Two drugs are approved by the FDA for long-term treatment, and they can effectively improve health-related risks.

  • Bariatric surgery has become a major treatment strategy and has proven that it can reduce long-term health risks from obesity.

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Suggested Further Reading

  • The following Web sites contain good information or handouts to determine whether following a particular diet will be harmful or not:

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  • The Federal Trade Commission, http://www.ftc.gov, which includes “Weighing the Evidence in Diet Ads”

  • The American Heart Association’s Fad Diets, at http://www.americanheart.org

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Author information

Authors and Affiliations

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

    George A. Bray MD & Catherine M. Champagne PHD, RD

Authors
  1. George A. Bray MD
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  2. Catherine M. Champagne PHD, RD
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Editor information

Editors and Affiliations

  1. Dept. Biology, Winona State University, Winona, 54603, U.S.A.

    Ted Wilson

  2. Pennington Biomedical Research Center, Louisiana State University, Perkins Rd. 6400, Baton Rouge, 70808, U.S.A.

    George A. Bray

  3. Centre for Science, Athabasca University, Athabasca, T9S 3A3, Canada

    Norman J. Temple

  4. Dept. Foods & Nutrition, College of St. Elizabeth, Morristown, 07960, U.S.A.

    Maria Boyle Struble

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© 2010 Humana Press, a part of Springer Science+Business Media, LLC

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Bray, G.A., Champagne, C.M. (2010). Obesity: Understanding and Achieving a Healthy Weight. In: Wilson, T., Bray, G., Temple, N., Struble, M. (eds) Nutrition Guide for Physicians. Nutrition and Health. Humana Press. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-60327-431-9_22

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-60327-431-9_22

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  • Publisher Name: Humana Press

  • Print ISBN: 978-1-60327-430-2

  • Online ISBN: 978-1-60327-431-9

  • eBook Packages: MedicineMedicine (R0)

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