Health Center - Obesity
About one-third of American women 20 years of age and older are considered obese, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Obesity is caused by multiple factors, both environmental and inherited. Learn more about this complex disorder, including risk factors and key strategies for weight loss.
Obesity Guide
Understanding Surgical Options for Obesity
If you struggle with clinically severe obesity and have been unable to reduce your weight by lifestyle changes, your health care provider may recommend surgery. Many people, including some health care professionals, wrongly believe that obese people merely need to stop eating so much to lose weight. In reality, extreme obesity is a potentially deadly disease that sometimes requires a treatment as dramatic as surgery. Surgery is an option for carefully selected patients under the care of a health care professional. The surgery, called bariatric surgery, reduces the size of your stomach, limiting the amount of food it can hold. Most physicians consider people for the surgery who:
