ABSTRACT
Obesity is a serious and increasingly prevalent general medical condition that is now viewed as one of the major public health problems in the world. As summarized in chapter 2, obesity results from excess food intake relative to energy expenditure. Simply put, more calories are consumed than are burned off in daily life. Obesity is a markedly heterogeneous condition. As discussed earlier, the basic energy imbalance can occur from an array of complex genetic, biological, environmental, psychological, social, and behavioral factors that can differ across individuals and groups and even within individuals across the lifespan. With that context in mind, this chapter begins with an overview of the major assessment issues relevant to obesity. The major research ®ndings about treatments and interventions will then be summarized.
