ABSTRACT
I. INTRODUCTION Obesity is variably defined as having a body weight of more than 20% over ideal body weight or a body mass index [weight (kg)/height (m)2] of 30 or more (1). Obesity is associated with many chronic diseases and alterations in physiological function, including cardiovascular disease, hypertension, diabetes mellitus, gallbladder disease, and certain types of cancer (2). Obesity is a major public health problem in the United States and Europe and is becoming increasingly important in many other areas of the world (3). The prevalence of obesity in adults in the United States has increased by 30% or more in the past decade, with increases in both genders and in all ethnic and racial populations and age groups (4). It is now estimated that in the United States more than one-third of the total adult population and one-half of the adult African American and Hispanic population are obese (5).
