There is a need to improve and optimize strategies for weight loss maintenance to make them more effective for more individuals.

What are the most effective weight loss/weight gain prevention strategies for high risk groups?

Will integration of behavior science in clinical research improve effectiveness of interventions for HLBS diseases associated with behavioral risk factors?

Will sensitivity to the psychological aspects of obesity, including lifestyle priorities and motivations, improve the efficacy of long-term effectiveness of weight loss and obesity prevention interventions?

There is a need to use an integrated systems approach to obesity prevention and treatment. Obesity is a complex phenotype influenced by factors from the molecular to the socio-economic level. To address the causes and prevention of obesity, we need to integrate information at the molecular level with behavioral, social and environmental data. This will require investigators in molecular biology, genetics, epidemiology,... more »

What novel lifestyle and behavioral modification therapies are needed to prevent or treat youth with severe obesity (>99th percentile for BMI) versus those who are overweight?

 

Can we harness ongoing registries such as POWER (Pediatric Obesity Weight Evaluation Registry) in pediatric primary care (PC) settings to implement novel trials that would link PC and community settings to prevent severe obesity in youth?

How does maternal obesity before or during pregnancy affect the intrauterine environment and increase the risk of overweight/obesity in the offspring?

How does maternal dietary intake during pregnancy impact weight in the offspring?

What types of interventions are most effective for preventing excessive gestational weight gain among high risk groups?

For patients with obesity and medical comorbidities, what is the optimal approach utilizing multiple therapies (low calorie structured diet, intensive lifestyle, weight loss medications) in combination to optimize weight loss?

Twice I was allowed to develop severe heart failure symptoms that required hospitalization to treat because my primary care physician assumed that my ONLY problem was that I am fat.

Every doctor knows that obesity can lead to the development of diabetes, heart diseases, joint damage and yet too many doctors on the frontlines just say: You're fat go diet.

My first experience with this was when I was first diagnosed... more »

What characteristics of sleep relate to obesity and does improving sleep using medication help with changes linked to obesity and in the end with weight?

Weight loss in response to interventions (both short term and long term maintenance) varies widely between individuals. What is the optimal use of the current molecular arsenal (genomics, metabolomics, expression arrays, etc.) to accurately predict individuals that will respond favorably to specific weight loss strategies?

What is the basis for relative resistance or vulnerabilities to obesity or related adverse health effects observed in various segments of population?

What are the specific contributors of obesity that lead to chronic positive energy balance and surplus energy storage?

The Challenge is to make behavioral weight loss programs readily available to he many overweight and obese patients who need them. Behaivoral weight loss programs are effective in producing weight losses of 7-10% of initial body weight, which has been shown to have major beneficial effects on a number of diseases relevant to NHLBI--including hypertension and sleep apnea. However, at present, these programs are not widely... more »

The major challenge we face is that of the epidemic of obesity. It affects more than half the population, particularly Hispanics, blacks and those in the lower income bracket.

It is responsible for premature death, coronary disease, acute myocardial infarction. Atrial fibrillation and cancer.