Updated on December 17, 2024.
Obesity is a common and complex health condition. Over 40 percent of American adults are affected by obesity, and an additional 30 percent are overweight. In the simplest terms, obesity is having an excessive amount of adipose tissue, commonly referred to as body fat. Adipose tissue supports and protects organs, stores energy, and produces hormones that help regulate hunger, metabolism, inflammation, and other processes.
Obesity disrupts many processes in the body, and it is associated with a wide range of serious health conditions and concerns—cardiovascular disease, diabetes, cancers, breathing problems, bone and joint disorders, and many others.
People who are affected by obesity are advised to speak to a healthcare provider about treatment. Treatment for obesity focuses on weight reduction and maintaining a healthier weight. For a person affected by obesity, weight reduction can help improve health.
Here is a look at some of the treatment options for obesity.
Changes to habits and lifestyle
Changes to the foods a person eats and increasing physical activity will be a part of every treatment plan for obesity. These elements of a treatment plan are also essential to helping a person maintain a healthier weight after weight reduction.
Changes to the foods a person eats
This will likely include reducing calorie intake, focusing on eating whole foods (such as lean proteins, vegetables, fruits, and whole grains), and reducing or eliminating junk foods (fast foods, sugary foods and beverages, salty snacks). People should work with a healthcare provider to build a personalized eating plan and nutrition guidelines. In the interest of health and safety, it’s strongly recommended to seek guidance from a healthcare provider before making significant diet changes.
Increasing physical activity
Engaging in regular physical activity will help a person get the most benefit from the other parts of their treatment plan. Regular exercise has many benefits beyond weight reduction—it improves cardiovascular health, metabolic health, and mental health, and it helps reduce a person’s risk of many diseases. While exercise is essential to a weight reduction program, anyone with obesity must be cleared by a healthcare provider to determine what types of exercise are safe and how many minutes of exercise a person should aim to achieve each week.
Counseling
Support is an essential part of treatment for obesity, and counseling can help a person navigate the psychological and social challenges of treatment. This can include patient education about food and nutrition, as well as psychotherapy to help identify unhealthy eating patterns, cope with stress, set goals, and learn strategies to make changes and build new habits.
Medical treatments for obesity
In some cases, medical treatments will be recommended alongside the lifestyle changes described above. Medical treatments include weight-loss medications and surgery.
Anti-obesity medications
There are numerous weight-loss or anti-obesity medications available by prescription through a healthcare provider. Different medications work in different ways. Most work by reducing appetite or improving satiety (how full a person feels after eating).
Bariatric surgery
Weight loss surgery is commonly referred to “bariatric surgery.” It includes several procedures to reduce the size of the stomach, which will limit the amount of food a person can consume. Some procedures improve how the body uses fat stores and cause hormonal changes that reduce appetite. Following surgery, a person will need to carefully follow a plan that includes lifestyle changes, follow-up visits, and exercise.
Remember, like any health condition, there is no best treatment for obesity, only the treatment that works best for a particular person. Your best source of information will be a healthcare provider.
