The primary purpose of fitness and body composition standards in the U.S. Armed Forces has always been to select individuals best suited to the physical demands of military service, based on the assumption that proper body weight and composition supports good health, physical fitness, and appropriate military appearance. The current epidemic of overweight and obesity in the United States affects the military services. The pool of available recruits is reduced because of failure to meet body composition standards for entry into the services and a high percentage of individuals exceeding military weight-for-height standards at the time of entry into the service leave the military before completing their term of enlistment. To aid in developing strategies for prevention and remediation of overweight in military personnel, the U.S. Army Medical Research and Materiel Command requested the Committee on Military Nutrition Research to review the scientific evidence for: factors that influence body weight, optimal components of a weight loss and weight maintenance program, and the role of gender, age, and ethnicity in weight management.

The fact that about 30-40% of the adults in the Western world are overweight or obese testifies to the frequency of the disturbances in body weight regulation. Scientists have established that caloric intake, macronutrient composition of the diet, basal and resting metabolic rate, thermic response to food, energy expenditure associated with movement and physical activity, and preferential storage of the surplus of calories as fat or lean tissues are critical determinants of energy balance and body weight. While much has been learned, the field is poised for major advances with the advent of a variety of imaging techniques, progress in quantitative and molecular genetics, use of transgenic rodent models and of breeding experiments with informative inbred strains, availability of stable isotopes for metabolic and behavioral studies, and a growing number of useful experimental animal and human models. This volume takes an integrative approach to obesity. It is structured around four major topics: (1) the animal and human models currently available for the study of body weight regulation with their strengths and limitations, (2) the molecular and genetic basis of the regulation of body weight, (3) the metabolic and physiological mechanisms involved, and (4) the behavioral and social determinants. The 13 background papers provide a critical overview of the present knowledge base while the group reports summarize the extensive deliberations of 38 international experts. Particular emphasis has been given to promising research areas and on the advances needed to ensure a better understanding of the biological and behavioral mechanisms of the regulation of body weight, with a particular emphasis on overweight and obesity.

Fat isn't the problem. Dieting is the problem. A society that rejects anyone whose body shape or size doesn't match an impossible ideal is the problem. A medical establishment that equates "thin" with "healthy" is the problem. The solution? Health at Every Size. Tune in to your body's expert guidance. Find the joy in movement. Eat what you want, when you want, choosing pleasurable foods that help you to feel good. You too can feel great in your body right now—and Health at Every Size will show you how. Health at Every Size has been scientifically proven to boost health and self-esteem. The program was evaluated in a government-funded academic study, its data published in well-respected scientific journals. Updated with the latest scientific research and even more powerful messages, Health at Every Size is not a diet book, and after reading it, you will be convinced the best way to win the war against fat is to give up the fight.

Mainstream health science has let you down. Weight loss is not the key to health, diet and exercise are not effective weight-loss strategies and fatness is not a death sentence. You've heard it before: there's a global health crisis, and, unless we make some changes, we're in trouble. That much is true—but the epidemic is NOT obesity. The real crisis lies in the toxic stigma placed on certain bodies and the impact of living with inequality—not the numbers on a scale. In a mad dash to shrink our bodies, many of us get so caught up in searching for the perfect diet, exercise program, or surgical technique that we lose sight of our original goal: improved health and well-being. Popular methods for weight loss don't get us there and lead many people to feel like failures when they can't match unattainable body standards. It's time for a cease-fire in the war against obesity. Dr. Linda Bacon and Dr. Lucy Aphramor's Body Respect debunks common myths about weight, including the misconceptions that BMI can accurately measure health, that fatness necessarily leads to disease, and that dieting will improve health. They also help make sense of how poverty and oppression—such as racism, homophobia, and classism—affect life opportunity, self-worth, and even influence metabolism. Body insecurity is rampant, and it doesn't have to be. It's time to overcome our culture's shame and distress about weight, to get real about inequalities and health, and to show every body respect.

"The first-ever weight-loss plan specifically designed to stop-and reverse-age-related weight gain and muscle loss, while shrinking your belly, extending your life, and creating your healthiest self at mid-life and beyond"--

This book surveys the entire field of body composition as it relates to performance. It includes a clear definition of terminology and a discussion of the various methods for measuring body composition. The authored papers represent a state-of-the-art review of this controversial field and address questions such as: What is a better measure of body compositionâ€"body fat or lean body mass? Does being overweight for one's height really affect performance? The book also addresses the issue of physical appearance as it relates to body fatness and performance. It includes an in-depth discussion of many of the topics of interest to those involved in sports medicine and exercise physiology.

Beloved, best-selling science writer Mary Roach’s “acutely entertaining, morbidly fascinating” (Susan Adams, Forbes) classic, now with a new epilogue. For two thousand years, cadavers – some willingly, some unwittingly – have been involved in science’s boldest strides and weirdest undertakings. They’ve tested France’s first guillotines, ridden the NASA Space Shuttle, been crucified in a Parisian laboratory to test the authenticity of the Shroud of Turin, and helped solve the mystery of TWA Flight 800. For every new surgical procedure, from heart transplants to gender confirmation surgery, cadavers have helped make history in their quiet way. “Delightful—though never disrespectful” (Les Simpson, Time Out New York), Stiff investigates the strange lives of our bodies postmortem and answers the question: What should we do after we die? “This quirky, funny read offers perspective and insight about life, death and the medical profession. . . . You can close this book with an appreciation of the miracle that the human body really is.” —Tara Parker-Pope, Wall Street Journal “Gross, educational, and unexpectedly sidesplitting.” —Entertainment Weekly