Rationalities and models of obesity -- Energy balance, genetics and obesogenic environments -- Governance through measurement -- Inequalities -- Food and eating -- Global transformations of diet -- Obesity science and policy -- Complexity -- Systems and rationalities

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.

Taking a comparative approach, this book investigates the ways in which obesity and its susceptibilities are framed in science and policy and how they might work better. Providing a clear, authoritative voice on the debate, the author builds on early work to engage further in ecological and complexity thinking in obesity. Many of the models that have emerged since obesity became a population-level issue are examined, including the energy balance model, and models used to examine human body fatness from a range of perspectives including evolutionary, anthropological, environmental, and political viewpoints. The book is ideal for those working on, or interested in, obesity science, health policy, health economics, evolutionary medicine, medical sociology, nutrition and public health who want to understand the shifts that have taken place in obesity science, policy, and intervention in the past forty years.

This volume presents criteria for evaluating treatment programs for obesity and explores what these criteria mean--to health care providers, program designers, researchers, and even overweight people seeking help. Discusses information necessary to make wise program choices and evaluations; examines how client demographics and characteristics--including health status, knowledge of weight-loss issues, and attitude toward weight and body image--affect these programs.

This chapter aims to review literature on different aspects of obesity from fat-rich diets in non-human species. Usefulness of using small rodents in animal models to infer aspects of human obesity is discussed in terms of similarities and differences and how obesity is defined. The paradigm of using fat-rich diets in animal models of human obesity is explored according to its adequacy and dietary characteristics related to fatty acid composition. Physiological factors and mechanisms that can play a role in the development of obesity induced by a diet rich in fat are examined, namely the efficiency of nutrient utilization and the possible lack of inhibitory effect of fat on intake. The role of hormones such as leptin, ghrelin and insulin is discussed. Bevavioural mechanisms related to sensory-specific facilitation of eating with fat rich diets, altered feeding rhythmicity and learned eating are considered. The possible reversal of fat-rich diet induced obesity in animal models is explored. This chapter concludes with comments on appropriate design of animal studies and suggestions for future research.