This activity will highlight new updates in our understanding of how diabesity develops and describe the negative physiologic effects of this disease on multiple body systems, notably the cardiovascular and renal systems. Optimal treatments for diabesity will be identified, along with an overview of the health burden of diabesity related to long-term complications and reduced function, quality of life and life expectancy. 

Obesity, a major health concern that now affects over 40 percent of the U.S. population, is highly influenced by multiple factors and social determinants of health (SDOH), including disparities in health care access, morbidity and mortality rates, health behavior, and multiple risk factors. Diagnostic disparities may also exist: data on body mass index (BMI) thresholds — used in diagnosis and metabolic and cardiovascular evaluation — indicate variations in specific race/ethnicity and gender subgroups that may not be incorporated in current practice. These disparities and how they are currently being addressed are discussed during this session, as well as the prevalence of obesity and concomitant conditions such as heart disease, diabetes, and cancer among populations of varying age, sex, race/ethnicity, and SDOH.

This activity focuses on the physiological processes that occur in obesity and cause fundamental changes in neurocircuitry that impact mental and physical health, sleep, aging, and the experience of pain. Participants will examine the cycle of obesity and how bias, stigma, discrimination, and adverse childhood experiences (ACEs) negatively contribute to these mental and physical effects.

This activity will provide an overview of obesity as a complex and chronic disease, will review its classification, and will examine the factors that cause weight loss to be so challenging to sustain. Participants will also explore how the aspects of the medical weight loss (MWL) program are structured to promote sustainability.