Obesity is a major health problem in the United States.
Obesity has increased dramatically in the United States over the past 20 years. Excessive weight is a major risk factor in heart disease, certain cancers and diabetes.
A number of weight loss associations can help you lose weight through diet and exercise programs as well as providing current information on the obesity epidemic in America.
Weight Watchers
Weight Watchers offers various plans and products to help people stay healthy and control their weight. They offer in-person and online meetings run by leaders who previously lost weight through the program. The association's methodology is not authoritarian in nature. Weight Watchers does not tell you what you can or cannot eat. Rather, they provide information, knowledge, tools and motivation to make healthy decisions in relation to exercise and nutrition. From its modest beginnings as an informal support group in the early 1960s, the group has grown into an association of millions who have participated in the program.
Shape Up America!
Founded by former Surgeon General C. Everett Koop, Shape Up America! educates the public on the importance of healthy body weight, eating and physical activity. The organization consists of a broad-based coalition of industry, fitness, medical/health groups and experts. The organization has extensive online resources for assessment of your readiness for physical activity, strength and endurance, aerobic fitness, and advice on overcome common barriers to physical activity. The association also can help you design an improvement program that suits your personal goals and objectives as you to learn what to eat to maximize your workout.
Overeaters Anonymous
OA is not just a resource for healthy living. The group treats individuals with compulsive eating disorders. Symptoms of compulsive overeating include eating binges, eating to escape worries or trouble, and feelings of guilt and remorse after overeating. Like Alcoholics Anonymous, OA stops this addiction through a Twelve-Step recovery program. OA consists of support groups of individuals who, through shared experience, help each other on the path to healthy eating patterns. The group collects no dues or fees for members and support itself through donations.
Obesity Society
The Obesity Society is the leading scientific group dedicated to the study of obesity. Its membership consists of more than 2000 basic and clinical researchers in obesity treatment and prevention. As opposed to other weight loss associations, the Obesity Society advocates public and health policy changes to address the epidemic of obesity such as better medical care and increased funding of obesity research. This advocacy brings them in frequent contact with the U.S. Congress, the Surgeon General, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, HMOs and other health organizations.
