Obesity: Causes, Mechanisms, Prevention, and Treatment

Abstract

Americans currently are receiving a deluge of information on obesity. We hear about its causes and consequences from a variety of sources. Therefore, it can be difficult to separate fact from fiction. Elliot Blass has taken this task upon himself with the compilation of the textbook, Obesity: Causes, Mechanisms, Prevention, and Treatment. This tome attempts to incorporate every major theory on weight gain and obesity from a variety of disciplines. No stone is left unturned in Blass’s mission to unite disparate studies on obesity. Indeed, it seems certain that Blass has approached the study from every conceivable angle — the text has 31 contributing authors and offers discussion from fields as diverse as physiology and social science, psychology, and governmental policy. Readers will learn about economic, environmental, and historic factors contributing to obesity; cell signaling and the metabolic pathway; the relationship between obesity and other diseases such as drug addiction or anorexia and bulimia; and the role of the media in perpetuating a culture of overweight individuals. Each chapter can stand alone. However, their collection as a whole leaves the reader with a sense that it is the overlapping of many factors (such as poverty, media, and personal choice) that causes poor nutrition and, consequently, obesity. Blass’s effort to reconcile so many fields is admirable and ensures the students in a hypothetical obesity class need buy only one textbook. In contrast, the result is sometimes dense, contradictory, and scattered. In general, the text is complicated and dry. This book is for the serious student only. It is immensely practical, but with no color, no helpful sidebars, no intriguing stories, and few illustrations. Despite these downfalls, Obesity gives a nuanced and complete presentation of facts. The best chapters in this book examine obesity from new angles. Roy Wise, in chapter four, compares obesity to drug addiction. He draws interesting parallels and proposes novel treatments that rely on this connection. Chapter 13 compares obesity to other eating disorders such as anorexia and bulimia and proposes alternate treatments based on this correlation. A central theme in Blass’s textbook is whether obesity constitutes a “disease.” In 2004, Medicare and Medicaid recognized obesity as a disease, due primarily to the lobbying efforts of the American Obesity Association. Several authors in Obesity acknowledge the political and social reasons behind the creation of the “disease” of obesity and even decry such a designation. However, although Blass’s stated goal for this text is to present facts relating to obesity rather than a sensationalized account, the impending sense of doom due to the obesity “epidemic” is present throughout the text, even when the terminology is debated. In sum, the tone of this book is dour, and the prospects given are bleak. Notable exceptions are the previously mentioned chapters four and 13, which offer solutions to obesity that have yet to be proven inadequate.