Textbook of Obesity is designed to cover all of the essential elements concerning the etiology, prevention and treatment of obesity suitable for students in nutrition, dietetics and health science courses. Providing core knowledge for students is an essential and urgent requirement to ensure that those graduating will be properly equipped to deal with the high prevalence of overweight and obesity, currently affecting almost two-thirds of the population of the USA and with prevalence in much of the rest of the world rapidly catching up.

This landmark text is organized into 5 parts comprising 27 chapters, each carefully written in a user-friendly style by experts in the area. Part I helps the reader to understand the scope and complexity of the problem of obesity. Part II focuses on obesity etiology. Part III examines the health consequences of obesity for both children and adults. Part IV discusses the challenge of assessing obesity in humans and offers insights into community factors that influence the risk of obesity. Finally, Part V dedicates 13 chapters to a discussion of a wide variety of obesity prevention and treatment interventions that are currently in use.

Textbook of Obesity is an essential purchase for students and the many health professionals dealing with obesity on a day-to-day basis. A dedicated companion website features an extensive bank of questions and answers for readers to test their understanding, and all of the book's illustrations for instructors to download: www.wiley.com/go/akabas/obesity

About the Editors

Sharon R. Akabas has taught a wide range of nutrition-related courses at Columbia University for nearly 30 years. She is particularly interested in helping students understand the complexity of weight, from basic science to practice and policy. She is currently the Director of the MS in Nutrition Program at Columbia's Institute of Human Nutrition.

Sally Ann Lederman has been a faculty member in nutrition and public health at Columbia University since 1983. Most of her teaching and research have focused on the biological and public health aspects of pregnancy and lactation.

Barbara J. Moore has more than 30 years of experience in the field of obesity. Her background includes research, education, policy formulation and program development in the public and private sectors.