As 2013 comes to a close, I'd like to thank all the individuals and organizations that have worked so tirelessly to advance efforts to overcome and prevent obesity. It's been a busy year for the obesity field, with exciting milestones and developments to celebrate, including the American Medical Association's designation of obesity as a disease and the release of the updated clinical guidelines for the management of obesity and overweight from the American Heart Association, American College of Cardiology and The Obesity Society. These are important steps forward that will shape and impact the way we address obesity.

The STOP Obesity Alliance's George Washington University research team continues to study the coverage landscape for obesity prevention and treatment options. We summarized our most recent research in the latest edition of the "Weight and the States" bulletin. The bulletin focuses on Medicaid coverage of obesity treatments. We found that while there is near-universal coverage of bariatric surgery, there is limited coverage of obesity medications, despite the U.S. Food and Drug Administration's (FDA) approval of two obesity medications last year.

To date:

• Just 12 states cover obesity medications
• 38 states explicitly exclude obesity medications
• 47 states cover bariatric surgery
• 4 states explicitly exclude bariatric surgery

While coverage of bariatric surgery is important, extending coverage for a broad range of obesity-related services and treatments will be an important next step forward. As we know, obesity affects individuals differently and there is need for access to a wide range of treatments in order to effectively manage it.

This is why one of STOP's recommendations has long been to encourage innovation and multi-factorial interventions to strengthen the system of care for overweight and obesity. Coupled with a range of prevention options, innovations like the development of new obesity medications, research to determine which obesity treatments are most effective for specific individuals and policies to expand access to evidence-based treatments will help us more effectively address the obesity epidemic.

Best, 

Parent-Only Programs May Help Obese Children, too 

A review of studies published in the Journal of Public Health suggests parent-only meetings focused on childhood obesity may be as effective as family meetings. Study researchers note that utilizing a parent-only approach to address a child's weight may be cheaper and have a more positive impact on a child's self esteem.

Negatively labeling people who are obese or overweight may cause individuals to become increasingly overweight or obese, suggests a study published in the Journal of Experimental Social Psychology. Study researchers found women who perceived themselves as overweight ate significantly more high-calorie snack food after reading news articles about the social and economic costs associated with being overweight.

The article highlights a study published in the Journal of the American Medical Association that found that individuals with obesity do not all respond the same to programs designed to prevent or treat excess weight. Study researchers suggest that a greater understanding of the complexities of obesity is needed and that a better approach would be to realize that people with obesity are not a homogenous group with the same behavioral or genetic reasons for weight gain.

Those with obesity who are otherwise healthy may still be at risk of heart problems later in life, according to an analysis of multiple studies published in the Annals of Internal Medicine. Study researchers found that over time, heavy individuals who are otherwise healthy were 24 percent more likely to die, have a heart attack or stroke or develop heart failure.