Obesity is an American epidemic, affecting 35% of US adults, and 17% of US children [1]. These rates of obesity are above the Healthy People 2020 targets of 30.5% and 14.5%, respectively [2]. Obesity is defined as a Body Mass Index (BMI) ≥ 30 kg/m² [2].

Obesity costs hundreds of billions of dollars to the health care system annually, is associated or directly related to 60% of type 2 diabetes and is a well-recognized risk factor for high blood pressure, heart disease and stroke [3,4].

This article will review the causes, screening recommendations, and roles of diet, exercise, lifestyle counseling, pharmacotherapy and bariatric surgery related to obesity and its management. A simple overview of obesity management can be seen in Figure 1.