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Obesity is the most common chronic disease in the United States, affecting over 42% of our adult population – over 139 million people. Another 30% have overweight – or pre-obesity – meaning they will more than likely develop obesity as time passes. That’s over ⅔ of American adults affected by excess weight. Obesity costs the United States over $1.5 trillion each year. Over 14% of healthcare dollars are spent treating obesity and complications related to it – and despite that money spent, the diseases of obesity and pre-obesity continue to rise every single year. Lifespan is estimated to be shortened by up to 8 years for those people with severe obesity – which is comparable to smoking. Now, as doom and gloom as these numbers sound, we as a nation aren’t hopeless. Obesity is treatable. It’s not easy and there are no quick fixes. Successful obesity treatment is rarely achieved by buying direct sales productions on Facebook or spending hundreds of dollars for magical supplements marketed by charlatans that promise guaranteed miracles. Obesity is best treated by physicians and other qualified healthcare providers that have advanced training in Obesity Medicine. Obesity is a disease. It deserves to be treated in a doctor’s office – the same way we treat other diseases. And it doesn’t have to be dramatic and sexy to improve health and longevity and reduce the cost – individually and to society. In fact, it’s estimated that for someone with severe obesity, losing just 5% of their body weight can save them an average of $2,137 per year and prolong their life expectancy by several years.