“Managing Overweight and Obesity in Adults: Systematic Evidence Review from the Expert Panel” represents the state of the art in critical appraisal of the scientific evidence in five important areas: Risks of obesity and overweight, benefits of weight loss, and three treatment modalities for achieving weight loss—diet, comprehensive lifestyle change, and bariatric surgery. This report was developed by an expert panel appointed by NHLBI to update the 1998 “Clinical Guidelines on the Identification, Evaluation, and Treatment of Overweight and Obesity in Adults” (hereafter referred to as the 1998 overweight and obesity clinical guidelines).5 The Obesity Expert Panel chose the five areas based on their importance and relevance to primary care providers (PCPs) and the availability of quality research in each area.
This evidence review is based on the following five critical questions