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Obesity continues to be on the rise despite all of its advances in medications and surgeries, not to mention the invasiveness of the diet and fitness industry in this area. More than 72% of the U.S population is overweight or obese, and obesity is now rising in the pediatric population affecting our next generation. (1) Obesity on its own occupies a large part of health expenditures in the globe and has been the catalyst for over 200 other diseases identified. This chronic relapsing disease over time has been one of the most invasive to our nation and the most difficult to treat.

We have seen relapse rates from diet and medication over 90% and post bariatric surgery recurrence rates long  term have been more than 70%. (3) The World Health Organization states that 2.8 million people die of obesity each year, a preventable disease. (4) Even when the name was changed several years ago by  the American College of Endocrinology the epidemic continued to rise. At what point will the overseeing bodies decide that this is no longer good enough? As a bariatric surgeon, also board certified in obesity medicine, I am familiar with all the treatment algorithms for obesity and have practiced those for years. After seeing surgeries require 2 and 3 revisions due to weight recurrence I had to ask what was missing in the algorithm? After years of watching my patients struggle they answered that question for me. The addition of neurobehavioral science is what was missing.