Obesity 2009 Updates

Obesity 2009, the 27th Annual Scientific Meeting of The Obesity Society, will be held in Washington, DC, at the Washington Marriott Wardman Park from October 24 through October 28, 2009.

Registration and Housing for Obesity 2009 Now Open
To register for the meeting and to book housing, please see the registration and housing information in the Obesity 2009 site. Early-bird rate is good through June 30th.

Advance Program
The Advance Program for Obesity 2009 is now available. The program provides details of the preliminary scientific program, events and speakers as well as registration and housing information. New this year are additional CME opportunities, extended poster hours, a one-day pass for non-members available on Monday, October 26, and a selection of tours of Washington, DC. The tours are available through our new official travel agent, Globetrotter Management Services. More Details.

Call for Late-Breaking Clinical Trials Abstracts
The Obesity Society is planning a Late-Breaking Clinical Trials Symposium at Obesity 2009 to highlight the results of highly significant, multicenter trials of therapeutics, devices, or interventions (e.g., diet, exercise) that will be of broad interest to our membership. The submission site will open on June 8 and close on August 3, 2009. More Details.

Exhibitors and Sponsors
For exhibitors and prospective exhibitors thinking of securing space at the 2009 meeting in Washington, DC, please take a look at the Exhibitor Prospectus and let us know how we can help with your planning. If you are interested in sponsorship possibilities, see our Corporate Sponsorship Opportunities.

This Month in Obesity

Featured articles in Obesity this month include:

Circadian Rhythm of Clock Genes in Human Adipose Explants

Circadian rhythms are ingrained in our lives; however, little attention has been paid to their metabolic consequences. It has been suggested that disruption of the circadian system may be related to expression of the metabolic syndrome (MetS). Thus, shift work, sleep deprivation and exposure to bright light at night have been shown to be related to increased adiposity and prevalence of MetS. Read more

The Lehman Series: Updated Evidence-based Recommendations for Best Practices in Weight Loss Surgery

This report from the Expert Panel on WLS has been requested and funded by the Betsy Lehman Center for Patient Safety and Medical Error Reduction (Lehman Center). Its purpose is to improve the safety and well-being of patients who undergo Weight Loss Surgery (WLS) in the Commonwealth of Massachusetts.

Since the publication of the original Lehman Center guidelines in 2005, certain hospitals in the state have discontinued their WLS programs, while new ones, accredited by the ASMBS/SRC or the ACS, have entered the field. Since 2005, the mortality rate for WLS in the state of Massachusetts has been 0.25%, far below the national average. The earlier version of this document achieved its objectives. It was also instrumental in shaping policy and setting best practice standards on a national and international scale.

Obesity Society members may access the journal Obesity online through a special link to the website maintained by our publisher, Nature Publishing Group.

Weight Bias and Stigmatization

The Weight Bias Task Force fact sheet, Obesity, Bias, and Stigmatization,  examines the serious and pervasive social consequences of being overweight and obese and addresses five key questions:

• What is weight stigma?
• Where does weight stigma occur?
• What are the consequences of weight stigma?
• How are children affected by weight stigma?
• How can weight stigma be reduced?

Your Weight and Diabetes

Over seventeen million Americans (6.2% of the population) have diabetes. Almost 6 million Americans are unaware they have the disease. There are two main types of diabetes. Both types are caused by problems in how a hormone called insulin (that helps regulate blood sugar) works. Type 1 diabetes most often appears in childhood or adolescence and causes high blood sugar when your body can't make enough insulin. Over 90% of all diabetes cases are what we call type 2 diabetes. Type 2 diabetes is usually diagnosed after age forty; however it is now being found in all ages including children and adolescents. Type 2 diabetes is linked to obesity and physical inactivity.

Weight and Diabetes Fact Sheet

Metabolic Syndrome Web Focus

A cluster of conditions that occur together and increase the risk for heart disease, stroke and diabetes, metabolic syndrome affects nearly 50 million Americans. Read more about the various medical conditions that make up what is commonly referred to as metabolic syndrome in this free collection of articles from NPG and learn more about this emerging epidemic.

Calendar of Events

Visit our Calendar for meetings on obesity and related issues throughout the coming year! Let us know if you have an event you'd like added to the calendar.