2021 Obesity Course: Etiology, Prevention and Treatment

Target Audience

This Obesity course provides an excellent overview for all health professionals; physicians, dentists, nurse practitioners, physician assistants, and more. For physicians interested in obtaining obesity medicine certification through the American Board of Obesity Medicine (ABOM), this course satisfies the ABOM requirement of at least 30 hours of live CME credit on the topic of obesity.

Educational Objectives

Upon completion of this activity learners should be able to:

1. Understand the influence of weight bias on the care of people with obesity.
2. Understand the complexity of the development and treatment of obesity.
3. Apply best practice approaches to the prevention and treatment of pediatric obesity.
4. Identify, classify and determine appropriate treatment approaches for people with obesity, including lifestyle, advanced pharmacological approaches, and bariatric surgery.
5. Create treatment plans for people with obesity that include motivational interviewing, behavior modification, and nutrition and physical activity plans.
6. Integrate stress management and sleep hygiene into the evaluation and treatment of people with obesity.

Course Overview

Lifestyle behaviors – including diet, physical inactivity, alcohol abuse, and tobacco use – have been linked to an increased risk of the leading causes of death and chronic diseases in the US and around the world. The challenge of reversing the obesity epidemic has highlighted the need for new ways to teach complex skill sets which effectively target lifestyle behaviors, particularly diet and physical activity. However, most health professionals (apart from registered dieticians) have little or no training in the science of nutrition, diet, and physical activity. Moreover, health professionals lack training in facilitating behavior change. Many, in fact, do not engage in nutrition counseling at all.

The American Board of Obesity Medicine (ABOM) has established a credentialing protocol, which includes an exam for physicians to become certified in the field of obesity medicine. The Institute of Human Nutrition (IHN) at Columbia University is an ABOM Partner Organization; the IHN now offers its long-standing obesity course to prepare physicians for the ABOM exam and to provide CME credits to help physicians meet the requirements to become a Diplomate of the ABOM.

Topic Highlights

• The Epidemiology and Health Risks of Obesity, Louis Aronne, MD1
• Genetics of Obesity: Nature Meets Nurture, Rudy Leibel, MD
• Epigenetics and the Development of Obesity, Lori Zeltser, PhD
• Adipose Tissue: White, Brown, and Beige and Why Shades Matter, Marc Reitman, MD, PhD
• Carbs, Calories, or Quality: What Matters Most for Bodyweight, Kevin Hall, PhD
• Body Weight Regulation: Why is it so hard to Keep Weight Off, Michael Rosenbaum, MD
• Obesity and Type II Diabetes: New Thoughts on Pathophysiology and Treatment, Caroline Apovian, MD1
• Is Hyperinsulinemia the cause of Obesity, Inflammation, and Insulin Resistance?, Barbara Corkey, PhD
• Rethinking Food Reward, Dana Small, PhD
• From Brain to Bedside: How Neuroscience Informs Clinical Care for Patients with Obesity, Ellen Schur, MD, MS
• Physical Activity and Weight Loss and Maintenance of Weight Loss, John Jakicic, PhD
• Losing and Regaining Weight: Do the Benefits of the Losses Outweigh the Consequences of Regain? Steven Heymsfield, MD
• Microbiome and Energy Balance, Eamonn Quigley, MD
• Nutrient Metabolism and Obesity: Special Considerations after Bariatric Surgery, Jeffrey Mechanick, MD
• Chronic Stress and Obesity, Rajita Sinha, PhD
• Obesity and Pregnancy, Patrick M Catalano, MD
• Challenges in Women and People of Color with Obesity and Obesity-related Diseases, Fatima Cody Stanford, MD, MPH, MPA1

1(Diplomate ABOM)

Course Navigation

• This course is split into 16 topic-based sections. Participants may interact with the material of their choosing and claim CME according to the amount of material reviewed.
• The system does not track participant progress through the course material.
• Participants are responsible for keeping track of how much material they have reviewed. Each section header lists the time required to complete that section.
• There is one 20 question CME quiz to be completed once the participant has finished completing the course material. There are no section-based quizzes.

Technical Requirements

This activity is best experienced using the most current browser (or one back) of Firefox or Safari. At this time, the Chrome and Microsoft Edge browsers are blocking full-screen video viewing.

For all activities featuring audio, you must have a sound card and speakers. To view graphic images and references that appear in separate "pop-up" windows, you must have JavaScript and session cookies enabled on your computer. Adobe Acrobat Reader may be required for certain activities.

Accreditation Statement

The Columbia University Vagelos College of Physicians and Surgeons is accredited by the Accreditation Council for Continuing Medical Education to provide continuing medical education for physicians.

Credit Designation Statement

The Columbia University Vagelos College of Physicians and Surgeons designates this enduring material for a maximum of 67.5 AMA PRA Category 1 Credits™. Physicians should claim only the credit commensurate with the extent of their participation in the activity.

Successful completion of this CME activity, which includes participation in the evaluation component, enables the participant to earn up to 67.5 medical knowledge MOC points in the American Board of Internal Medicine’s (ABIM) Maintenance of Certification (MOC) program. It is the CME activity provider’s responsibility to submit participant completion information to ACCME for the purpose of granting ABIM MOC credit.

Successful completion of this CME activity, which includes participation in the activity, with individual assessments of the participant and feedback to the participant, enables the participant to earn 67.5 MOC points in the American Board of Pediatrics (ABP) Maintenance of Certification (MOC) program. It is the CME activity provider’s responsibility to submit participant completion information to ACCME for the purpose of granting ABP MOC credit.

Faculty Disclosures

All those involved with the planning and delivery of this education will disclose all financial relationships in the past 24 months with ineligible companies. An ineligible company is any entity whose primary business is producing, marketing, selling, re-selling, or distributing healthcare products used by or on patients. For each financial relationship, disclosure will include the name of the ineligible company and the nature of the financial relationship(s).

MOC Disclaimer

Please note that by entering your ABIM/ABP number(s), you are allowing us to share your completion data with the ACCME and the certifying board(s).