September 12, 2000

Audio

Researcher Joe Donnelly


Obesity conference

For more information
contact Kim Johnson
at KU's Department of Health,
Sport and Exercise Sciences
at (785) 864-0797, or
University of Kansas,
104 Robinson Center,
Lawrence KS 66045.

A complete brochure is available online

More articles

Obesity misunderstood as lack of control
Is obesity a disease?
Body Mass Index

Contact: Kim Johnson, KU's Department of Health, Sport and Exercise Sciences, (785) 864-0797

Doctors debate: Is obesity a disease?

LAWRENCE - Obesity researchers such as Joseph E. Donnelly, exercise physiologist at the University of Kansas, say that obesity is the chronic disease of the 21st century, but some doctors question if obesity is a disease at all.

To encourage more treatment of obesity, KU is offering its second annual conference on its prevention and treatment Sept. 29 and 30 at St. Luke's Hospital Spencer Center for Education, 44th and Wornall Road, Kansas City, Mo.

The conference will open with a debate over whether or not obesity is a disease.

Until the debate is resolved, Donnelly says a making obesity treatment affordable is a major problem for health professionals. Insurance frequently does not cover obesity treatment.

"Until the insurance industries and the government and the professionals figure out how to pay for it, there's going to be a large number of people who are either unwilling or unable to seek treatment," says Donnelly, who has researched obesity for more than 20 years.

The KU conference will focus on examples of how to make it possible to treat obesity.

Federal health guidelines indicate that a third to half of the people in the United States are either overweight or obese, Donnelly says.

An increase in Type 2 diabetes, in children especially, has created new interest among health professionals in treating and preventing obesity, Donnelly says. Patients with Type 2 diabetes produce insulin but do not use it efficiently and are at risk of developing Type 1 diabetes, in which no insulin is produced.

The good news is that a number of health professionals in the Kansas City area and in Kansas are developing expertise in treating obesity. Donnelly estimates that at least 20 health professionals in the greater Kansas City area include obesity treatment in their practice. In addition, several medical centers, including the KU Medical Center, Children's Mercy Hospital and St. Luke's Hospital, have teams studying obesity. In Wichita, Dr. James Early, professor at KU's School of Medicine-Wichita, established and directs a weight-control clinic at Via Christi Regional Medical Center.

Donnelly says that although the question of how to categorize obesity remains, researchers now understand that obesity results not from willful overeating and laziness, but a combination of complex factors - genetic, metabolic, behavioral and environmental.

Health risks associated with obesity include heart disease, diabetes, hypertension, stroke, gall bladder disease, sleep apnea and some cancers.

Last year more than 200 people attended KU's first obesity conference. An equal number is expected this year when some of the top names in weight loss and weight management come to Kansas City Sept. 29 and 30.

Speakers will include

  • Dr. John Foreyt, professor of medicine at Baylor College of Medicine in Houston.
  • Steve Blair, director of research with the Cooper Institute in Dallas.
  • Dr. Early, KU professor of medicine and director of the clinical preventive medicine department, KU School of Medicine-Wichita and medical director of the Prevention and Health Center, Via Christi Medical Center, Wichita.
  • L. Arthur Campfield, associate director of research and community outreach, University of Colorado Health Sciences Center, Center for Human Nutrition at Denver.
  • Robert Eckel, University of Colorado physician, Denver.

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