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ABOUT OBESITY

• Obesity results from a combination of

causes and contributing factors, including 

individual factors such as behavior and 

genetics. 

• Behaviors contributing to obesity

can include dietary patterns, physical 

activity or inactivity, medication use, 

and exposures to various environmental 

factors. Additional contributing factors 

in American society include the food and 

physical activity environment, education 

and skills, and food marketing and 

promotion.

• Obesity is a risk factor for heart disease,

type 2 diabetes (once known as adultonset or noninsulin-dependent diabetes), 

stroke, and some types of cancer. In 

particular, diabetes and obesity have 

become a very prevalent combination. 

• In 2013, VA estimated that more than

165,000 Veterans who receive their health 

care from the department have a body mass 

index (BMI) of more than 40, which indicates 

a serious condition called morbid obesity. 

Morbid obesity can interfere with basic 

physical functions and significantly increase 

the risk of obesity-related conditions.

VA RESEARCH ON OBESITY: 

OVERVIEW

• VA research on obesity looks at the

biological processes of weight gain 

and weight loss. Researchers compare 

the safety and effectiveness of obesity 

treatments, and work to find ways to help 

Veterans keep from gaining weight—for 

example, through exercise and healthy 

eating.

• VA researchers work hand in hand with

the department’s MOVE! program, a 

national weight-management and exercise 

initiative designed and coordinated by VA’s 

National Center for Health Promotion and 

Disease Prevention.

SELECTED MILESTONES AND 

MAJOR EVENTS

2002 – Reported key findings on ghrelin, 

a “hunger hormone” that was first 

discovered in 1999

2006 – Implemented VA MOVE! program 

nationally, providing overweight Veterans 

with the largest and most comprehensive 

weight management program associated 

with a U.S. medical care program

2013 – Found that Iraq and Afghanistan 

Veterans with PTSD and depression are at 

the greatest risk of obesity and not being 

able to lose weight, relative to all those 

who served in the two countries between 

2001 and 2010

2015 – Learned that bariatric surgery helps 

overweight patients live longer

2016 – Found that as fat cells develop, 

they change the types of nutrients they 

metabolize to produce fat and energy—an 

important step towards finding new ways 

to treat both diabetes and obesity

RECENT STUDIES: SELECTED 

HIGHLIGHTS

• Many health care providers have

strong negative attitudes and 

stereotypes about people with 

obesity—and these attitudes influence 

their perceptions, judgment, interpersonal 

behavior, and decision-making. A team of 

researchers with VA’s Center for Chronic 

Disease Outcomes Research also found 

that these biases were more negative than 

those exhibited toward racial minorities, 

gays, lesbians, and poor people. The 

researchers believe that doctors should 

discuss weight issues with obese patients, 

but should do so in a less judgmental, 

more affirming way—making the 

discussion about feeling good, not about 

a number on a scale. (Obesity, April 2014; 

Obesity Reviews, April 2015)

VA research on 

OBESITY

Overweight and obesity are terms used for ranges of weight that 

are greater than what is considered healthy. According to the U.S. 

Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, nearly 35 percent of 

American adults—more than 78 million—are obese.

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Obesity is a risk factor for heart 

disease, type 2 diabetes, stroke, 

and some types of cancer.

• VA MOVE! programs throughout 

the nation are helpful even when 

participants are at locations other 

than where the classes are taught. 

Researchers at the Sioux Falls VA 

Health Care System studied weight loss 

outcomes among 120 Veterans, half of 

whom took 12 MOVE! classes to help 

them develop weight-management skills 

through videoconferencing. The others 

took no classes. The MOVE! participants 

lost weight, while the control group 

gained weight. The average weight 

difference between the groups was 

about 12 pounds after one year. (Journal 

of Rural Health, Winter 2014) 

• Fat cells, or adipocytes, are 

connective tissue cells that have 

become differentiated from other 

cells and become specialized in 

the manufacture and storage of fat. 

Researchers at the VA San Diego 

Healthcare System and the University 

of California learned that as fat cells 

develop, they change the types of 

nutrients they metabolize (process). 

They create branched-chain amino 

acids, along with glucose, to produce fat 

and energy. Therefore, fat cells play an 

important role in regulating the body’s 

levels of these amino acids, which 

are typically found in higher levels in 

people with diabetes and obesity. A 

better understanding of how these 

amino acids are created could lead to 

new treatments for these conditions. 

(Nature Chemical Biology, January 2016)

• More creative designs for weightloss incentive programs are needed 

to overcome barriers to behavior 

change, according to researchers from 

the Corporal Michael J. Crescenz VA 

Medical Center in Philadelphia and the 

University of Pennsylvania. The team 

looked at three incentive programs, 

two of which offered participants the 

opportunity to have their health care 

premiums reduced if they lost weight. 

Participants in the third intervention 

group could receive prizes in a daily 

lottery if their weight was reduced. A 

fourth group was offered no financial 

incentive. Twelve months after 

enrollment, the average weight of all the 

groups stayed about the same, with no 

statistically significant changes among 

them. (Health Affairs, January 2016)

• Bariatric surgeries help severely 

overweight people live longer, not 

only to shed pounds they cannot 

otherwise lose. A study by researchers 

at several VA medical centers found that 

2,500 severely overweight Veterans who 

had the surgery had a 53 percent lower 

risk of dying from any cause 5 to 10 years 

after the procedure, compared with 

7,500 other severely overweight Veterans 

who had not. (Journal of the American 

Medical Association,Jan. 6, 2015)

• Eating sweet foods causes the brain 

to form a memory of a meal. A study 

by researchers at the Charlie Norwood 

VA Medical Center in Atlanta and two 

Georgia universities showed that 

neurons in the dorsal hippocampus, 

the part of the brain that is critical for 

episodic memory, are activated by 

consuming sweets. Meals consisting of 

a sweetened solution, either sucrose 

or saccharin, significantly increased 

the expression of activity-related 

cytoskeleton-associated protein (Arc) in 

dorsal hippocampal neurons in rats—a 

process that is necessary for making 

memories. (Hippocampus, March 2016)

• The drug rapamycin reduces body fat 

and appetite in older rats, according 

to a study by researchers at the Malcolm 

Randall VA Medical Center in Gainesville 

and the University of Florida. Rapamycin 

is a pharmaceutical used to coat 

coronary stents and prevent transplant 

rejection. The research team found that 

treatment with rapamycin, the body 

weight of 24-month-old rats dropped by 

approximately 13 percent. Rats of that 

age are about equivalent in their life cycle 

to 65-year-old humans. (The Journals of 

Gerontology, Series A, July 2016)

For more information on VA studies 

on obesity and other key topics 

relating to Veterans’ health, please 

visit www.research.va.gov/topics

OBESITY

Updated September 2016 • For a digital version of this fact sheet with active links to sources, visit www.research.va.gov/topics