STOP (Tools & Resources)
Tools & Resources
Designed for key stakeholders engaged in the prevention and management of obesity
Obesity is associated with significantly increased risk of more than 20 chronic diseases and health conditions that cause devastating consequences and increased mortality. Beyond the significant personal toll of obesity, related health complications are driving up health care costs and threatening employers' bottom lines. Below, an updated series of fact sheets provides information on this complicated disease.
Fast Facts: Obesity and COVID-19
Fast Facts: Obesity-Related Chronic Disease
Fast Facts: Obesity in the Workplace
Fast Facts: Health Care Providers and Obesity Care
Fast Facts: Obesity Care Coverage
Fast Facts: Weight Bias and Stigma
Fast Facts: Obesity in Early Life
Why Weight Guide
Created by the Strategies to Overcome and Prevent (STOP) Obesity Alliance, the Why Weight? tool is a guide for health care professionals to initiate effective conversations about weight and health with their patients.
Obesity Care Competencies
the Provider Competencies for the Prevention and Management of Obesity were designed by more than 20 leading health organizations representing a dozen health professions. They are aimed at many types of health professionals engaged in obesity prevention and management. Collectively, the competencies establish a working knowledge of obesity, and are therefore best used together. Recognizing that the depth of knowledge or skill for a given competency will vary based on specialty, each specialty is encouraged to adapt these competencies to fit their needs.
Weigh In Guide
Weigh In: Talking to Your Children About Weight and Health(Hablar Con Sus Hijos Sobre el Peso y la Salud) is an online guide created by STOP Obesity Alliance and Alliance for a Healthier Generation to fill the information gap and offer practical advice for parents struggling with how to discuss weight and health with their children. The Weigh In website provides scenario-based solutions and offers practical advice on how to discuss weight and health with children.
Are you a provider or community leader who works with parents?
STOP produced a toolkit based on the Weigh In Guide to provide everything you need to host a small group discussion with parents to help them talk to their kids about weight and health.
Download the Discussion ToolkitView or download the Weigh In Guide as a PDF [English] View or download the Weigh In Guide as a PDF [Spanish]
Non-Nutritive Sweeteners & Obesity
Non-nutritive sweeteners are substances that provide sweet taste but contribute few or no calories. While non-nutritive sweeteners were, until recently, found primarily in reduced-calorie “diet” foods and beverages, they are now widely present in foods, medications, and personal care products as well as in a variety of foods and beverages not marketed for weight management. Several non-nutritive sweeteners (e.g. acesulfame-potassium, aspartame, saccharin, stevia, sucralose, etc.) are approved by the U.S. Food & Drug Administration. Whether they are helpful or harmful in the prevention and management of obesity and cardiometabolic diseases is controversial.
Obesity & Fatty Liver Disease
Non-alcoholic fatty liver disease (NAFLD)—an umbrella term for the spectrum of fatty liver diseases not linked to alcohol consumption—affects 1 in 4 Americans and is now the most common cause of liver dysfunction. The onset and progression of NAFLD are closely linked to insulin resistance and abdominal obesity in both adults and children. In the absence of NAFLD-specific pharmacotherapies, greater investment in effective obesity prevention and treatment approaches may be the best available strategy to mitigate NAFLD burden.
Excessive Weight Gain Among Young Adults
The doubling in obesity prevalence between the ages of 6-11 years and 20-39 years—from 17 to 34 percent—indicates that the transition from childhood to young adulthood is a critical window for obesity prevention and control efforts. Little is known about how the development of obesity in this age group may follow the multiple life transitions that occur during this time – including first jobs, newly independent living, childbearing and marriage.
Distribution of Health Providers for Severe Obesity
In this graphic, we use 2016 data from the Behavioral Risk Factor Surveillance System and the American Medical Association’s State Physician Workforce Data Book to estimate the availability and distribution of potential obesity care providers for individuals with severe obesity.
Maternal-Child Intergenerational Transmission of Obesity
A growing body of evidence indicates that obesity has a detrimental impact on reproductive potential in women. In addition to reduced fertility, maternal pre-pregnancy body mass index (BMI), excessive gestational weight gain, and postpartum weight retention are collectively associated with adverse fetal development, obstetric complications, and long-term health outcomes for mothers and their offspring.
Review of Obesity Treatment Devices
The emergence of several innovative FDA-approved obesity treatment devices may offer an additional therapeutic option for adults seeking obesity care. Designed to mimic the effects of restrictive and bypass surgeries, preliminary data suggest that obesity treatment devices typically produce 10-20% weight loss at one year that may be accompanied by significant metabolic improvement