AACE to Hold Conference on Defining Obesity as a Medical Disease

On August 23, the American Association of Clinical Endocrinologists (AACE) announced that it will hold a consensus conference on obesity called “Building an Evidence Base for Comprehensive Action.” The conference dovetails with the recent American Medical Association (AMA) decision to recognize obesity as a medical disease. The gathering will aim to develop a framework to treat obesity as a disease and to continue the momentum toward increasing awareness. Given that two-thirds of Americans are overweight, one-third are obese, and the death rate from obesity could be as high as 18% (three times higher than previously thought), this is certainly a pressing topic to address. The conference will be held from March 23-25, 2014, in Washington DC. For more information, please read the AACE press release here. We think more patient advocates at this meeting would be terrific to see; if you are interested, please write to kclose@closeconcerns.com. –NL