Weight management

Weight management refers to behaviors, techniques, and physiological processes that contribute to a person's ability to attain and maintain a healthy weight. Most weight management techniques encompass long-term lifestyle strategies that promote healthy eating and daily physical activity. Moreover, weight management involves developing meaningful ways to track weight over time and to identify ideal body weights for different individuals.

Weight management strategies most often focus on achieving healthy weights through slow but steady weight loss, followed by maintenance of an ideal body weight. However, weight neutral approaches to health have also been shown to result in positive health outcomes.

Understanding the basic science of weight management and strategies for attaining and maintaining a healthy weight is very important because obesity is a risk factor for development of many chronic diseases, like Type 2 diabetes, hypertension and cardiovascular disease.