Obesity in the United States is a growing problem. Although it was once a popular belief that the cause of obesity was the lack of willpower when it came to food or eating too much, now we know that this is not the case. Many other factors such as environment, psychology, society, culture, lack of physical activity, genetics and family influence contribute to a person becoming obese.

In the U.S. it is estimated that greater than 50% of the population is overweight, with 27% categorized as obese and another 34% considered clinically overweight. According to a national survey, 50 million Americans are obese and 12 million are morbidly obese. The morbidly obese patient is approximately 100+ pounds over their ideal body weight. Morbid obesity is more accurately identified by the Body Mass Index (BMI), which is a ratio of height to weight and can be used as a standard of comparison.

Today it is estimated that there are 300,000 to 500,000 obesity-related deaths each year. In 1991, the National Institutes of Health (NIH) concluded that weight loss surgery is the only successful treatment for this epidemic problem. The NIH recommended that those with a minimum BMI of 35 who suffer from 1 or more major co-morbidities, or those with a BMI of 40 or above, should be considered for surgical treatment of morbid obesity. Currently, insurance approval is the primary limiting factor, as patients must frequently prove that they have failed other medical weight-loss treatments.

The current cost to society of obesity-related deaths and illnesses is at least 100 billion dollars a year. A battle has begun between patients with their desire to lose weight, and the insurance companies, who make it increasingly difficult or impossible to undergo weight loss surgery.