ch. 1. Origins of obesity in the scientific era : 1500 AD to the present -- ch. 2. Definitions, measurement, and prevalence -- ch. 3. Genetic, metabolic, and social origins of obesity -- ch. 4. Effects of obesity on health and metabolism -- ch. 5. Prevention, evaluation, and introduction to treatment -- ch. 6. Lifestyle, diet, and exercise : cognitive solutions -- ch. 7. Medications for obesity -- ch. 8. Surgery for obesity -- ch. 9. Post-script : obesity in the twenty first century.