Overweight and obesity is a major public health problem in adults and children in the US and around the world.1,2 According to the World Health Organization (WHO): “Obesity is one of today’s most blatantly visible—yet most neglected—public health problems. Paradoxically coexisting with undernutrition, an escalating global epidemic of overweight and obesity, ‘globesity,’ is taking over many parts of the world. If immediate action is not taken, millions will suffer from an array of serious health disorders.”1 According to WHO, from 1995 to 2000 the number of obese adults around the globe increased 50%, from 200 million to 300 million. However, the epidemic is not restricted to developed countries; the problem also exists in many underdeveloped countries. Approximately 1 in 2 adults are overweight and 1 in 3 adults are obese in the US.3 Finkelstein et al estimated that there has been a 37% increase in average medical expenditures in the US that can be attributed to obesity,4 which translates to approximately $92.6 billion in 2002 alone.