I had the same reaction as CindySue. Who are these groups? Never heard of a single one.

I checked out the AOA (http://www.obesity.org/ and it's not exactly clear who they are, but you get a clue by this comment. "AOA is a non-profit tax-exempt educational and advocacy organization. We have some seven hundred members, both professional and lay. Our financial support comes principally from pharmaceutical research and development companies as well as other companies in the weight management field such as Weight Watchers Inc., Jenny Craig, Inc.and SlimFast Foods."
http://www.obesity.org/subs/advocacy/mcclellanltr.shtml

It appears that one of their agendas is to have obesity labeled a disease and have more research funding spent by someone (the government?) to research a solution to obesity. They talk a lot about drugs and surgery. Here are the "understandings" they recommend for a new "paradigm" for the Dept. of Health and Human Services: (same url as above)
1. Obesity is not a behavior; obesity is excess adipose tissue.
2. Obesity is a disease because it meets any rational definition of "disease".
3. Obesity is a fatal, chronic, relapsing disease that is at least as complicated to treat as heart disease or cancer.
4. Obesity is a problem that will largely be solved by more research.
5. Obesity prevention and treatment includes more than just diet and exercise, as the effectiveness of these treatments over the long term has been poor.
6. Obesity is a global problem arising from a combination of genetic, environmental and behavioral factors.
7. We do not know now how to prevent and effectively treat obesity over the long-term, with the exception of bariatric surgery for persons with morbid obesity.
8. If we do not drastically and quickly expand the research base of obesity and develop new treatments, the entire health care system in the United States is at risk.
9. Simplistic assertions that obesity is easily prevented or easily remedied do a disservice to persons with obesity and inhibit discovery of effective solutions.

What's funny is that they then go on to explain that "Scientific studies over three decades have shown that obesity is a complex neuroendocrine disease caused by the interactions of our genetic makeup, environmental exposure and personal behavior. Research has recently elucidated some of the mechanisms by which various peptides and hormones affect our feelings of hunger and satiety. We currently understand that dysregulation in these substances and others to be discovered greatly influences our ability to regulate eating behavior, energy metabolism, and a person’s ability to achieve long-term weight loss." Sounds reasonable. They also say some other reasonable things, but there are other hints that this group is still very pharmaceutical and surgically oriented. http://www.obesity.org/subs/advocacy/thompsonltr.shtml

Overall, they have some valid points, but it's a bit too much oriented towards "treatments" and they seem to hold on to the traditional calories in-calories out even though they also say that weight gain is complex and deals with hormones and peptides. Complex problem, simple solution? Part of their simple solution includes drug therapies. (scroll down to the Drug Therapy section)
http://www.obesity.org/subs/fastfac...Treatment.shtml

So, drugs for BMI greater than 30, surgery for BMI greater than 40.

Plane Crazy, just presenting facts.