Thinking in Circles About Obesity: Applying Systems Thinking to Weight Management

Thinking in Circles about Obesity: Applying Systems Thinking to Weight Management

Tarek K.A. Hamid, Operational and Information Sciences, Naval Postgraduate School, Monterey, California

Low-carb…low-fat…high-protein…high-fiber…Americans are food-savvy, label-conscious, calorie-aware—and still gaining weight in spite of all their good intentions. Worse still, today’s children run the risk of a shorter life expectancy than their parents.

Thinking in Circles About Obesity brings a healthy portion of critical thinking, spiced with on-target humor and lively graphics, to the obesity debate. Systems and medical physiology scholar Tarek Hamid unites systems (non-linear) thinking and information technology to provide powerful insights and practical strategies for managing our weight and our health. Hamid’s clear insights dispel dieters’ unrealistic expectations and illuminate dead-end behaviors to tap into a deeper understanding of how the body works, why it works that way, and how to better manage it. Included are innovative tools for:

• Understanding why diets almost always fall short of our expectations.

• Assessing weight gain, loss, and goals with greater accuracy.

• Abandoning one-size-fits-all solutions in lieu of personal solutions that do fit.

• Replacing outmoded linear thinking with feedback systems thinking.

• Getting the most health benefits from information technology.

•Making behavior and physiology work in sync instead of in opposition.

Given the current level of the weight crisis, the ideas in Thinking in Circles About Obesity have much to offer clinical and health psychologists, primary care physicians, public health professionals, parents, and lay readers. For those struggling with excess weight, this book charts a new path in health decision making, to see beyond calorie charts, body mass indexes, and silver bullets.