Includes bibliographical references and index.

Ch. I. Definition and assessment of obesity / Karen Wagner and Ulrike Trippo -- Ch. II. Multiple symmetrical lipomatosis (Launois-Bensaude syndrome) / Roderich Wiedmann and Igor Alexander Harsch -- Ch. III. Leptin deficiency / Tanja Bergmann and Igor Alexander Harsch -- Ch. IV. Prader-Willi syndrome : a genetic form of obesity secondary to an impaired satiety response / Angelo Del Parigi and P. Antonio Tataranni -- Ch. V. Familial form of adult Bardet-Biedl disease associated with metabolic syndrome and increased vascular risk / Silvia Iannello, Paolina Milazzo, Fabio Bordonaro and Francesco Belfiore -- Ch. VI. Alstrom syndrome / Pietro Maffei, Jan D. Marshall, Roberto Vettor, Gayle B. Collin, Nicola Sicolo and Jurgen K. Naggert -- Ch. VII. The pro-opiomelanocortin gene in body weight regulation and obesity / Heiko Krude -- Ch. VIII. Obesity caused by psychopharmacotherapy / Thomas Kraus, Anja Schanze and Ulrich Zimmermann -- Ch. IX. Endocrine disorders and obesity : why do patients become obese? / Christian Seifarth -- Ch. X. Regulation of food intake : mechanisms and pathomechanisms / Peter C. Konturek, Eckhart G. Hahn and Stanislaw J. Konturek -- Ch. XI. Recent studies on the prevention of obesity and type 2 diabetes mellitus : what can we do? / Henri Wallaschofski -- Ch. XII. Surgical treatment of obesity / Krystyna W. Zwirska-Korczala and Mariusz Wylezol -- Ch. XIII. Medical treatment of obesity / Javier Salvador, Javier Gomez-Ambrosi and Gema Fruhbeck -- Ch. XIV. Dietary treatment of obesity and the role of physical activity / Ada L. Garcia, Antje Hoehne and Corinna Koebnick.