Navigating the Biological and Health Care Complexities of Obesity in Women
- This event has passed.
July 21, 2025 - July 22, 2025
The complexities of metabolic health affect women differently than men throughout their lifespan, especially during major hormonal transitions like puberty, pregnancy, and menopause. With one in three adults being overweight and more than two in five having obesity, women have almost a two-fold higher prevalence of severe obesity compared to men. Women face unique challenges in managing obesity due to biology, societal stigma, and certain risk factors and comorbidities that can have significant impacts on their health care outcomes. Inflammation, for example, is an underlying factor associated with obesity that can exacerbate comorbidities and complicate treatment strategies. As obesity rates continue to rise in the United States, it is critical to elucidate how obesity care can reduce disparities and chronic conditions for women, as well as address persistent barriers to prevention and health care.
The Society for Women’s Health Research (SWHR) convened an interdisciplinary Obesity Working Group of researchers, health care providers, patient advocates, and policy professionals for a closed, roundtable meeting and congressional briefing in July 2025. During this closed roundtable event, the Working Group discussed the intersection of obesity and women’s health, with an emphasis on improving understanding about comorbidities, interventions, and outcomes for women living with obesity.
Objectives
The objectives of the roundtable are to:
- Examine the impact of obesity on women’s health, with special emphasis on inflammation, comorbidities, and hormonal transition life stages
- Identify opportunities to address health care disparities, cultural influences and stigma, and barriers to prevention and treatment interventions for women living with obesity across the lifespan
- Promote science-based and patient-centered health care policies and equitable access to obesity care for women
- Develop materials to expand education and raise awareness about obesity among women, health care providers, policymakers, and the broader public.
Working Group Participants
Chika Anekwe, MD, MPH, Obesity Medicine Clinical Director, Massachusetts General Hospital Weight Center
Sarah Bramblette, MSHL, Senior Advocacy Manager, Obesity Action Coalition
Ariana Chao, PhD, CRNP, FNP-BC, RN, Associate Professor, Johns Hopkins University
Teresa Fraker, FACHE, RN, CPHQ, CBN, Executive Director, Obesity Medicine Association
Millicent Gorham, PhD (Hon), MBA, FAAN, CEO, Alliance for Women’s Health and Prevention
Scott Kahan, MD, MPH, Director, National Center for Weight and Wellness; Faculty, George Washington School of Medicine
Rebecca L. Pearl, PhD, Associate Professor, University of Florida
Tiffany M. Powell-Wiley, MD, MPH, Stadtman Investigator, National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute and National Institute on Minority Health and Health Disparities, National Institutes of Health
Karen Reue, PhD, Professor, University of California Los Angeles
Xavier Revelo, PhD, Associate Professor, University of Minnesota
Kanakadurga Singer, MD, Associate Professor, University of Michigan
Michele Tedder, MSN, RN, Senior Program Manager, Black Women’s Health Imperative
Yilin Yoshida, PhD, MPH, Associate Professor, Tulane University School of Medicine
Sponsor
Support for this educational program has been provided by Novo Nordisk. SWHR maintains independence and editorial control over program development, content, and work products.