While there has been considerable energy focused on the costs and effectiveness of bariatric surgery, there has been little systematically-gathered evidence on the non-surgical care and healthcare expenditures for similarly burdened patients. The economic burden and clinical impact of both need to be more carefully defined to help guide DOD decision making regarding obesity care. Understanding the cost effectiveness of obesity treatments is also critical given the cost of treatment procedures, their potential for saving future costs related to co-morbid health conditions and worker productivity and the growing population of operative candidates.