Team ATA Completes Nationwide TREO Walk to Fund Research, Reduce Stigma, & Create Better Solutions

Over the last several weeks, 26 Assessment and Therapy Associates team members banded together to virtually complete the #WalkforTREO with teams hitting the pavement, treadmill, and sidewalks nationwide.

The TREO Foundation's mission is to "Stomp the Stigma" and advance Treatment, Research, and Education to end Obesity. This year, teams have raised thousands of dollars, and counting!

By 2035, it’s estimated that over half of the world’s population (almost 4 billion people) will be diagnosed with obesity if trends continue.

If you, like many, are someone who thinks, “They (or I) just need to eat better and exercise more,” you aren't entirely wrong — but I’m begging you to take 2 minutes to read this.

Did you know?

1️⃣ Most people think obesity is caused by lifestyle choices. In reality, lifestyle choices are often driven by genetics, brain chemistry, and the gut. We’ve been looking at it backwards. Lifestyle is often the symptom, not the cause.
2️⃣ Up to 70% of body weight is influenced by genetics, shaping metabolism, appetite, and how the body stores fat.
3️⃣ In obesity, hormones like leptin (fullness) and ghrelin (hunger) can misfire — sometimes from birth — making appetite regulation incredibly difficult.
4️⃣ Brain imaging shows real differences in reward pathways and appetite regulation in people with obesity. It’s not “mind over matter.”

✅ So yes, lifestyle changes help — but obesity is a chronic, relapsing disease, not a simple choice.

Dr. Kati Duncan has been working in this field for 20 years, and has never met a person who “chose” to have obesity. Lifestyle choices influenced by body dysregulation may perpetuate it, but that’s not what initially triggered it.

💬 And let’s not forget the stigma: individuals with obesity face judgment from family, socially, and even in the medical community. This often leads to desperate cycles of dieting, which we know can make the body more efficient at storing fat — making long-term weight loss even harder, and the disease even worse.