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Obesity is reaching pandemic proportions in Western society. It has resulted in increasing health care burden and decreasing life expectancy. Obesity is a complex, chronic disease, involving decades of pathophysiological changes and adaptation. Therefore, it is difficult ascertain the exact mechanisms for this long-term process in humans. To circumvent some of these issues, several surrogate models are available, including murine genetic loss-of-function mutations, transgenic gain-of-function mutations, polygenic models, and different environmental exposure models. The mouse model of diet-induced obesity has become one of the most important tools for understanding the interplay of high-fat Western diets and the development of obesity. The diet-induced obesity model closely mimics the increasingly availability of the high-fat/high-density foods in modern society over the past two decades, which are main contributors to the obesity trend in human. This model has lead to many discoveries of the important signalings in obesity, such as Akt and mTOR. The chapter describes protocols for diet induced-obesity model in mice and protocols for measuring insulin resistance and sensitivity.

• Myalgic encephalomyelitis is a debilitating neurological disease affecting 3% of the adult population of Western countries.

• There is a rising prevalence of attention-deficit hyperactivity disorder defining the Richardson–Puri fatty acid model of attention-deficit hyperactivity disorder, suggesting association with fatty acid changes in the modern Western diet.

The statistics concerning weight, diet, and exercise in the United States are grim. Seventy-five percent of Americans fail to exercise at least 30 minutes a day. Obesity, low levels of physical activity, and Western diets rich in lipids and carbohydrates and poor in fruits and vegetables contribute to the intermediate medical conditions that increase stroke risk: hypertension, diabetes, and hyperlipidemia. The heartening aspect, however, is that these risk factors are potentially modifiable if clinicians identify and address the issues and patients comply with current recommendations.