The National Institutes of Health (NIH) spends more than $800 million on obesity research every year. That is a fraction compared to the total cost of obesity to taxpayers and those affected with obesity.

According to NIH Director Dr. Francis Collins, that fraction is doing a lot to help find systematic solutions to counteract high obesity rates, but there is still much to be done.

For part three of Here & Now’s series America On The Scale, host Jeremy Hobson speaks with Collins about the latest research and what it says about understanding obesity, its complications and how best to reduce the problem.