The American Association of Bariatric Counselors (AABC) is a professional collegial association that has developed an important and essential health care specialty for the 21st Century. The goal of AABC is to provide specialized bariatric education and credentialing standards for already licensed/certified health and education professionals from diverse disciplines. In addition an accredited core curriculum in the bariatric sciences is available for Master's-level and Doctoral-level students pursuing professional health and education careers.