There is growing interest in understanding how dysregulated autophagy may contribute to pathogenesis of disease. Most frequently, disease states are associated with diminished autophagy, mostly attributed to genetic variation in autophagy genes and/or to dysfunctional posttranscriptional mechanisms. In human adipose tissue (AT), in obesity, expression of autophagy genes is upregulated and autophagy is likely activated, associating with adipose dysfunction. This review explores the emerging role of transcriptional mechanisms regulating AT autophagy in obesity.