AMA guide arms doctors for battle against obesity

The new primer offers help in addressing this health problem.

By Susan J. Landers, AMNews staff. Dec. 22/29, 2003.

Washington -- Broaching the subject of weight control patient by patient is the first hurdle in tackling the national epidemic of obesity, and a new AMA primer to help physicians with this task was released Dec. 1.

Communicate empathetically, the new primer recommends and, even if it seems obvious that the patients' presenting conditions are related to weight, listen to and explore those complaints without forcing the diagnosis of obesity on them.

The primer includes recommendations for weight management, tips for understanding medication and surgical options and ways to make offices more friendly to overweight patients.

"Doctors learn how to broach the topic of weight loss, initiate an effective treatment program and monitor progress while strengthening the patient-physician relationship," according to primer author Robert Kushner, MD, professor of medicine at Northwestern University Feinberg School of Medicine in Chicago.

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention estimates that 64% of Americans are overweight or obese, resulting in 300,000 preventable deaths each year.

"The numbers on obesity are staggering," said AMA president Donald J. Palmisano, MD. "Obesity is a leading indicator for serious health problems such as type 2 diabetes, heart disease, stroke and some cancers. These are medical conditions that physicians are already managing. It makes perfect sense to have physicians address the underlying cause and encourage healthy eating and physical activity."