Physicians key to winning fight against fat

Doctors are frustrated, but experts say their engagement on many fronts is crucial to addressing the nation's growing rate of obesity.

By Victoria Stagg Elliott, AMNews staff. Jan. 12, 2004.

Honolulu -- Just before the Obesity Action Workshop at last month's AMA Interim Meeting a doctor approached Melvyn Sterling, MD, to express his frustration that nothing he did seemed effective in helping patients manage their weight.

Dr. Sterling, the forum moderator and an internist from Huntington Beach, Calif., was not surprised. He explained later that his colleague's comment illustrates the struggle doctors face in trying to deal with obesity. They don't think there is much they can do. And their hopelessness is so pervasive that numerous studies show they often don't even ask patients about their weight.

"Obesity is absolutely the most difficult challenge in my practice," said Dr. Sterling, chair of the Council on Scientific Affairs. "But there are some things that work."

Still, Dr. Sterling, workshop panelists and audience members acknowledged that most of the interventions have limited effectiveness, but they didn't concede defeat. Their message was that there is much medicine should try to do to turn the tide.

"There's a lot that needs to be done regarding treatment efficacy, counseling skills, and reimbursement, but there is no question that we are sitting on the most serious threat to our nation's health, and we must rise to the occasion with whatever tools, resources and strategies we have available," said Robert Kushner, MD, a panelist and medical director of Northwestern Memorial Hospital's Wellness Institute in Chicago.