Does your doctor talk to you about weight? If you're overweight, have you received any real help dealing with the problem? The same preventative-health task force that in the past has urged less frequent mammograms and skipping routine PSA tests for prostate cancer has a new health recommendation: Doctors should screen all adult patients for obesity during office visits -- and refer those who need to lose pounds to weight-management programs.
The U.S. Preventive Services Task Force wants docs not just to record weights but to calculate body mass index (BMI) and tell patients if they're at a normal weight, overweight, or obese, David Grossman, a member of the task force, told USA Today. Adults with a BMI of 30 or more are considered obese -- that's about 30 or more pounds over a healthy weight, depending on height.
Reviewing 58 weight-loss studies, the government task force found enough scientific evidence to show that moderate to high-intensity comprehensive behavioral weight-loss programs really do work. Features of an effective program, they say:
- There are at least 12 to 26 sessions in the first year
- Both group and individual sessions are included
- The focus is on setting weight-loss goals, improving diet, and physical activity, and on helping to monitor food intake and exercise.
Doctors can refer patients to registered dietitians, exercise physiologists, personal trainers, and others who direct weight-loss programs, both commercially or nonprofit.
USA Today reports that these new recommendations are similar to those by the Centers for Medicaid and Medicare Services, "which recently recommended that obese seniors, in primary-care practices, be provided 14 sessions of lifestyle intervention over six months to help them lose weight and improve their health."
For someone who's obese, losing 5 percent to 6 percent of weight (usually about 9 to 15 pounds) lowers the risk of many serious conditions, including type 2 diabetes, heart disease, some types of cancer, dementia, sleep apnea, and many others.
Stressed caregivers are often overweight; any of these ailments can imperil your ability to care for others.
If you're worried about your weight, you're not alone. More than one third of American adults are now obese.
Image by Flickr user James Jordan,used under a Creative Commons license.
Monarch, I agree with all you've said. Every time I see my family dr. he tells me I need to lose weight, but that's the extent of it. If it were that easy.
Hugs shelbyzgrammy, BEE203
If only all Doctors cared about people being overweight, ours certainly doesn't! He never wants to know if I've put on a few pounds...too much extra work I'm sure. Yet he's a great Dr, but patients being overweight is a first stop thing...obesity needs tackling straight away not way down the road after folk have really got big! It also needs thinking about that - obesity wasn't even a word until the old style shops were taken over by supermarkets!!! People then simply stood at a counter, asked for what they wanted, paid and left. Now they have to trail past it all and no doubt in many cases....trying hard NOT to see certain items! I hate the way we've had to change.
Hugs shelbyzgrammy, BEE203
"Stressed caregivers are often overweight." Of course they are. Many of them are caught between attempting to care for their own children, spouses, and their parents while also dealing with the stresses of regularly advocating for an ailing loved one's care. The very nature of a person who steps up to being a caregiver is that they often place the care of others ahead of caring for themselves. While I think it makes sense for physicians to start providing referrals to weight loss programs physicians also need to be assessing the overall stress levels in patients' lives. Caregivers could most benefit in having someone truly hear their stresses and direct them to those who could help them reduce the stress in their lives. Then, perhaps, they would have the energy to focus on self care that would help them to become more physically fit. From my experience, only when a caregiver receives some aid in reducing the levels of physical, emotional and psychological stress s/he is under will s/he have the energy to focus on making some changes in his/her lifestyle that will help him/her be more physically fit.
Hugs shelbyzgrammy, BEE203