Do Doctors Recommend to Obese Patients to Lose Weight?
In 1998, the National Institute of Health in the United States, issued recommendations to health professionals, urging them to suggest to patients with obesity, track a weight loss plan.
After a while, it was evaluated whether obese patients received a recommendation by health professionals that catered to them about the importance of starting a weight loss plan, and if, moreover, had followed the advice or not .
The methodology included a telephone survey of a representative sample of the population from 50 states and the District of Columbia. This included almost 13,000 people over 18 years, diagnosed as obese and who had attended a routine medical checkup in the past 12 months. The diagnosis of obesity was established by relating the weight with the size of the patient, through an index called “Body Mass Index“. When it was greater or equal to 30, the person was diagnosed as obese.
Only 22 percent of obese people said having received the recommendation to lose weight by health professionals that attended. In general, patients who received more recommendations were middle-aged women with high education levels. Residents of poorer areas, with low education levels were shown to have a poor perception of their health and a high degree of obesity, diabetes as well.
People who were counseled to lose weight reported having done something to achieve, compared with those who had not received any advice.
Less than half of obese adults reported receiving a recommendation by health professionals to lose weight. This demonstrates the need to raise awareness not only to patients about the importance of this disease that both health problems and social life brings, but also to the same doctors and health professionals. Without this last objective achieved, it becomes really difficult to lower the alarming numbers of overweight and obesity, which increases daily worldwide.