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Doctors
Advised to Screen for Obesity
In response to ever-expanding waistlines, an independent
panel of medical experts recommends that doctors and other
health providers screen all adults for obesity.
People who are obese should be offered intensive counseling
and be advised on strategies for losing weight, according
to the U.S. Preventive Services Task Force, which advises
government health agencies.
"We need to stem the rising epidemic of obesity in
this nation," U.S. Department of Health and Human Services
Secretary Tommy G. Thompson said in a prepared statement.
"These findings show that clinicians can have a significant
impact on the health of their adult patients by screening
for obesity and offering or referring patients to intensive
counseling and behavioral interventions."
It's no secret that Americans have gotten heavier in recent
years. During the last 40 years, the percentage of U.S.
adults who are obese jumped from 13 percent to 31 percent.
Another 34 percent of U.S. adults are overweight but not
obese, according to the report in the December 2nd issue
of the journal Annals of Internal Medicine.
Despite the steep rise in obesity, only 42 percent of obese
adults report being advised by a healthcare professional
to lose weight.
To see whether screening is a good idea, the panel reviewed
a variety of scientific studies.
Based on the available evidence, the panel concludes that
body mass index, or BMI, is a reliable way of identifying
people who are at increased risk of health problems because
of overweight and obesity.
BMI is a measure of obesity that takes into account weight
and height. A person with a BMI between 25 and 29.9 is considered
overweight, while someone with a BMI of 30 or more is obese.
You can calculate your BMI by dividing your weight in pounds
by your height in inches squared multiplied by 703. Check
our BMI calculator here.
According to the task force, there is enough evidence to
show that high-intensity counseling - about diet, exercise
or both - in combination with other weight-loss strategies
can help obese people lose weight.
Studies have shown that weight loss can reduce several health
risk factors, including cholesterol levels, blood pressure
and blood sugar, according to the panel.
The task force concludes that there is not enough evidence
to recommend that healthcare professionals also offer counseling
to people who are overweight, but not obese. This does not
mean that such counseling is a bad idea, but just that too
few studies have examined the effects of counseling overweight
people.
SOURCE: Annals of Internal Medicine, December 2, 2003.
Article Source: Reuters Health
Article Author: N/A
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