The acknowledgment that obesity is a disease—a disease with enormous impact on both the public health and the economy and an incredible burden to its victims—has ?nally come. This ?nal recognition will hopefully free research dollars and will encourage third party payers to understand the need to cover services for treatment. Dr McKnight is an honored family medicine educator who combines his sense of academic rigor with the understanding of a compassionate family p- sician. Thus he approaches this clinical syndrome in the manner of a family physician: he aims to have an effect on the entire person and that person’s life, not just some disease entity. His broad-based approach draws on behavioral strategies, diet and exercise modi?cation, and limited use of pharmaceuticals in selected cases. The practical tools presented here will prove to be valuable ad- tions to the armamentarium of care teams that look to develop treatment plans for their patients with this disease. I myself have been obese as long as I can remember. I am the son of obese parents and my sister has shared this chronic problem. Over my lifetime I have dealt with almost all of the problems of obesity, and I have used all of the excuses. I have dealt with many obese patients during my years in practice, some who have said openly that they chose me as their physician because I really couldn’t tell them to lose weight, since I could not myself.

The latest information from the CDC demonstrates that 70% of Americans can be classified as having pre-obesity or obesity. This chronic disease is considered the cause of many other chronic diseases such as hypertension, dyslipidemia, diabetes, and nonalcoholic fatty liver disease, to name but a few of the 236 obesity associated disorders. Additionally, obesity is considered to be the cause of fourteen different types of cancers. Based on the number of people affected and the consequences of the disease, it is imperative that it is studied and treated by primary care providers. Few training programs for physicians, NPs or PAs are covering the basics of treating obesity. These fundamentals include pathophysiology, assessment of the disease, and the foundational components of treatment with eating plans, physical activity and behavioral interventions, then the supporting components of anti-obesity medications, devices and surgery. As a result, few of those currently in primary care practice have received any education in the evidence-based treatment of obesity. This book provides the reader with the education to understand the disease, the patient’s experience, and full evidence-based treatment. It also provides the opportunity to understand how to incorporate the treatment into primary care. Written by a leading expert in the field, Treating Obesity in Primary Care offers all clinicians providing primary care services the information needed to effectively treat the chronic disease of obesity.

This practical book provides effective, time-efficient strategies for initiating and continuing productive conversations about weight that can be incorporated into any practice setting. It will benefit all clinicians—advanced practice nurses, physician assistants, physicians—from students to experienced providers, whether they provide obesity treatment or refer to those who do. This guide addresses the numerous barriers that clinicians encounter when they contemplate or attempt conversations about weight and provides strategies to reduce and overcome these barriers. It guides clinicians step-by-step through the concepts and skills needed to have conversations that lead to improved health. Each chapter provides useful tools and information about how to move the conversation forward in a respectful, skillful manner. Real life clinical scenarios provide examples of short, productive conversations that incorporate the tools into clinical practice. Many clinicians recognize the importance of discussing weight with their patients yet feel unprepared to do so. Most did not learn about obesity or how to talk about it in their clinical educational programs and have little access to continuing education. Without the knowledge and skills to start a productive conversation, many avoid the topic. This avoidance has a negative impact on the health of those with obesity and pre-obesity. Given that obesity treatment improves outcomes, it is imperative that clinicians are skilled at discussing weight with knowledge and sensitivity. This book meets that gap.

Written by and for primary care professionals, this unique title presents step-by-step, evidence-based information for the assessment and treatment of patients who present with overweight or obesity. Highly practical and easy to use, Primary Care: Obesity helps you develop and hone the specific knowledge, skills, and clinical practices necessary to provide effective care to this highly prevalent and at-risk patient population. This comprehensive guide is an essential resource for today’s internal medicine and family medicine physicians, pediatricians, nurse practitioners, physician assistants, and other healthcare professionals who practice outpatient primary care.

The World Health Organization estimates that there are 2.1 billion individuals with obesity globally. Nearly three quarters of adults in the United States are overweight or obese. The average individual with obesity cuts ten years off their life expectancy, yet less than 40% of physicians routinely counsel individuals concerning the adverse health consequences of obesity. Obesity Prevention and Treatment: A Practical Guide equips healthcare practitioners to include effective weight management counselling in the daily practice of medicine. Written by lifestyle medicine pioneer and cardiologist, Dr. James Rippe and obesity expert Dr. John Foreyt, this book provides evidence-based discussions of obesity and its metabolic consequences. A volume in the Lifestyle Medicine Series, it provides evidence-based information about the prevention and treatment of obesity through lifestyle measures, such as regular physical activity and sound nutrition, as well as the use of new medications or bariatric surgery available to assist in weight management. Provides a framework and practical strategies to assist practitioners in safe and effective treatments of obesity. Contains information explaining the relationship between obesity and increased risk of heart disease, diabetes, cancer, osteoarthritis, and other chronic conditions. Chapters begin with bulleted key points and conclude with a list of Clinical Applications. Written for practitioners at all levels, this user-friendly, evidence-based book on obesity prevention and treatment will be valuable to practitioners in general medicine or subspecialty practices.

This book is the most current, comprehensive medical text focusing specifically on obesity and its related syndromes and diseases. This text takes the newest science and latest research about obesity and renders the information imminently readable and immediately useful to the medical practitioner charged with providing best practices health care for patients who are obese. In the process, this text scientifically clarifies obesity as a disease of epidemic proportions, debunks common myths about obesity, and challenges medicine’s traditional and oftentimes limited view of obesity. More specifically, in Obesity: The Medical Practitioner’s Essential Guide you will find comprehensive, accurate, science-based information about the epidemiology, biology, genetics, psychology, discrimination and prejudice, causes, and effects of obesity, as well as the latest science about obesity’s related syndromes and diseases. In addition, this book provides the medical practitioner with specific best practices, including preferred methods of measurement, preferred methods of obesity screening, a system of graded interventions, a comprehensive description and analysis of various bariatric/surgical interventions, and a proposed population management strategy. This medical text focusing on obesity and its related syndromes and diseases is not only an invaluable reference source for current front line practitioners, but is an essential tool that can be used both domestically and internationally to educate all students in medical schools, nursing programs, physician assistant programs, doctor of osteopath programs, medical weight loss clinics, and any other health science programs.

As the general public has become more aware of advances in nutrition, consumer demands for advice on matters of diet and disease have grown. This book offers recommendations to upgrade what were found to be largely inadequate nutrition programs in U.S. medical schools in order that health professionals be better qualified to advise and treat their patients. A comprehensive study of one-third of American 4-year undergraduate medical schools provided information on the current status of nutrition programs at each school. Conclusions were drawn and recommendations made from analysis of this gathered information. Questions examined in this volume include: Has medical education kept pace with advances in nutrition science? Are medical students equipped to convey sound nutritional advice to their patients? What strategies are needed to initiate and sustain adequate teaching of nutrition in medical schools?