Similarly, all related negative life experiences, job discrimination, and derogatory remarks that they attributed to their weight. Participants were not supportive of physicians' traditional approach to aiding patients with weight loss. The results suggest that the traditional approach to treating patients' excessive weight is not helpful from the patient viewpoint. Study participants were more supportive of a group approach to the treatment of obesity that would include group exercise and modification of currently used foods rather than new low-calorie recipes. The issues of transportation and child care must be addressed by weight-loss programs.
Obesity continues to be a problem for patients in the United States.
The conventional approach of family physicians treating obese patients consists of individual sessions of weight checks and physician encouragement, referral to a dietitian for nutritional education, and occasional referral to a counselor or behavioral therapist for assistance in achieving weight loss. 2-4 Physicians are concerned about overweight patients because excess weight is a health risk. Similarly, there are social implications associated with being overweight. American society labels obese people as weak-willed, ugly, and awkward, and there is evidence that obese people are discriminated against because of their weight. 7,8 Since women make more physician visits and have greater levels of obesity than men, physicians are confronted daily by female patients who have an excessive weight problem.