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Article: Words into action--promoting successful weight loss in overweight patients; a patient who wants to lose weight is faced with a daunting array of weight-loss options and conflicting claims. Here's how to sort them all out.(Weight Management)
- Article from:
- JAAPA-Journal of the American Academy of Physicians Assistants
- Article date:
- April 1, 2004
- Author:
CopyrightCOPYRIGHT 2004 Haymarket Media, Inc. This material is published under license from the publisher through the Gale Group, Farmington Hills, Michigan. All inquiries regarding rights should be directed to the Gale Group. (Hide copyright information)
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Reducing the incidence of obesity has become a major objective of various government agencies, including the Office of the Surgeon General (1) and the National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute (NHLBI) of the National Institutes of Health (NIH). (2,3) It is the clinician, however, who must inform overweight and obese patients of the health risks of their excess weight and urge them to take steps to reduce it. Providers may need to overcome a reluctance to discuss weight with patients that is rooted in time constraints, lack of reimbursement, the social stigma of obesity, or the perception that patients will not follow their advice. Clinicians may share the societal view ...