NPR

Doctors Should Send Obese Patients To Diet Counseling, Panel Says. But Many Don't

Behavior-based weight-loss programs that focus on diet and exercise can work for obese patients, a national panel of experts says. But many doctors aren't having the necessary conversations.
If patients are obese, their physicians should refer them to behavior-based weight loss programs or offer their own, a national panel of experts says. Yet many doctors aren't having the necessary conversations with their patients.

A visit to your primary care physician may focus on your headaches or that achy back. But if your body mass index is over 30, a panel of national experts says, it should also include a referral to an intensive weight-loss program.

That's the latest recommendation of the U.S. Preventive Services Task Force, an independent panel of national an evidence review and the recommendation in the on Tuesday.

You’re reading a preview, subscribe to read more.

More from NPR

NPR4 min readCrime & Violence
Heated Arguments At The Supreme Court In Newest Abortion Case
At issue is a clash between federal and state law about how pregnant women must be treated in the emergency room.
NPR5 min readAmerican Government
First Day Of Trump's Hush Money Trial Kicks Off With Opening Statements And A Witness
The prosecution is arguing that Donald Trump wanted to keep information out of the public fearing that it would turn off voters in 2016. The defense argues Trump did nothing illegal.
NPR5 min read
A Woman With Failing Kidneys Receives Genetically Modified Pig Organs
Surgeons transplanted a kidney and thymus gland from a gene-edited pig into a 54-year-old woman in an attempt to extend her life. It's the latest experimental use of animal organs in humans.

Related Books & Audiobooks