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Although most patients with excess want help and most healthcare professionals want to help their patients, very rarely does weight management come up during regular healthcare visits. Why is this? There are several reasons.
ONE, most healthcare providers receive very little training in weight management and nutrition. They simply aren’t exposed to the science of Obesity Medicine. It isn’t taught as part of the medical school curriculum (yet).
TWO, treating obesity takes a great deal of time and most healthcare providers simply don’t have the time in their schedules to devote to it.
THREE, many clinicians are uncomfortable with the topic. Some are still stuck in the old way of thinking – that obesity is a problem of willpower and they just need exposure to the science. Others recognize that this disease isn’t a character flaw, but they don’t feel comfortable addressing the topic, concerned that discussing it will be considered insensitive or rude.
These are all valid reasons – and things that members of the Obesity Medicine Association are working hard to change. There is a big push to improve training in medical schools and advanced training programs. However, it’s going to take time to trickle down into the exam room. Until something in the entire healthcare system changes, we are unlikely to see an improvement in the amount of time spent in the exam room, so that one’s pretty hopeless for now. There are quite a few of us lecturing at medical conferences and grand rounds – exposing clinicians to the idea that obesity isn’t a disease of willpower and helping teach ways to address it. So there’s definitely potential for progress in two of these areas. Until then, those of us practicing Obesity Medicine will keep doing what we are doing. Most of our patients come to us from other healthcare providers that want to help their patients and just don’t have the tools or the time to do it.