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Item #14
Primary
Care Weight-Loss Initiative Cost-Effective
By
six months patients had dropped an average of 10.5lbs (4.28
kilograms), with 43% shedding 5% or more of their original weight, and
13% losing 10% or more.
A
project designed to improve obesity management programs offered
through primary care clinics has been a success, according to
preliminary results.
The
Counterweight program aims to assess and improve obesity
management in 80 practices across 7 regions of the UK, the project's
national coordinator Hazel Ross told a meeting of the Association for
the Study of Obesity, in London.
The
researchers audited each practice's current situation and needs, and
then offered specialist training. The success of its weight-loss
programs was then evaluated after 3 and 6 months.
The
first assessment of the practices' existing programs showed "an
under-recognition of obesity and a recording problem," Ross said.
Only 57% of men and 70% of women had their body mass index recorded in
their patient record.
The
researcher reported data on the effect of primary care-based weight
loss for 682 people with a mean body mass index of 37, three-quarters
of whom had another medical condition related to their obesity such as
heart disease, diabetes, back pain and arthritis.
After
3 months, the participants, who were mostly women, lost an average of
7.3lbs (3.32 kilograms). By six months they had dropped an average of
9.4lbs (4.28 kilograms), with 43% shedding 5% or more of their
original weight, and 13% losing 10% or more.
"Our
preliminary data show weight loss can be achieved with modest
resources," Ross told the experts attending the meeting.
"The
Counterweight program is a realistic model that in the future could
affect obesity treatments in primary care."
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