Issue 148 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.”