Researchers at the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health showed that primary care physicians are not the best advisors on weight- related counseling, says a report in Medical Xpress.
Researchers conducted a survey examining the physicians' perspective on providing health and weight related solutions and found differences in views by the number of years since the completion of medical school. They found that a very minimum amount of people gained success in weight management. Further most physicians support nutritionists counseling for obese patients.
"In order to begin improving obesity care, medical education should focus on enhancing those obesity-related skills primary care physicians feel most qualified to deliver, as well as changing the composition of health care teams and practice resources," said Sara Bleich, PhD, lead author of the study and an assistant professor with the Bloomberg School's Department of Health Policy and Management in a report by Medical Xpress.
"With respect to training and practice-based changes, primary care physicians would like to see implemented, 93 percent reported that including body mass index (BMI) as a fifth vital sign would be helpful; 89 percent reported that including diet and exercise tips in patients' charts would be helpful; 85 percent reported that having scales that calculate BMI would be helpful and 69 percent reported that adding BMI to patients' charts would be helpful."
A national cross-sectional survey conducted by Bliech and colleagues, shows that majority of the primary care physicians support any additional training to improve obesity care. The survey of 500 general practitioners, family practitioners and general internists was conducted between February 9, 2011 and March 1, 2011.
"There are few differences in primary care physician perspectives about the causes of obesity or solutions to improve care, regardless of when they completed medical school, suggesting that obesity-related medical education has changed little over time," Bliech said. "Physicians who completed medical school more recently reported feeling more successful helping obese patients lose weight. However, no matter when they completed medical school they overwhelmingly supported additional training and practice-based changes to help them improve their obesity care."
