Weight Loss Counseling Research Required, Study Shows

As obesity rates inside U. S. keep climb health researchers have begun to analyze many different factors that may affect weight. A whole new study suggests, even so, that there may not be sufficient research in to how doctors can certainly encourage already-proven methods for weight loss.

The study, published from The Journal of the American Medical Association, reviewed studies about how exactly doctors can work with behavioral treatment intended for obese patients. This study found only 12 high-quality studies within the issue, and no studies where doctors followed this Centers for Medicare and also Medicaid Services’ (CMS) tips for behavioral counseling.

“After an inclusive search, we discovered only 12 high-quality randomized handled trials that examined the behavioral treatment method of obesity within patients encountered inside primary care configurations, ” said Thomas Wadden, lead author from the study and director on the University of Pennsylvania’s Centre for Weight in addition to Eating Disorders. “Of those, only two studies recognized counseling interventions that produced the average loss of at least five percent of initial bodyweight, an amount more likely to improve weight-related health and fitness complications. ”

Wadden along with his colleagues discovered that, of the 12 studies covered inside review, those that applied behavioral interventions that included a reduced-calorie eating plan and prescribed physical exercise were generally best. A higher quantity of counseling visits in the first six months of the behavioral treatment intended for obesity was also found for being associated with greater weight loss.

In 2011 this CMS approved payment for behavioral weight loss counseling, but only under strict guidelines that need CMS-approved primary health care practicioners. The study’s authors believe that more research is needed to determine the effectiveness of such guidelines. They also advised that remote weight loss counseling via telephone or the online world could be effective.

“I think we will probably see increasing use of remotely-delivered weight loss counseling, whether by simply telephone, smart phones, the Internet, or other digital solutions, ” said Adam Tsai, a co-author from the study and the obesity specialist at Kaiser Permanente in Denver. “Telephone delivered guidance, provided by counselors from the patient’s primary health care practice, or by a trained interventionist from the disease management contact center, is probably be more convenient and less expensive for patients in addition to potentially for health-care providers and insurance providers. ”.

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