 | |
| Body Mass Index: the 5th Vital Sign (Source: Time Magazine) |
We know that physician counseling can have an impact on healthy behavior- such as smoking cessation. With the growing obesity problem in the USA, physicians should focus not only on smoking cessation but also weight control as part of healthy behavior counseling. Not all physicians choose to focus on weight.
So here are two related articles. In the Archives of Internal Medicine, investigators analyzed data from the 2005-2008 National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey data on adults aged 20 to 64 years with a body mass index (BMI) of at least 25.0. Using logistic regression analysis,among patients who were overweight/obese, patient reports of being told by a physician that they were overweight were associated with more realistic perceptions of one's weight, desire to lose weight, and recent attempts to lose weight.
