Check your BMI

Are health goals the same as cosmetic goals?

Often, a 10 to 15% reduction in an overweight or obese person’s body weight can bring about a significant reduction in the person’s health risk. This “healthy” weight loss does not always equate with a person’s “cosmetic” weight loss goals.  A BMI of 27 or higher is associated with increased morbidity and mortality; this is generally considered the point at which some form of treatment for obesity is required. A BMI between 25 and 27 is considered a warning sign and may warrant intervention, especially in the presence of an elevated body fat composition or other medical diagnoses.

What About Medications and Special Diets?

Bariatricians have a wide range of tools to offer their overweight patients, including special diet and nutrition products, individualized exercise programs, suggestions for lifestyle changes and prescription medications (phentermine), if indicated.  Prescription anti-obesity medications can be a useful adjunct to a medical weight loss program, when used as part of a comprehensive program including diet and nutrition changes, exercise, and lifestyle modification. Medications will make behavior modification easier leading to successful weight loss and maintenance. These medications are intended for patients who want to lose at least 15 pounds.  Many of the appetite suppressants and other medications available today have a long history of safe and successful use. New medications are being researched and will be available after clinical testing and FDA approval.  Just as there are some risks and side effects with almost any medication, including aspirin, acetaminophen and birth control pills, so may there be side effects and risks with anti-obesity medications. For most people, the side effects are minimal and of short duration. Bariatricians are trained to know how to prescribe the drugs properly and monitor patients taking these medications.  The decision to prescribe anti-obesity medications must be made by the bariatric physician and the patient after carefully weighing the risks of the medications vs. the risks of remaining overweight or obese.

What is Obesity?

Obesity used to be understood in fairly simple terms, excess body weight resulting from eating too much and exercising too little, due in large part to a lack of willpower or self-restraint. Fortunately for the millions of American adults who are overweight, obesity is now regarded as a chronic medical disease with serious health implications caused by a complex set of factors.  Recognized since 1985 as a chronic disease, obesity is the second leading cause of preventable death, exceeded only by cigarette smoking. Obesity has been established as a major risk factor for hypertension, cardiovascular disease, diabetes mellitus and some cancers in both men and women. Obesity results from a complex interaction of genetic, behavioral and environmental factors causing an imbalance between energy intake and energy expenditure. According to the National Institutes of Health, an increase in body weight of 20 percent or more above desirable weight is the point at which excess weight becomes an established health hazard. Lower levels of excess weight can also constitute a health risk, particularly in the presence of other disorders like diabetes, hypertension and heart disease.

What is a Bariatrician?

A bariatrician is a licensed physician who, as a member of the American Society of Bariatric Physicians (ASBP), has received special training in bariatric medicine, the medical treatment of overweight and obesity and its associated conditions. Bariatricians address the obese patient with a comprehensive program of diet and nutrition, exercise, lifestyle changes and, when indicated, the prescription of appetite suppressants and other appropriate medications.  While any licensed physician can offer a medical weight loss program to patients, members of the ASBP have been exposed, through an extensive continuing medical education program, to specialized knowledge, tools and techniques to enable them to design specialized medical weight loss programs tailored to the needs of individual patients and modify the programs, if needed, as the treatment progresses. ASBP members are uniquely equipped to treat overweight and obesity and associated conditions. A physician-supervised medical weight loss program may be the safest and wisest way to lose weight and maintain the loss.  Overweight and obesity are frequently accompanied by other medical conditions, such as type 2 diabetes, hypertension, cancer and others. A bariatric physician is trained to detect and treat these conditions, which might go undetected and untreated in a non-medical weight loss program.