People now have at their disposal more medicines that are effective at reducing weight, but none can counter obesity alone. One big problem: Insurance coverage remains spotty, and the costly drugs may be needed long term.
Category: Obesity
BMI: The Mismeasure of Weight and the Mistreatment of Obesity
The human body mass index — a simple mathematical equation — is tied to a measure of obesity invented almost 200 years ago. On the downside, it can stand between patients and treatment for weight issues. It particularly mismeasures Black women and Asians.
Health care’s 3 epic childhood obesity failures
I don’t know about you, but I’m tired of spouting the same old worsening childhood obesity statistics, applying the same dilute and sometimes broken strategy, not getting anywhere, judging myself as a doctor, then shifting the blame to my p…
Emotional eating: Why you always want food
An excerpt from How to Lose Weight for the Last Time: Brain-Based Solutions for Permanent Weight Loss. Copyright © 2022 by Katrina Ubell. Reprinted with permission of Balance Publishing. All rights reserved. “I just really like food.” ̶…
Are we too scared to talk to our patients about their weight?
Talking about weight isn’t easy. Case in point, I was scheduled to perform five back-to-back fluoroscopically guided procedures. This was not unusual, but all my scheduled patients happened to be seriously overweight. Excess fat and skin made it …
Skinny fat and normal weight obesity [PODCAST]
Subscribe to The Podcast by KevinMD. Catch up on old episodes! “Obesity is genetically common in our family. I was being gaslighted and judged by a bunch of obese people, most of whom were doing nothing to improve their health and obesity issues….
Reversing the impact of the pandemic on childhood obesity [PODCAST]
Subscribe to The Podcast by KevinMD. Catch up on old episodes! “With schools closed, children spent hours upon hours sitting in front of a screen for instruction and homework. Non-academic screen time increased as well, with parents needing to wo…
Tips for treating high-weight patients [PODCAST]
Subscribe to The Podcast by KevinMD. Catch up on old episodes! “It might seem odd to write about what high-weight patients would like when they meet with their doctors. Don’t they want what every patient wants? The answer is yes, but the fact is,…
Our Shakespearean love affair with BMI
I’m standing outside the exam room, reviewing Marcus, my 16-year-old patient’s growth chart, specifically his BMI. It’s up again, and my heart sinks. I feel that all too common rush of frustration and disappointment and, “Why am…
A gastric bypass might help some people bypass cancer
In an exciting recent study, researchers found that for adults with obesity, weight loss through bariatric surgery lowered their risk of cancer by 35% and reduced their risk of cancer-related death by 43%. This was true of both gastric bypass and gastr…
