Physicians Believe Obesity is America's Most Severe Health Issue

26/04/07 Epocrates, Inc. announced the results of the "2007 Obesity Report," a nationwide survey of physicians on public health issues and the increasing rate of obesity in America. The results exposed that physicians -- often the "front line" of health -- consider obesity to be the single largest public health crisis in the United States, and that there are varying opinions as to who is primarily responsible and what can be done to address the issue.

Although Americans have always tried to win the "battle of the bulge," the obesity problem has recently become one of our country's most talked-about health issues. Today, 52 percent of physicians believe that more than half of their patients are overweight. According to nearly 90 percent of physicians, this percentage has increased in the past five years despite greater attention on the issue. Physicians are striving to make a difference, however more than 40 percent of the respondents stated that they are not addressing the subject with all of their patients.

"This survey shows how pervasive obesity is across the nation, and how crucial it is for physicians to educate their patients about its risks," said Dr. Liviu Klein, M.D., M.S., the Bluhm Cardiovascular Institute, Northwestern University Hospital. "Studies show that excess weight puts undue strain on vital organs and can lead to a multitude of serious health problems, such as heart disease and diabetes. Education around the negative health effects of smoking has dramatically decreased adult use of tobacco in the last 20 years, and we hope awareness around the obesity-related co-morbidity risks will have a similar and more immediate impact."

Researchers and patients may look to genetics to blame for obesity, but physicians believe that lack of exercise and oversized food portions are the greatest contributors to the problem. Consequently, physicians largely believe that individuals and the food industry are mostly responsible for the issue. Despite not contributing to the obesity epidemic, physicians state that the government and physicians must play a role in reducing America's growing waistline.

Physicians rank education and school restrictions on soda and fast food among initiatives that will have the greatest impact on slimming the population, recognizing that obesity in children most often leads to adult obesity. Of the other recent initiatives to help reduce obesity, most physicians see little impact from the new over-the-counter obesity drug alli or regulations of trans fats in restaurants.

Additional survey highlights:

-- Surprisingly, 88 percent of physicians believe that more than 30 percent of their peers are clinically overweight, even when each understands the long and short term consequences.
-- Ninety-three percent of physicians rank Weight Watchers as the best weight loss program, followed by The South Beach Diet.
-- Other health initiatives physicians believe will have a significant impact on reducing obesity include higher health premiums for overweight adults (58 percent), TV advertisements about better nutrition (45 percent), portion control (44 percent) and banning trans fats in all food (30 percent).
-- Only 13 percent of physicians think genetics is the biggest contributor to obesity.
-- While physicians were able to identify childhood obesity health risks such as onset of type 2 diabetes, fewer than half of physicians recognized other key risks such as higher incidence of liver disease and asthma.
-- Physicians consider obesity, chronic disease (93 percent) and smoking 90 percent) as the top three public health issues in the U.S.