Obesity

Unlocking the secret to successful weight loss: Curiosity is the key

Conditions
March 21, 2023

The obesity epidemic is reaching an all-time high. It’s no surprise why – the fitness industry pushing expensive diets and intense workouts, combined with limited access to affordable health care options, makes it difficult for people to maintain health in our society today. And what’s even more concerning? More than 72 percent of Americans are now overweight or obese, impacting not just us but future generations too, affecting over …

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Breaking the cycle of childhood obesity

Conditions
March 14, 2023

Every specialty has its burden, and pediatric endocrinology’s is obesity. Primary care providers refer because they or the child’s parents suspect the cause is hormonal. It almost never is. The overly adipose child invariably has, using older terminology, exogenous obesity.

Traditionally, this has implied excessive calorie intake and inadequate expenditure (the “overactive fork and underactive foot”), arising from sloth and gluttony. I don’t share this belief. Over the years, I have …

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The holistic solution to obesity: Addressing mind, body, and behaviors for lasting weight loss

Conditions
March 13, 2023

Ozempic, Wegovy, Mounjaro. These names have entered our common parlance within the last year via news articles, television stories, and celebrity exposes. Everyone from Hollywood to your neighbor seems to be on medication for weight loss or trying to find a way to access one via their medical provider, from primary care physicians to dermatologists. The widespread demand for these medications has resulted in a shortage for those who could …

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Revolutionize your health and fitness with ChatGPT’s modern weight loss hacks

Tech
March 7, 2023

Weight loss can be a challenging process for many people, as it often requires significant lifestyle changes and dedication to healthy habits. However, with the help of modern technology and innovative strategies, it’s easier than ever to revolutionize your health and fitness journey. This article will explore how ChatGPT can provide modern weight loss hacks to help individuals achieve their health goals.

1. Personalized nutrition plan. One of the most significant …

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“Eat less and move more” is not the solution: What I wish my thin colleagues understood about obesity

Conditions
March 5, 2023

I have been overweight or obese since I hit puberty. I have gained and lost the same 60 pounds half a dozen times in my adult life. I’ve never been one to try a fad diet – I research the data and follow a scientifically sound plan. I understand that the only way to lose a pound is to have a 3,500-calorie deficit. Losing weight is actually quite simple. But …

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Size-inclusive medicine: a response to AAP’s guidelines for the treatment of children and adolescents with obesity

Conditions
March 1, 2023

We are a grassroots advocacy organization of medical students across the country, focused on making health care more equitable for patients in larger bodies. We join the physicians, eating disorder professionals, and community members who raise concerns regarding the AAP’s most recent clinical guidelines, “Clinical Practice Guideline for the Evaluation and Treatment of Children and Adolescents with Obesity.”

The new AAP guidelines are based on science that grossly misrepresents the …

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The importance of childhood obesity prevention: a doctor’s perspective

Conditions
February 26, 2023

I’m starting to see this trend of podcasts and articles that seem to be raising the white flag against childhood obesity. We should all agree with physicians that these conversations should be approached carefully and thoughtfully. We should agree that there are clear reasons to promote regular exercise and a healthy diet. We should agree with the clear health benefits of maintaining a healthy weight. There are clear mental health …

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Moving beyond weight-centered approaches in childhood obesity [PODCAST]

Podcast
February 24, 2023
YouTube video

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In this episode, we sit down with guest Wendy Schofer, a pediatrician, to discuss the current state of childhood obesity and the need for a change in approach. Over the past two decades, the prevalence of children …

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Nutrition’s impact on pain and obesity [PODCAST]

Podcast
December 15, 2022
YouTube video

Subscribe to The Podcast by KevinMD. Catch up on old episodes!

“Both pain and obesity can have a multitude of causes. Therefore, reducing pain and body weight should be approached in a multifactorial way; nutritionally, physically, mentally, and emotionally. Failure to do so may result in short-term success …

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Be a shining example for your weight loss patients

Conditions
November 15, 2022

How can you be an example of what’s possible for your patients on their weight loss journey? I got this question recently in a doctor’s social media group I like. The answer is simpler than you think. As their doctor, you aspire to perfection in your medical care for them, but you can be an example of what’s possible in weight loss as a plain regular human being. Sharing …

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Why body type standards are wrong in measuring health

Conditions
November 4, 2022

When you visit your doctor for your regular check-up, just like every human being, your body and health are judged by three main scientific standards to determine if you are healthy and “normal.”

Standard 1 is the Standard Scientific Human Body Anatomy Book Body Type (BT1) found in any scientifically approved human body anatomy book. According to mainstream science and medical doctors, every human being is born in a standard BT1. …

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A personal mission to get obese patients on GLP-1 agonists

Conditions
October 19, 2022

Admittedly, this comes to you from a place of concussion-inducing-head-banging-against-brick-walls-level frustration.

For the past year, I have made it a personal mission to get people suffering from obesity on GLP-1 agonists. These drugs are all in the same class, have identical mechanisms, and three are the same generics. (Ozempic, Wegovy, and Rybelsus are all semaglutide.)

They are advertised as Wegovy, Ozempic, Rybelsus, Saxenda, Trulicity, and Mounjaro.

To say these are life savers is …

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Health care’s 3 epic childhood obesity failures

Conditions
September 23, 2022

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 patient and their parents, then feeling powerless and defeated.

Lather. Rinse. Repeat.

It’s a cycle we’re stuck in, and it’s not serving anyone, especially our patients.

I’m not going to go over the impact …

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Are we too scared to talk to our patients about their weight?

Conditions
September 4, 2022

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 difficult to see my needles during the interventional procedures. Therefore, what was ordinarily a routine procedure suddenly became complex and challenging.

I am an interventional pain management physician. For many of my patients, …

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Skinny fat and normal weight obesity [PODCAST]

Podcast
September 3, 2022
YouTube video

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. Yet they fully believe to …

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Our Shakespearean love affair with BMI

Conditions
August 13, 2022

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 I here and what is the point?”

“Am I just here to document weight gain in my patients?”

Marcus has been coming to my pediatric weight management clinic for over two years and has high …

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A gastric bypass might help some people bypass cancer

Conditions
July 23, 2022

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 gastric sleeve surgeries, and the results were observed ten years after patients’ procedures.

This is great news for people who have seen weight-loss success through bariatric surgery. The study …

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My journey being gaslighted about obesity, skinny fat, and body type

Conditions
July 18, 2022

When I was eight years old, I was a star soccer player on a state championship team. During shirts-off practice and while down at the local pool, I noticed how different my body was compared to my peers. After I referenced my scientifically approved human body anatomy book, most of my peers’ bodies looked just like the standard human body image in the book, with all the muscles developed …

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Fat acceptance is a human acceptance movement

Conditions
July 16, 2022

The recent article by Danielle Crittenden, “The Danger of Fat Acceptance: The Average American Woman Is Now a Size 18” is more of the same perpetuation of our society’s deeply internalized diet culture, weight blaming, and shaming of the individual and collective pursuit of thin privilege.

The article was sent to me by a friend, but I didn’t need to read it because I’m so familiar with the …

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