If you are looking for obesity help, your best bet may be to find a doctor with a healthy BMI.? A recent study published in the Journal of Obesity found that physicians with a normal BMI are not only more likely to discuss weight with their obese patients, but those leaner doctors also feel more confident about the advice that they give.
More Weight Loss Help from Physicians with Normal BMI
The study was conducted at the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health Department of Health Policy and Management.? Researchers evaluated 500 physicians to determine how physician body mass index affected the quality of obesity care given to overweight patients and the physicians' level of confidence in the obesity help that they give.
According to their results, 30 percent of physicians with normal BMI were likely to discuss weight loss with their obese patients as compared to only 18 percent of overweight/obese physicians.?? The leaner physicians also reported feeling more confident about the weight loss help that they provided.
Patient Weight versus Doctor Weight
But the more striking data came when researchers evaluated the physician's perception of the patient's body weight as compared to their own weight.? In most cases, it affected the quality of obesity help provided.? Ninety three percent of physicians were likely to record an obesity diagnosis if they perceived the patient's weight to be greater than their own.? Only seven percent recorded the diagnosis if the patient's weight was perceived to be less than that their own.? Similar results were obtained when researchers looked at the likelihood of the doctor initiating a weight loss conversation.
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