Understand how your clinic can support weight management

Effective weight management isn’t a ‘one size fits all’ treatment. To ensure you keep patients metabolically healthy, while promoting positive body image and self-esteem, a combination of treatment options may be necessary.

The principal goals in weight management are to:

• Prevent complications by helping to improve the metabolic health of the patient
• Treat or refer the patient if weight related complications are already present
• Reduce stigmatisation
• Restore well-being, positive body image and self-esteem

Lifestyle therapy

Lifestyle therapy modifications are the cornerstone of all weight loss therapy and should be the first-line intervention for all individuals. Importantly, lifestyle modifications must be included as part of any weight loss intervention.

Lifestyle changes encompass three main categories:

Diet modification: Typically involving calorie reduction diets. Many diets exist, including low carbohydrate, low glycaemic index, low fat or Mediterranean diets.

Increased physical activity: Implementation of regular aerobic activity and/or strength training.

Behavioural change: Targeting habit change, self-monitoring, and goal setting. This may include cognitive-behavioural therapy for obesity to facilitate change in thinking patterns.

Pharmacotherapy for weight management

Pharmacotherapy can be considered in patients with obesity-related complications if lifestyle therapy does not provide sufficient clinical benefit. Pharmacotherapy can be divided into non-prescription and prescription medications. Both are potential medical treatments for obesity but vary in efficacy. These treatments can include over-the-counter diet supplements for weight loss or prescription weight management medications. A PGD for weight management may be needed to offer certain weight management treatments that are prescription only medicines, if you are not a prescriber.