The treatment of obesity: What's new, what's recommended

The prevalence of obesity in the United States has increased, with approxim ately one third of American men and women considered obese. Obese individua ls who seek weight reduction frequently lose weight with the goal of return ing to their ideal body weight. For the majority of obese persons, however, reaching their ideal body weight is an unattainable goal, few people are a ble to maintain even more modest weight losses over the long term. The resu lt is that many obese persons end up feeling frustrated, if not defeated, b y their weight loss efforts. Recent weight loss treatment recommendations h ave focused on helping: patients lose 5%-10% of their body weight and maint aining these losses for longer durations. These more modest losses frequent ly are associated with reductions in obesity-related comorbidities and impr ovements in psychological status. The practitioner assisting obese individu als with weight reduction is presented with a variety of treatment options, including behavioral programs, pharmacotherapy, and low-calorie diets. Eac h of these approaches has been shown to be effective in producing the 5%-10 % weight losses now recommended. A combination of these approaches, such as the use of pharmacotherapy with a behavioral modification program, ultimat ely may prove to be the most effective treatment for obese persons. We revi ew the new weight loss recommendations and provide suggestions for assessin g patients for weight loss treatment. We also discuss both existing and new treatment options and focus on their application in a primary care setting .