This study's objective was to define the current attitudes and practices of
military family physicians regarding obesity. The authors mailed a cross-s
ectional survey to 267 military family physicians selected randomly from th
e 1997 Uniformed Services Academy of Family Physicians membership database.
A total of 214 surveys (80%) were returned. Most respondents believed that
they should be role models to patients (93%) and felt obligated to counsel
patients regarding obesity (90%). Fifty-six percent did not consider couns
eling obese patients professionally satisfying. Most correctly identified o
besity as a risk factor for several diseases, except colon cancer (35%). Fi
fty-four percent correctly identified the current World Health Organization
definition of obesity. A notable minority ascribed negative attributes of
sadness (18%) and lack of self-control (25%) to obese individuals. The resu
lts of this survey indicate knowledge gaps and professional ambivalence reg
arding obesity in the study group. Methods of increasing family physician e
ffectiveness in modifying this important risk factor deserve further study.