VIDEO: Weight loss tips from the experts — Patients with obesity may be metabolically healthy

ORLANDO, Fla. — In this video, W. Timothy Garvey, MD, chair of the AACE Obesity Scientific Committee, offers three tips for helping patients lose weight, related to lifestyle intervention, patient evaluation and therapeutic decisions.

Diet plans for patients should be consistent with cultural and personal preferences, but in a reduced-calorie form, according to Garvey. A Mediterranean diet, DASH diet, or low-carbohydrate or low-fat diet, is more easily followed when patients like the food options, he said.

Patients should be screened for binge eating syndrome, a condition more common in patients with overweight or obesity than health care providers might assume, Garvey said. A clinical psychologist can address the eating disorder to improve the effectiveness of a lifestyle intervention.

Physicians should not assume that all patients with overweight or obesity are the same, particularly with regard to metabolic profile, according to Garvey. Patients can be metabolically healthy yet have obesity. These patients are not at elevated risk for diabetes or heart disease, do not develop prediabetes or metabolic syndrome, and should not be treated with intensive therapies that may pose more risk than benefit. Garvey offers a risk-stratification strategy in this video exclusive.