VIDEO: Treating obesity first among key tips for physicians managing chronic diseases

ORLANDO — Physicians should be comfortable talking to patients about obesity and center their conversations around its health effects, according to a speaker at OMED.

During his presentation, Nicholas Pennings, DO, FOMA, FACOFP, chair and associate professor of family medicine at the Jerry M. Wallace School of Osteopathic Medicine at Campbell University, highlighted several other tips for treating obesity.

“We talked about some simple lifestyle changes that you could make, about nutritional changes, about physical activity, about coming up with a plan for physical activity and writing a physical activity prescription,” he told Healio.

Ultimately, physicians "should treat obesity first," Pennings said. “When you treat obesity, you’re treating the underlying health problems that are associated with it, such as diabetes, high blood pressure and heart disease.”

Reference:

• Pennings N. 7 tips for family physicians to treat obesity. Presented at: OMED; Oct. 6-8, 2023 (hybrid meeting).