Outpatient Strategies for Weight Management

After completing this course, health professionals will be able to:

1. Identify the metabolic process associated with body weight regulation and ten common physiological (e.g., genetics) and psychological (e.g., modeling) risk factors associated with excess body weight.

2. Describe 4 relevant psychosocial variables among overweight individuals, including the role of negative affect, body image disturbance, social isolation/functionality, and stigmatization.

3. Clinically assess for motivational readiness, attitudes about change and accuracy of program expectations, along with the ability to dispel 5 common myths that serve as barriers to success.

4. Design and implement a clinically tailored weight management program using the “lifestyle change approach” targeting 3 primary areas of behavior change — personal food environment, reduction in caloric intake, and increases in physical activity.

5. Incorporate 13 evidence-based strategies that promote weight loss, prevent weight gain, and enhance weight loss and behavior maintenance into treatment planning.

Obesity is a nationwide epidemic, ranking second among causes of preventable death in the United States after tobacco use. The recent dramatic increase in obesity implies that individuals may not be able to simply ‘will’ the weight away. This course provides health professionals with a firm knowledge base in the area of weight management and introduces weight management programs for use with outpatients. Specifically, the physiology behind body weight regulation are presented and the cutoffs for determining “overweight”, “obese” and “morbidly obese” categories along with their corresponding health implications are outlined. Empirically-based diets, including ‘fad’ diets, are reviewed and the appropriateness of alternative therapies, such as bariatric surgery, addressed. Detailed strategies for implementing a weight management program with patients and for maintaining weight loss over time are discussed.