Health and Nutrition

by Ray Barmore

THE TOO-FAT SOCIETY

The obesity epidemic is one of the country's most serious health problems. Adult obesity rates have doubled since 1980, from 15 to 30 percent, while childhood obesity rates have more than tripled. Rising obesity rates have significant health consequences, contributing to increased rates of more than 30 serious diseases, including type 2 diabetes, heart disease and some forms of cancer. These conditions create a major strain on the health care system. More than one-quarter of health care costs are now related to obesity.

Obesity is one of the biggest drivers of preventable chronic diseases and health care costs in the country. Two-thirds of Americans are either obese or overweight. The Trust for America’s Health (TFAH) and Micro Health Simulations conducted an analysis to examine how much the United States could save in health care costs if obesity rates were reduced by five percent. The analysis found that the country could save $29.8 billion in five years, $158.1 billion in 10 years and $611.7 billion in 20 years.

For the past five years, TFAH has issued an annual report F as in Fat: How Obesity Policies Are Failing in America to track obesity trends and policies. We conclude that the country is failing to address the obesity crisis with the urgency it deserves. TFAH recommends that a National Strategy to Combat Obesity be created with roles for individuals, families, communities, schools, employers, businesses, insurers, and government.

Keeping people healthier is one of the most common sense and effective ways to reduce health care costs. (1)

Obese adults should get counseling, federal task force says.

Under the healthcare law, insurance companies would be required to cover the panel's recommended weight-loss treatments.

In a move that could significantly expand insurance coverage of weight-loss treatments, a federal health advisory panel on Monday recommended that all obese adults receive intensive counseling in an effort to rein in a growing health crisis in America.

The U.S. Preventive Services Task Force urged doctors to identify patients with a body mass index of 30 or more — currently 1 in 3 Americans — and either provide counseling themselves or refer the patient to a program designed to promote weight loss and improve health prospects.

Under the current healthcare law, Medicare and most private insurers would be required to cover the entire cost of weight-loss services that meet or exceed the task force's standards.

Few private health insurers now reimburse physicians for weight-loss counseling or pay for programs that patients seek out on their own. A growing number, in fact, charge obese patients more for coverage — a policy that some public health officials have denounced as punitive and ineffective.

The task force concluded after a review of the medical literature that the most successful programs in improving patients' health were "intensive, multi-component behavioral interventions." They involve 12 to 26 counseling sessions a year with a physician or community-based program, the panel said.

Successful programs set weight-loss goals, improve knowledge about nutrition, teach patients how to track their eating and set limits, identify barriers to change (such as a scarcity of healthful food choices near home) and strategize on ways to maintain lifestyle changes, the panel found.

In some cases, programs include exercise sessions as well.

It follows a November decision by Medicare to reimburse physicians for providing "intensive weight counseling" to the roughly 14 million obese Americans insured by the government program.

The new guidelines were met with cautious support by many physicians on the front lines of the nation's struggle against excess fat.

Jeffrey Levi, executive director of the nonpartisan think tank Trust for America's Health, said the recommendations would put physicians in a difficult position: Few have the time or resources to provide obese patients with intensive counseling, he said.

And since programs meeting the standards set by the task force remain scarce, most doctors won't know where to send their obese patients.

"The question is whether the services will develop fast enough to meet the potential demand," Levi said.

Susan Pisano, a spokeswoman for the trade group America's Health Insurance Plans, said it was unclear how the report would affect the industry and patients. But, she said, "there's a lot being done" already by health insurers to help their enrollees lose weight.

Obesity and obesity-related diseases are already responsible for an estimated $147 billion in annual healthcare spending. Widespread adoption of the panel's recommendation would increase that spending, at least initially.

The panel acknowledged that one problem with its recommendation was that no studies have shown such intensive programs provide long-term health benefits. (2)

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(1) Trust for America’s Health
(2) June 26, 2012 by Melissa Healy, Los Angeles Times

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For information on nutrition and losing weight, go to Rays Nutrition Center

or contact me at: raybarmore@gmail.com

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Ray R Barmore
Health and Wellness Coach
San Diego California
619-876-5273
Skype: barmore4


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