Family Physicians' Perspectives on Their Weight Loss Nutrition Counseling in a High Obesity Prevalence Area

Obesity is a serious and highly prevalent health problem. Behavioral modification for weight loss is effective, and physician nutrition counseling is encouraged. Nevertheless, several studies have reported that physicians provide nutrition counseling infrequently. Time constraints and lack of patient compliance are among frequently reported barriers.

In this pilot study, we aimed to examine physician weight loss nutrition counseling among family physicians in Huntington, West Virginia, an area with the highest obesity prevalence in the United States.

We administered an anonymous 13-question online survey designed for this study to all area family physicians in continuity ambulatory practice, asking about how often they provided nutrition counseling to their comorbidly obese patients, their nutrition education background, the counseling resources used, and the barriers they faced.

Thirty-eight of the 47 invited physicians completed surveys. The 35 to 55 age group comprised 55% of the respondents. Men comprised 53% of our sample. Two-thirds of the physicians reported that they counseled at a high frequency. Twenty-six of the 38 physicians reported that their nutrition education in medical school was none to minimal. Of the rest, 47.2% viewed their education as clinically relevant. The most frequently-used specific patient education sources were those embedded in electronic health records, the US Department of Agriculture's MyPlate tool, and a variety of smartphone-based apps. Time constraints and lack of patient interest in nutrition topics were the leading barriers cited.

Family physicians practicing in the most obese population in the United States tend to be high-frequency obesity nutrition counselors who frequently use specific tools, consider their education lacking and face oft-cited barriers. Studies in other highly endemic areas are needed to confirm these findings.