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Doctors recognize obesity as a health problem. So why is it so hard for them to talk to their patients
about it?
The results of two surveys, one of primary care physicians and the other of patients, found that while
most doctors want to help patients lose weight and think it is their responsibility to do so, they often don't
know what to say.
So while doctors may tell patients they are overweight, the conversation often ends there, said
Christine C. Ferguson, director of the Stop_Obesity_Alliance. Without being told about options for
diabetes, she said, "Doctors don't feel they have good information to give. They felt they didn't have
adequate tools to address this problem."
The lack of dialogue hurts patients, too. The patient survey, of over 1,000 adults, found that most
overweight patients don't even know that they' re too heavy. Only 39 percent of overweight people
surveyed had ever been told by a health care provider that they were overweight.
Of those who were told they were obese,90 percent were also told by their doctors to lose weight,
the survey found. In fact most have tried to lose weight and may have been successful in the past-and
many are still trying, the survey found. And many understand that losing even a small amount of weight
can have a positive impact on their health and reduce their risk of obesityrelated diseases like
hypertension and diabetes.
Dr. William Bestermann Jr., medical director of Holston Medical Group, in Kingsport, Tenn. , which
ranks the 10th in obesity among metropolitan areas in the United States, said the dialogue had to be an
ongoing one and could not be dropped after just one mention of the problem. "If you're to be successful
with helping your patients lose weight, you have to talk to them at actually every visit about their progress, and find something to encourage them and coach them, " he said.
He acknowledged that many doctors tend to be not optimistic.
"Part of this is that there's this common belief, and doctors are burdened by it, too, that overweight
people are weakwilled and just don't have any willpower and are selfindulgent and all that business, "he
said. "If you think that way, you're not going to spend time having a productive conversation."
1. What is the "Stop Obesity Alliance" most probably in Paragraph 3?
A. An organization of doctors specializing in obesity.
B. An organization of patients suffering from obesity.
C. A research group that conducts special surveys about overweight people.
D. A research group dealing with doctorpatient relationship.
2. How many of the patients surveyed have been advised by their doctors to lose weight?
A. About 350.
B. About 390.
C. About 900.
D. 1,000.
3. What can be inferred about obesity patients in Paragraph 5?
A. They are not as hopeless as doctors think they are.
B. Most of them have tried hard to lose weight, but in vain.
C. Without their doctors' constant coaching, there is little chance of their succeeding in losing weight.
D. Most of them have just given up their hope of becoming less heavy.
4. According to the passage, which factor contributes to the lack of dialogue between doctors
and patients?
A. Most doctors just never think of warning their patients about their weight problem.
B. Many doctors find it difficult to persuade overweight people to lose weight.
C. Most patients are too weakwilled to do anything about their weight.
D. Many patients tend not to trust their doctors about their weight problem.
5. Which of the following is the best title of the passage?
A. Obesity in the US
B. Trouble of Overweight Americans
C. Talk More, Help Better
D. Doctors or Patients-Who to Bear More Blame?
